Humidor building questions

[Mark AJ Allen]

I plan on building a humidor cabinet that will have a 200 - 300 cigar capacity. I have a few questions.

1. I have planned to give each cigar a generous amount of space in each tray. I personally find that if there is air gaps between the cigars in my current humidor, they burn more evenly. I'm assuming that's because more of the cigar surface is exposed to the conditions of the humidor as opposed to touching other cigars. I haven't actually found any discussion on the internet on this and was wondering if any of you humidormakers and smokers have any pros/cons for what I call closed vs. open spacing in storing cigars?

2. Currently, my plan is to make a mini-cabinet of Spanish cedar with internal drawers to hold the cigars and then that mini-cabinet will fit inside the outer cabinet, made with a currently undetermined wood species (probably mahogany). This seems to be a departure from the more simple approach of lining the inside of the cabinet with Spanish cedar panels with a tight fit. My thinking here is primarily that the more cedar, the more able the humidor is to control the humidity inside it (and outside of it ... I don't want the outer cabinet wood to have a high moisture content either). Again, that's just an assumption. Any experienced makers our there can comment on what they would do or what thickness they would recommend for the internal cedar lining/cabinet?

Thanks beforehand for the replies.

[Bill Wyko]

When I build a desk top, I line the exterior of the spanish cedar with a copper foil to isolate the humidity of the SC from the exterior wood. If you don't seal the outer surface of the SC, moisture can escape through the wood. Let me know if I can assist in any way. Good luck.

[Mark AJ Allen]

That's an interesting approach and I didn't consider this in my own concept. I guess you take this approach because you want to avoid other kinds of sealing materials outgassing solvents into your humidor? How do you attach the copper foil to the exterior of the cedar? Is there a reason you choose copper? Do you know if the thickness of your cedar enclosure affects the rate that humidity is lost? I don't mind building a very thick cedar enclosure if it means I can avoid special treatments like your copper foil approach.