OK, boys & girls, I checked the fit of the lid a few minutes ago. To test the fit of the lid all you do is put the lid on the humidor with the liner in place then lift it up briskly. If the fit is good you will feel a definite resistance due to suction. This resistance isn't due to parts drag because that feels different. And if the fit is good there will a very close, but not interference fit between the sides of the liner and the inside of the lid. It's not a good thing to get carried away sanding the inside of the lid beyond smoothing it and cleaning it up. The more wood you remove in this area the looser it fits. Seems logical, I reckon.

The next test is to hold the lid at the top of the liner then push down briskly. If there is a squishy, cushiony feeling when you push it down then you are good to go.

I'm happy to report that the project humidor passed both these checks with flying colours (for my Canadian friends   ).

Well done sir! Wouldn't expect anything less with this project!

Appreciate the spelling of the word colour it does sound better though......  

Quotehorrido - 4/8/2012  6:06 PM

Appreciate the spelling of the word colour it does sound better though......  

Looks funny though...along with centre, metre. boogre, and all the rest.  

Do you guys eat hamburgres up there too???

Glad to hear that the lid fits nice!

Thanks for taking us through the build.

Good to hear that you didn't foul it up Ken.  

Thanks for all the details Ken! Enjoy that humi! Now comes the fun part of filling it and smoking them

Quotesullivan8078 - 4/12/2012  3:12 PM

Thanks for all the details Ken! Enjoy that humi! Now comes the fun part of filling it and smoking them

Now comes the fun part of...getting back up to the shop after being down with whatever crud it was my wife dragged home from FL and thoughtfully infected me with! I still have to finish up the lid liner portion then begin prepping for the finish. Of all the tasks associated with woodworking I hate sanding the most. Fortunately, I sanded the box down to 150 grit before assembly so that takes some of the pain out of the chore. Cherry is kind of a pain to work with when you get to the finer grits because the sanding dust tends to clog the paper and leave hard clumps. If you're not carefully these hard clumps can groove the surface and f**k up what you thought was a fine job. So I will probably take this surface down to 320, maybe 400 before I slop on some Danish Watco penetrating oil. I'm thinking I'll go with a medium cherry stain to keep the grain more visible. I tried Black Cherry stain on a scrap piece and it was way too dark. Obscured some detail I want to maintain. I should be getting to that part in a day or two.

I'm glad you are enjoying this episode. I'm having a ball being able to work in the shop again after a long winter and trying out the new equipment. It's working better than I thought it would.

It looks truly amazing from the last pictures! I hate the finishing part too... All that work so easily undone with just one silly mistake. Just out of curiosity, did you chamfer the outside edges of the cedar liner? Also, what kind of hinges are you using? A piano hinge? Looking forward to seeing the finished product!

QuoteCrazyK - 4/12/2012  5:22 PM

It looks truly amazing from the last pictures! I hate the finishing part too... All that work so easily undone with just one silly mistake. Just out of curiosity, did you chamfer the outside edges of the cedar liner? Also, what kind of hinges are you using? A piano hinge? Looking forward to seeing the finished product!

The inner liner is a trickier beast than it might first appear. Yeah, I lightly chamfer the sides and the back but the front needs a bit more attention. The trick here is that the edge of the lid needs to clear the edge of the liner but you also need a tight fit so humidity doesn't leak out. So you remove just enough material at the just the right angle to allow the lid to do its bidness and the liner keep doing its own. No mystery involved, just attention to detail and caution. I'd rather err a little on the tight side than loosen the fit so much a good vapor seal is compromised.

Hinges? Haven't really thought much about it. I'm kind of fond of leather hinges to tell you the truth. I cut some belt stock, punch holes in the corners, then attach with brass screws. They work real well and the brass and leather compliment the wood nicely.