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I have read some things about beetles. I had the impression that if you followed the 70-70 rule you would be ok. New cedar will suck up some moisture,true. But so what? You just have to make sure your humidifier is full. I built my own humidor out of walnut and use a Credo humidifier. the Credo isn't high tech but works fine. The plans and hardware came as a kit from the Woodworker Store. That chain is now Rockler. I guess other materials work fine but you can't beat the look of a nice wood finished humidor.

don't forget to dial in the hygrometer (a hydrometer is used to measure specifi gravity). radio shack has at least a + or - 5% deviation but they are still excellent devices. smoke the Drymistats and use the credos for hocky pucks. you seem to know how to make humidifiers, so don't waste your money on toy humidifiers. once you get the correct size humidifiers insalled, you can move the hygrometer from one to the other and you will get a reading in a few minutes and smile at how well you have done. forget the temperature in the humidor, it's not really relevant. as for beetles, smoke thise cigars first, the burning kills them. am i on the political board? i usually am more even tempered on all the other boards. sorry.

In case you don't know how to make your own humidification devices, here's how:
1. Buy some "florist Oasis" (it's the green spongy stuff that florists use for flower arrangements). Make sure you get "wet" oasis as opposed to "dry" (the "wet" oasis is made to absorb water [it's designed for fresh flowers] and the "dry" does not, as it is for silk/fake flowers.) You can find oasis very cheap at any craft store like A.C. Moore or any florist shop. (The most you'd pay for a brick-sized piece would be about $2.)
2. Buy some small tupperware containers or travel soap dishes from a Wal-Mart or K-Mart or wherever.
3. Buy some distilled water (very cheap) or some 50/50 mixture like Griffo (not so cheap.) If you want to make your own 50/50 in mass quantities, take equal parts propylene glycol (which you can order from a drugstore) and distilled water, and mix.
4. Drill many holes (vents) in the lid of the soap dish or tupperware container.
5. Cut a piece of oasis the size/shape of your container (they cut better when wet, but can also be done dry) and place the piece in the container.
6. Fill oasis with either the distilled water or the 50/50 solution, dump any runoff.
7. Place lid back on container and place your new humidification unit in your coolerdor, cabinet, humidor, tupperdor, or wherever you store your cigars.

A lot of steps are overexplained, but I figured it'd be best to overexplain than underexplain in this situation, just in case.
Hope that helped. :)

That was perfect. I understand it just fine. I think I'm going to give it a try.

My uncle ran a string of slot pool tables and cigarette machines in NE Louisiana and NW Mississippi years ago. One summer out of high school I helped him empty the coin boxes and load packs of Luckie Strikes and Chesterfields. He store those cigarettes in the utility room off his garage and in that climate the bugs loved 'em, boring through cardboard, paperboard, cellophane and into the packs. When we saw holes on the outside of a pack we toss them in another box he would sell out of the trunk. I smoked a few of those infested sticks and they didn't taste any different than the ones fresh out of the box. The only problem was when the hot tip hit one of those pests they exploded, usually three or four to a single smoke.

Hey Orv,

I have one of those RS Humi-stats. I've been going back & forth with them trying to find out how to adjust them. How do you? (Um, this is the temp/humid model# 63-1013 right?)

Take the back off, couple of phillips screws. There is a rheostat (I think that is what it is called) on the left side. Use a small screwdriver and turn it. You have to adjust and then salt test. Then do it again and again till you get it right. I have both of mine within 1% and that is close enough. They started at 69% in the salt test. I find I get the most accurate readings on the salt test when I let it set overnight. I know most directions for it say 6 to 8 hrs but overnight works better for me,