12th "Box" Finished this morning; Macassar Ebony Inlay, Rosewood (unknown) veneer, Teak interior Humidor

davisu

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Just finished my 2nd humidor, the 12th box overall, in the shop this morning. I will admit, I sanded the crap out of the teak and just applied varnish. So, no, it doesn't look quite that good in person...it will fade. But I wanted to share if anyone is interested.

Anyways, for those of you that might be wondering, the dimensions are 11.25" (L) x 6.5" (H) x 10.25" (W)!!


Build specs:
- Internal and frame are all proper Teak (Tectona grandis)
- Inlay around the rim (hard to see, but it does have lines) is Macassar Ebony (Diospyros celebica)
- Veneer is an unknown Rosewood, but was sold to me as Madagascar Rosewood (Dalbergia purpurascens)--> I doubt this heavily. Nicely aligned veneer though!
- Applied tung oil to all; let sit two hours; repeated 3 times. Applied de-waxed shellac twice, let dry. 50/50 nitro-lacquer coat sanded to 320 till smooth; BT lacquer! Done!
- Inset RH Hygrometer gauge is an old eBay purchased MB French set; epoxied onto the teak w/ Teak epoxy
- Also recycled moisture absorber; also epoxied onto the teak
- Joinery was a modified sliding dovetail cut

Cost to build:
-~$650 + 10 weeks...Christmas gift to pops is done, though!

Time:
10 weeks...phew!

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davisu

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Oh, I forgot to mention, the henges are brass, if anyone wanted to know.
 

Ray D

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Very nice work. I’ve made a few humidors using those hinges . Not a fun router table layout. Lol.
 

davisu

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Very nice work. I’ve made a few humidors using those hinges. Not a fun router table layout. Lol.

Thank you ray!! Agreed, it is not a fun endeavor by any means lol. I just used white oak to practice about half a dozen times and then finally just said, you know what, I'm going for it. Thank god it came out okay. My work is always a toss-up of Good or Ugly, skip right over the bad lol.
 

Ray D

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Thank you ray!! Agreed, it is not a fun endeavor by any means lol. I just used white oak to practice about half a dozen times and then finally just said, you know what, I'm going for it. Thank god it came out okay. My work is always a toss-up of Good or Ugly, skip right over the bad lol.
Thats actually funny because I did that exact same thing. I laid it out and did a few practice runs, with fair results, and said the heck with it I’m just going to run it. Lol. your finish is very nice.
 

davisu

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Thats actually funny because I did that exact same thing. I laid it out and did a few practice runs, with fair results, and said the heck with it I’m just going to run it. Lol. your finish is very nice.

Ha small world! Yeah honestly after spending so much time on the lid and base, I got impatient and I'm sure you know the feeling, you just want it to look good and be DONE. I'm glad yours turned out good too!

Thanks for the compliment on the finish, it's gonna flake, but I'll deal with that later lol. Just happy to be done with the joinery (least favorite part imo)
 

davisu

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Very nice piece, I like the design layout on the lid.

Thanks, Tony!! I had fun with that part. The veneer was a bit tricky, but cutting down the set to be matched was large fun.
 

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Excellent craftsmanship! Tons of detailed work to complete 12 boxes. Congrats! Think you've pretty well perfected the processes! Chuck
 

davisu

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Excellent craftsmanship! Tons of detailed work to complete 12 boxes. Congrats! Think you've pretty well perfected the processes! Chuck

Thank's Chuck!! I don't know about perfection, my joinery and glueing needs a bit of work, but I appreciate it :))
 

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Nicely done Davis. Beautiful wood and great job blending the various woods. Your pops should be proud and cherish it.
 

davisu

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Thank you, John!! I'm hoping to do a little more finishing and then furnish it with some fine cigars...gift complete!
 

DLJeffs

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Beautiful! I like the ebony trim on all the corners. Did you miter the edges, glue up the box, and then route a rabbet on all the corners and glue in a strip of ebony to do that?
 

Wildthings

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Absolutely stunning work! Don't take this badly but I wish the pictures were in better focus to see it better. I'm building my first simple box right now and know how much detail you've got in this guy!!
 

davisu

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Absolutely stunning work! Don't take this badly but I wish the pictures were in better focus to see it better. I'm building my first simple box right now and know how much detail you've got in this guy!!

Thanks, Barry!!! No, I absolutely understand, I took them on my shop backdrop with my crappy old iPhone, sorry for the quality :/ I wish it was better too! Best of luck with your box and let me see it when you're done! Crush it!
 

davisu

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Beautiful! I like the ebony trim on all the corners. Did you miter the edges, glue up the box, and then route a rabbet on all the corners and glue in a strip of ebony to do that?
Thank you, Doug! Yes! Spot on! I mitered the edges of the teak, glued it, coated it, applied the veneer, and sanded to give the rounded edges, and then I actually used a mitered rabbet for the ebony inlay. It takes a little longer but it gives it that nice strength to hold the ebony strips in, I expect a little warpage so I did this to prevent them from popping out in the future.
 

davisu

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Also, does anyone know what type of rosewood the veneer is? I'm at a loss...definitely not what it was sold as, but it is beautiful
 

Arn213

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The humidors I've seen all have Spanish cedar linings. Why did you decide to use teak? Beautiful box that your dad will love, I know. Thanks for posting.

I was wondering the same thing, though the smell of genuine teak smells really good and sweet. I am sure his “got a method to his madness”. Okay Davis, “Enquirer wants to know” why the move from teak to Spanish cedar?
 
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