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Old 10-04-2007, 11:11 AM   #16
mhotek
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The easiest way to explain this is as follows:

Pull up each of the links below and take a really careful look at the images showing the interior of the cabinets:

http://www.cheaphumidors.com/Merchan..._Code=Preorder
http://www.bargainhumidors.com/bh/Pr...ductid=HUM-BH3
http://www.aristocrathumidors.com/aristocrat-mini.html
http://www.avallohumidors.com/1000.html
http://www.arlinliss.com/_Oak/Rick/08,27,07e.jpg

The first 4 show one way of doing a cabinet. The 5th shows another way. Both are equally valid, but the last one is probably closer to what you are doing.

You have to look closely at the images showing the interior of the cabinet, particularly the exterior edge and into the interior side wall. In the first 4, you'll see what basically looks like a single board. All 4 of these use a veneer of Spanish Cedar which because it is a veneer is completely glued to the body of the humidor. (Just like I told you NOT to do.) The reason that the veneer does not blow apart or peel away in any of these 4 is due to the material used for the body. In very gross terms, it is a particle board. In very specific terms, it is a product called MedEx and the specific formulation for the MedEx (which used to be a specific brand and is now more of a category - think "Xerox" machines") uses all Spanish cedar. Basically you take a pile of Spanish cedar sawdust and mix it with a marine grade epoxy that doesn't gas off into a slurry, then apply a huge amount of pressure and time to form it into a board that can be worked and milled just like a piece of wood. Because this stuff is not solid wood, it is extremely stable and will not undergo the expansion/contraction you see with "solid wood" boards. Since it is considered completely stable, you can take a thin veneer of Spanish cedar and glue it to the MedEx without any problems. (Avallo and Staebell can chime in, if they choose, with the exact formulation used in their MedEx, but the description above is the exact formulation in the first two links.) So, what you are getting with the MedEx is a stable "board" made of Spanish cedar and epoxy and the Spanish cedar veneer is added mainly to give it a finished appearance, impart aroma, and provide the extra humidity buffer that will also be partially supplied by the MedEx.

If you look closely at the last one, what you will essentially see is a box built inside of a box. Yeah, you can get as snooty as you want with the exact terms, but a box within a box is what you still have. (Look closely at the bottom and the top and you'll see a small "stair step".) The interior in this particular cabinet is done with Spanish cedar (it could just as easily be Honduran Mahogany). You will see several boards that have been edge glued to form one large board. You edge glue the boards for the obvious reasons: finding a board that wide is nearly impossible and not everyone has a planer, jointer, and bandsaw that can handle a board that is 2+ feet wide. (We make boards wider by edge gluing multiple boards into a larger sheet. However, you can NOT apply the same principle to making a board longer, it just doesn't work.) What you can't see from the picture is that this interior box is in fact "floating" within the carcass of the humidor. This is required, because the exterior is made of "solid" wood and not MedEx and therefore is not dimensionally stable. The exterior of the cabinet will expand and contract a different amount and rate than the Spanish cedar liner will. Therefore, you have to construct a floating liner, because if you fix that liner in place, it will either blow itself apart or blow the exterior of the cabinet apart.

You obviously don't just take 5 boards and stick them inside, because of a pesky little thing like gravity. So, if you look closely, you will see that the rear liner is held in place by the four boards around the side. The top board extends almost the entire width of the cabinet and is held in place by the side walls. The bottom stays in place due to gravity. The side walls stay up due to slight pressure from the top and bottom boards. if that is all you did, you would have a VERY ugly looking interior. So, the 5 boards in the interior are in fact partially fixed to the carcass. You could do this with tiny brass nails somewhere around the 1/3 and 2/3 point. You could also do this with a small amount of glue (a very thin line running WITH the grain) somewhere around the 1/3 and 2/3 point on each board. The glue has the obvious advantage of being completely hidden. What you MUST do is ensure that you stay away from the edges. Don't bring your glue within about 2 - 3 inches, because the edges of the boards are the pressure release for the expansion and contraction and need to be able to float in and out.

No, it isn't necessary to finish the inside of the carcass before mounting the Spanish cedar/honduran mahogany.

So, when you are converting furniture or building a cabinet out of "solid" wood, you need to use a liner (basically and box within a box). If you are building out of MedEx, you can still use a liner, but it is much more economical to just use a Spanish cedar veneer. Either method stills gets a solid and stable cabinet humidor. (As long as everything is cut straight and fitted together so there aren't any gaps.)
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