Saved by the bell....

[Ed Sallee]

...that went off in my head!

As some of you know, I have been working on a humidor out of BEM & Morado. The BEM has a very nice mineral stained grain running throughout which I focused very much on wrapping around the box....

Well, I succeeded to that end, however, when I went to drill the 10mm holes for the barrel hinges, I must have been a little to excited as I drilled the darn things in the front of the box, not the intended back..... My heart dropped down to my stomach and I just felt totally deflated.... I swept up the shop, turned out the lights and called it a day.

So, what's a guy to do? Scrap the whole thing? Slice off to the bottom of the holes and start over? Hmmmm.......

The next morning, I powered up my computer and on my home page, I subscribe to a quote of the day..... that morning, the quote of the day was by Henry Ford and it said, "Even a mistake may turn out to be the one thing necessary to a worthwhile achievement." I was inspired.

Early on, before I put the Spanish Cedar base in to the bottom of the box, I used my wood burner and named this box "V" - as it is my fifth humidor build.

Well I had 2 bad holes and then the bell went off..... why not drill 3 more and have 5.... keeping in the theme of my fifth humidor.... so, that's what I did.....

I drilled a third hole in the center at 10mm and then the other two inside holes at 8mm.... Then, I tried to decide on what to fill it with... I got some epoxy and some brownish dye and tested out mixing tobacco in it.... It turned out OK, but I think I used too much of the dye... I was hoping that it would look really good....but, you couldn't really distinguish that it was tobacco (it is a humidor, after all)...

So, not willing to wait the 72 hours cure time (again) for another test... I opted for the turquoise inlay....cuz I knew what that looked like. I might try that tobacco thing later on another humidor.... after I do some serious and not so impromptu testing.

Also....I bought some brass tubing - 10mm & 8mm respectively and after a thin coat of epoxy, they slipped right in to the previously drilled holes.... I then filled them with the turquoise "Inlace" stuff..... first time I used it and it went without a hitch.

I think I'll go out and buy some bulk epoxy and hardner and some sort of a rock pulverizer and get in to the "pre-mixed inlay material" business.... $28 for a can of the goop about the size of a can of tomato paste.

Ya'all probably getting tired of seeing this thing..... but, what else is a fella to do at 6am while drinking coffee but to come to the creek and read & share stuff?

Anyways.... here's how she turned out so far..... still a little ways to go, but thought I'd share that with ya'all......

[Ed Sallee]

Here is how the tobacco looked on my test piece. I'm afraid it turned out looking like.... well.... dog poop.

I used System 3 Clear Coat epoxy and Mixol #22 - Tobacco Tint and ground up some tobacco and mixed it until it was a wet glob.

Then I packed it in to the hole....actually tamping it in with a #6 screw head.

And sliced it after the 72 hours cure time.

As you can see..... I really think I added too much dye. I didn't even count the drops....but there were a lot.

It might have looked pretty good if I toned down the tint, or leave clear and use some tobacco from a ground up cigar. Plus put inside the brass tube.... I guess that's where patience pays off.... Might have looked nice.

Right now, I'm testing that clear coat stuff to see if I want to put it on the rim of the humidor.

[Craig T. Smith]

Ed, I like the brass and turquoise. That's a real cool way to squeze lemons into lemonade. I'll have to agree on the dog poop. More testing required. Really like the wrap around grain also. Nice work as usual. Looking forward to the completed pics, Craig

[David Christopher]

Ed, Ive been following your blog and that thing is looking great despite the redo's. I just posted my 2nd box and 2 design changes because of sawing before thinking but anyway looking foward to see the finished product

[John Keeton]

Ed, this one is turning out to be a "proving ground" for a lot of new ideas!! Great save, and you are right on the dog poop. I think the epoxy would have to be crystal clear to keep from being "muddy." What about that decoupage stuff, or bar top epoxy? Never tried either, but could be interesting.

In any event, the turquoise/brass turned out very well, and makes a very nice accent - meant to be!

[Roy Wall]

Ed,

That's a beautiful fix -- great idea inspired by Henry.......

I think I'll look up some of his quotes........ Lord knows I need them.....

[John Thompson]

Nice save and the turquoise-brass looks good. In frustration.... I would have probably just put a piece of trimmed garage door weather-strip around the top to hide the hole and attached it with 8 penny nails...

Keep up the excellent work as we have all done those kind of things on a fairly regular basis over the years I would guess.

[Mark Valsi]

Wonderful !!

[Jason Hallowell]

My first thought was to put some magnets in the holes and some steel in the coresponding places in the lid, but I really like the way the brass and turquoise turned out, and I like the 5 theme also.