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July 2nd – With a number of passes on the table saw the final size of the door was “snuck-up-on”. A few tries at locating the piano hinge, and the lock could be mounted.

Looking at a rainy 4th of July weekend here in the Dallas area, I should finally have time and cool enough weather to sand out the casing and give it an oil job.

I’m still looking for a wood for the legs that will be darker than the walnut and be a nice matching color. Nogal was my first thought, but seems to have too much read in it. I am experimenting with ebonizing some scrap walnut and some red oak.

What dark wood looks good with American Black Walnut? Hmmm . . . . .

Nice work, so when do you start taking orders?

looking good..

Looks nice........prolly should have gone bigger

Thx to all.

I have no idea of the number of hour put into this – It is a bit like asking how many hours you spent hunting a trophy. I would say that in production, six cigars met their end so far. Lots left to do, but it’s all in fun – no hurries and few worries.

BBJ – No one uses glue to install the cedar lining. If you cannot friction fit the wood (with miter cuts) then use brad nails in the center of the boards.

Moisture expansion and contraction in wood is a MAJOR concern when building wooded items with fitted parts. So put the boards in as a compression fit, or let a few brads hold them in a way that allows the wood to move. Remember that the kiln dried cedar is around 7-10% moisture content. When you season the humidor the wood will live at 70%.

Cedar wood movement 101- For Western Red Cedar (closest I could find)
Radial Shrinkage 2.4%
Tangential Shrinkage 5.0%
Tangential/ Radial 2.1%
Axial Shrinkage – Near zero.
If you have flat sawn cedar board 6” wide, the width can grow by more than ¼” from wet to dry. So on flat panels; use a ships lap joint with plenty of expansion space. The wood will see no size change along its length (length as the tree grows tall – true of most all woods). This is why desk top humidors have the boards mitered in, with the length horizontal, so the height can expand and contract.

Good luck with the humidor.