Humidor Prep and Maintenance Help

Redtailhawkoz

I am a new member to cigar.com. I have been a casual,once in a while smoker for most of my life,basically picking up a stick or two here and there and Smoking them within a day or week of purchase for special occasions etc. I have recently gained a larger appreciation for a good smoke and my new wife loves the aroma of a good stick. Her Grandfather and Father were both Cigar Aficiandos..... She has Quite a collection of Old Cigar boxes and recently gifted me her grandfathers desktop Humidor. It Is walnut and has a creme color laquer Finish Inside with a clipped in large screen with some sort of pad for humidification. She tells me it is from the 20's or 30's and came from Italy where they are from. There is an old paper sticker on the bottom of the humi that is not ledgeable. What I guess im asking is how do I set this up for Cigar storage and Aging or do I just use this for everyday or less expensive smokes and get something new.......... I just placed my first order with Cigar.comand am looking to Get my collection started! This site is helping me allot and a bit overwhelming. I am looking forward to hearing from some more expeirenced Cigar Aficiandos. Thanks Ozzie In Folsom California

stephen_hannibal

Welcome, glad you've found this place helpful.
To be completely honest I'd do some research on that humi before starting to store sticks in it again. You could have a real gem on your hands.
But to answer your questions check out the cigar101 thread tons of useful information on there.

Redtailhawkoz

Thanks Stephan and I will Check it out if I could read that label It would Help..... But to the Regulat eye it just looks like a nice walnut box! LOL I will take some pictures of it if i could post ithem or email them to someone who might have knowledge of it. Peace Ozzie

bbc020

Redtailhawkoz:

Thanks Stephan and I will Check it out if I could read that label It would Help..... But to the Regulat eye it just looks like a nice walnut box! LOL I will take some pictures of it if i could post ithem or email them to someone who might have knowledge of it. Peace Ozzie

Ozzie, if you can post some pictures, I'm confident that the community here can help you out even more and eliminate some guess work. Not only that, but I'm excited to see this thing!

Redtailhawkoz

Hi Brandon, to me it just looks like a walnut box but at closer inspection its kind of cool. I know nothing about Humidors but i know this thing closes nice a tight and is Excellant Wood. How do I post Pictures?Ill take some Now. Peace Ozzie

TatuajeVI

If you don't know how to host pictures, you can email them to me and I'll post them for you. In the upper left hand corner of this forum, click on "Inbox" and you'll find a message from me there with my email. Email me pictures you take and I'll host them for you.

Hays

Hey there Ozzie! Good to see some more members on here from our area! (I'm in Roseville). Welcome to the forum - awesome group of people here, and more answers than you could ever ask for. I'm always down to meet new cigar enthusiasts, so hit me up if ya want to get together for a stick sometime. I've already met one other member from this forum that lives in Sac, and we hang out on occasion - it's good stuff! :-)

Redtailhawkoz

WOW cool! I just posted to your Addiction Post that is Weird? You were posting to mine when I was Posting to yours! Got to be Good Karma! Have you ever gone to DR CIgar In Folsom? Stay in Touch Ozzie

Hays

Lol... Totally good karma ;-). Yeah I've been there a few times, but it's not my regular b&m. Every time I'm there I pick up a Rocky Patel Vintage 1990 petit corona lol.. Other than that, I haven't been overly impressed with that shop.

Redtailhawkoz

Love that old shop.. like dealing local, and the old out of place messy place is a piece of Vintage coolness and the old man and old lady that run it are Hillarious! Have you tryed one of there Folsom Prison Smokes? NICE and the Price is Right. I guess im old school Nastalga LOL that and I don't Really know Jack Crap about a GOOD shop except they are over priced and you pay for the Surroundings.

phobicsquirrel

Nice to see people on this like flies on sh.... hehe, I wont finish that. Humis are a real pain to start up but once you get them all seasoned and know they will hold RH it isn't really that bad. Welcome by the way.

Hays

Redtailhawkoz:

Love that old shop.. like dealing local, and the old out of place messy place is a piece of Vintage coolness and the old man and old lady that run it are Hillarious! Have you tryed one of there Folsom Prison Smokes? NICE and the Price is Right. I guess im old school Nastalga LOL that and I don't Really know Jack Crap about a GOOD shop except they are over priced and you pay for the Surroundings.

Hmm... We've had very different experiences then. I've never received much hospitality there - always felt like I was imposing, and I'm a guy that gets along with most everybody.. And I did try one of the Prison blends, but it entirely fell apart within a minute of lighting. (I don't mean to bash your fave shop - just relating my own experience). If you haven't checked out the shop in Loomis, you're missing out... Can't be beat, and it's not a stuffy place at all..

