Project of the Day : 150 Year Old Chestnut Travel Humidor

[fissure30]

Beautiful work yet again Scott!

[CBI_2]

Awesome! Absolutely beautiful work Scott.

[shilala]

One thing that doesn't show through in the pics is the finish.
The color is one-of-a-kind. I used a natural stain that simply makes the wood look wet. There's no wood I know of that exhibits the sharp staggered grain of this particular color in it's natural state.
I'm not a fan of Rustic Folksy art. It looks old and battered and I like new, perfect and shiny. This project helped me develop an appreciation that I sorely needed. It'll allow me to do a lot of things that I'd have never considered before because I didn't like the style.

In most pics I take, I find the projects look better than they do in person. This is a stark exception. With 8 or 10 layers of poly and a rolling bumpy finish that accentuates the flaws and grain of the wood, it's truly something to behold in person.
The pics don't do it justice.
The best way to get a look at it close up would be to hook up with Richard and have a smoke. I bet he'll bring good cigars.

[shilala]

Originally Posted by Rabidsquirrel

Beautiful. I've been wanting to make my own humidor for a while now, but I haven't been able to figure out how to secure the edges together in a way that looks good.

I rabbet everything. I like the straight lines. I've considered dovetailing and I just don't like the look.

Originally Posted by bigdog20

are the wormholes inside as well?

Yes. They're plugged with wood filler just like the outside. Then the outside is covered with thick poly to assure it's completely airtight.

Originally Posted by RockEStone

Very nice. I like it. One of a kind. Good work.

The "one of a kind" thing is why I decided to use this wood despite all the grief it caused while I was working with it.
You're not going to find anything like it anywhere. It's going to make a really fun conversation piece.

[Bruzee]

Freakin' beautiful!

[TripleF]

Nice workmanship Scotty!!! I'm impressed!!

[massphatness]

Shilala's cool.

Awesome, even by your standards, Scott.

[rsamos]

Each new project seems to raise the bar a bit more Scott.

That thing is beautiful.

[awsmith4]

Another A+ job Scott

[TheTraveler]

Very nice work!

[rrplasencia]

Looks awesome Scott! Richard is one lucky guy to have an original Shilala I sent you some good sticks but nothing worth this, thank you.

[TOB9595]

Love it!

What is the closed cell gasket that you're using?
Regards
Tom

[chris45set]

Beautiful work, Scott, and a nice job on reclaiming the old Chestnut boards.
I truly like the filled and untreated approach for the wormholes, it gives the piece a huge amount of character.
The bead holder on the inside lid even looks as though the wormholes were "designed in" to allow for the air circulation, a nice touch!!
That one would be very interesting to see in person, as the depth of the wood and finish kinda shows in the photos, but photos never really do justice to the beauty of wood.

Great job, you are a gifted artisan and craftsman.

[shilala]

Originally Posted by chris45set

Beautiful work, Scott, and a nice job on reclaiming the old Chestnut boards.
I truly like the filled and untreated approach for the wormholes, it gives the piece a huge amount of character.
The bead holder on the inside lid even looks as though the wormholes were "designed in" to allow for the air circulation, a nice touch!!
That one would be very interesting to see in person, as the depth of the wood and finish kinda shows in the photos, but photos never really do justice to the beauty of wood.

Great job, you are a gifted artisan and craftsman.

Thanks Chris!!!
That bead holder piece was at the tail end of a spreader that was cut to a point. You can see the nail holes and worm work.
When I ran that piece through the planer and saw what it looked like, it set the "tone" for the box. That little piece was split and a bunch of it is missing in the back because there was bark in it.
I messed around with it forever, gluing it, clamping it, fixing cracks, filling and making it usable, just so I could show it inside the box. Like you mentioned, it was perfect. Just like it was made for the beads to allow airflow. That's why I was willing to put so much time into that silly little piece of wood.
I was going to do more things in the box. A divider, a little box to hold a lighter and cutter, a hygrometer, stuff like that.
Everything I tried just diminished the look.
I was going to put a handle or handles on the outside, too.
Same thing, it just diminished the look.
It's interesting that Chestnut's own character can carry everything on it's own. It doesn't need any help to "dress it up". It made me realize why everyone speaks of it so fondly, I had always thought it was just because it was scarce.

[kayaker]

Great job there. I want to make some travel humis and I will add your design ideas to the list.

Thanks for the great pics.