Dr. Xikar
The Knife Doctor
Best cigar related purchase since my first cigar. Sits steady at [65-70]*/[65-70]%
I followed OB-Left's Edgestar build with the drain tube and am glad I did. The little catch pan at the bottom makes things really simple, just dump it out into a cup once every week or two and pour the cup down the sink - voila. I used the shortest tupperware I could find for a catchpan (so that the drawers could go into the lowest possible slot) and drilled a hole in the side of it and fed the aquarium tubing in. It's a very snug fit with no leakage at all.
At the top of the tube, I was a little careless with the drill and busted up the little drain ramp under the fan, so I fed through the tubing, filled around it with silicone caulk and let it set, then used a razor blade to cut it flush on the ramp. Drains perfectly. Filled it with 2 pounds of heartfelt beads (65%) divided into 9 pantyhose sacks (between a golfball and baseball in size). There's also a half pound of HCM beads in there to help as a buffer.
I wired in a Ranco ETC set to turn on at 70 and off at 65. Not specifically necessary, since the Edgestar temp dial maxes out around 63-66, but this way the little LED light at the top will tell me when the Edgestar is running, and this keeps the whole unit from running 24/7
All the wires are coiled up in the back and secured with the same wire mounts I used for the ETC sensor, and there's a power strip velcro'd to the wall in back so I can add computer fans sooner or later
It's around 75-95% ambient humidity up here, so my beads are around 25-35% hydrated. I've found that this both prevents the formation of condensation and also helps keep everything rock solid at around 67%
Lastly, it's loaded with 6 custom drawers by GolfNut. He does such phenomenal work! The drawers have bloodwood fronts that look simply gorgeous, and I wish my camera could do them justice (they look damn near holographic) They're double drawers that hold around 60-100 sticks each depending on the size of the cigar, how good you are at tetris, and how many beads you use. I have at least 1 bead sack per drawer, and tried to put them at different spots all around the drawers for the best humidity dispersal. So far its rock solid awesome.
Sorry for that wall of text, but I wanted to both brag a little, and give as much information as I could for anyone else working on a winodor.
Now on to the pictures!!
EDIT: Oh, yeah. I also made it dorm friendly - You'll notice a latch and lock on top of the cooler - I epoxied the latch pieces to the door/unit, then tore them off - The layer of paint they were epoxied to came with them. Then I re-epoxied them so that they were attached to the material of the door/unit. This is the strongest way I could think to bond them without using screws or nails. So far it's hanging on really strong. I also went with the brightest, most noticeable latch/lock I could find. I figured seeing a lock might actually be a better deterrent than the lock itself, given that it's just a dorm.
I followed OB-Left's Edgestar build with the drain tube and am glad I did. The little catch pan at the bottom makes things really simple, just dump it out into a cup once every week or two and pour the cup down the sink - voila. I used the shortest tupperware I could find for a catchpan (so that the drawers could go into the lowest possible slot) and drilled a hole in the side of it and fed the aquarium tubing in. It's a very snug fit with no leakage at all.
At the top of the tube, I was a little careless with the drill and busted up the little drain ramp under the fan, so I fed through the tubing, filled around it with silicone caulk and let it set, then used a razor blade to cut it flush on the ramp. Drains perfectly. Filled it with 2 pounds of heartfelt beads (65%) divided into 9 pantyhose sacks (between a golfball and baseball in size). There's also a half pound of HCM beads in there to help as a buffer.
I wired in a Ranco ETC set to turn on at 70 and off at 65. Not specifically necessary, since the Edgestar temp dial maxes out around 63-66, but this way the little LED light at the top will tell me when the Edgestar is running, and this keeps the whole unit from running 24/7
All the wires are coiled up in the back and secured with the same wire mounts I used for the ETC sensor, and there's a power strip velcro'd to the wall in back so I can add computer fans sooner or later
It's around 75-95% ambient humidity up here, so my beads are around 25-35% hydrated. I've found that this both prevents the formation of condensation and also helps keep everything rock solid at around 67%
Lastly, it's loaded with 6 custom drawers by GolfNut. He does such phenomenal work! The drawers have bloodwood fronts that look simply gorgeous, and I wish my camera could do them justice (they look damn near holographic) They're double drawers that hold around 60-100 sticks each depending on the size of the cigar, how good you are at tetris, and how many beads you use. I have at least 1 bead sack per drawer, and tried to put them at different spots all around the drawers for the best humidity dispersal. So far its rock solid awesome.
Sorry for that wall of text, but I wanted to both brag a little, and give as much information as I could for anyone else working on a winodor.
Now on to the pictures!!
EDIT: Oh, yeah. I also made it dorm friendly - You'll notice a latch and lock on top of the cooler - I epoxied the latch pieces to the door/unit, then tore them off - The layer of paint they were epoxied to came with them. Then I re-epoxied them so that they were attached to the material of the door/unit. This is the strongest way I could think to bond them without using screws or nails. So far it's hanging on really strong. I also went with the brightest, most noticeable latch/lock I could find. I figured seeing a lock might actually be a better deterrent than the lock itself, given that it's just a dorm.