Redtailhawkoz

Ill check out the Loomis Shop... thats wild my Folsom Prison one smoked like a 50 buck cigar! Sorry for your bad expierince. Ill observe closer next time! Peace

TatuajeVI

Pics of the humidor:

Redtailhawkoz

Thanks Phil, I use PhotoBucket, is that what you use to do this? I really appreciate the help . What do you think of this relic? have a Great Day Ozzie

kaelaria

While a nice box for sure, you may be better off getting a 'normal' humidor with an interior of spanish cedar. It will protect and keep your sticks much better.

ironhorse

cool! Is that painted white on the inside? I agree with Kaelaria, but a cool box none the less. Maybe you take it to a wood shop type individual and get it re-furnished with some spanish cedar so it can be more functional.

Redtailhawkoz

I do not think it is Painted, it is a lacquer finish inside. But then again its old. Ive looked at it and i would say the white on the inside is Original. My wifes Grandfather brought this over here from Italy, Im not sure what I should do.... I have a shipment coming so i need to do something to Take care of these sticks. Thanks Ozzie

bbc020

A quick and dirty fix would be to just throw them in a Tupperware for a short period. It is a beautiful box, no doubt, and I'm sure it maintain your cigars just fine if the seal is good, but a newer humidor will probably make it easier to keep your smokes in a well controllable environment. The spanish cedar will help maintain certain RH.

bbc020

bbc020:

A quick and dirty fix would be to just throw them in a Tupperware for a short period. It is a beautiful box, no doubt, and I'm sure it maintain your cigars just fine if the seal is good, but a newer humidor will probably make it easier to keep your smokes in a well controllable environment. The spanish cedar will help maintain certain RH.

be sure to throw in some humidification device in the Tupperware with your sticks and a hygrometer if possible. But I use a small tupper-dore when I have overflow.

Redtailhawkoz

Thanks Brandon, Good ideas, I have those Hand Rolled Puerto Rican Sticks that are Moist and hard to Control i have them just out wrapped in the Paper Group wrapper they came in, The don't light to well and the draw is hard because they are too moist. It was suggested to me to throw them in a Zip Lock Bag and all that did was Hold in the moisture, SO I'm looking for solutions! Peace Ozzie

Hawk55

This is definitely a nice keepsake...saying that. I am not sure I would want to keep my stiks in it. If you decide to use it for your new stiks I would humidify it and test to see if it maintains a nice temp/humidity before storing my treasured stiks inside. This is a nice looking humi and obviously very old.

Sandman1am

That is a sexy looking humi and depending on how old it is might be an antique at some point. I would hold onto it and I wouldn't alter it. Maybe you can use it to house your smoking supplies. I think that I am with the rest of the group in saying that I would go with something with Spanish Cedar in it. I would suggest go bigger than what you think you will need. I look at a humidor like a home, you can always grow into a larger home. If you don't like it or need it you can always sell it (don't think I have ever heard of this happening). If you have a shipment already coming then you are behind the 8ball a little bit with getting a humidor up and running. The Tupperdor is a great idea for a quick easy fix, or even set up a coolidor for the time being. They are easy and can usually be set up fairly quickly while you look for your perfect humi that will house your beloved sticks. Don't know what to tell you on the moist sticks, here I might just try leaving them out for a bit but it's dry right now being winter.

Redtailhawkoz

Thanks Sanman, The Box is Old 1920's no later than early thirty's. It was brought here from Italy. Definatley a Good Old Box and i think I have already decided to use it merely for Lighters,Cutters,Labels etc. Ill have to scramble to find a way to keep these new sticks right. I dont know Jack Crap about humidification , Levels etc. HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!

j0z3r

Here's all you need to know Ozzie. When you figure out how you are going to situate your cigars (humidor, tupperware, rubbermaid bin) get a digital hygrometer to measure humidity and some humidity beads which can be found Here!!. Basically all you have to do from then on is make sure the beads are damp, I use a spray bottle with distilled water. Not too much work and they'll keep your cigars nice and healthy.

Sandman1am

Oz check out Cigar 101 when you are in Cigar.com Forum. They have already posted most of the things you will need to know to get a humi up and running. Or more importantly something right now for your new sticks until you can get that humi up and running.

Sandman1am

j0z3r:

Here's all you need to know Ozzie. When you figure out how you are going to situate your cigars (humidor, tupperware, rubbermaid bin) get a digital hygrometer to measure humidity and some humidity beads which can be found Here!!. Basically all you have to do from then on is make sure the beads are damp, I use a spray bottle with distilled water. Not too much work and they'll keep your cigars nice and healthy.

Make sure that you get a hygrometer w/ temp reading on it and you will also need to conduct a salt test on it to see if it is off at all.

j0z3r

eh, details, details.