I have been playing around late this summer and early fall learning how to make cigar holders purely because I wanted to try it. I like the occasional cigar and have a lot of friends who smoke them somewhat frequently. Rockler and Craft Supplies both make a version and it's been fun to learn them both. I've also made a few cigar cutters/punches. Here is what I've learned so far:
The cigar cutters/punches came from Exotic Blanks and each one you order comes with a spare cutter head which is a nice feature. I have found they're wonderful to make with that leftover 1.5-2" you might have from a pen. I can't bring myself to get rid of those pieces and now I know why. It's like a free blank.
Both options assemble "somewhat" in the same fashion as a pen although at a larger scale. They hold nearly the same length cigar and take almost the same diameter (ring scale) cigar. The Craft Supplies holder is slightly larger and longer. I posted in late summer about trouble getting finishes on these and had some wonderful help from Egnald and use some awesome scaled up finishing bushings now and they work like an absolute charm.
Rockler Cigar Humidor: This comes with a sponge in the bottom of the holder for humidor liquid and has a hygrometer built in the center to help you keep track of the internal humidity. I like this kit but I don't think the overall fit & finish of the actual parts is as good as I would prefer. You can find areas that are not perfectly machined right angles and wind up with a little gapping. I found I did not like the bushings a whole lot, they're plastic. I think if I was going to make this particular one a lot I would have steel bushings made for it. The tubes that go inside the humidor are excellent, strong thick walls and I like the black color because it will hide or shield any issues. You'll use epoxy to hold on some of the end pieces instead of a press fit like a pen.
Craft Supplies Artisan Cigar Holder: This one feels much more like making a big pen. Instead of the sponge and hygrometer it has an integrated cigar punch/cutter in the top. This has O rings at juncture points and they should help seal the internal environment. The tubes are made from aluminum and are not as thick but function just fine. You will want to be careful to make sure you don't inadvertently scratch or mar the interior or it will show in the finished product. Once you have the tubes glued into the blanks everything (to me) acts like and feels like a very large pen. All the parts are a press fit. Unfortunately, some of the assembly is too large for my pen press and I have to use one of my parallel jaw clamps to do final assembly. The sections fit together really well. The O ring squeaks because the tolerances are pretty tight, I've found that a tiny amount of vegetable oil (won't flavor the cigar) wiped around the O ring and then wiped off completely fixes the issue and makes it much easier to open & close to boot.
Both options require you to use a fortsner bit with an extension to drill out the center of your blank. If you somehow manage to have that not work correctly you'll have some time with a file in your future to line everything up right.
Overall, I think I prefer the Artisan Cigar holder over the Rockler Humidor because I don't think the final machining of the Rockler parts are quite as good. It's a perfectly fine holder to make, I just like the Craft Supplies option better. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder though. I donated a Rockler humidor to a charity auction late summer and it did well. (chose that because it was the only one done at that moment) I just finished making a Craft Supplies holder over the weekend for my brother because that's the one he likes better. I think I'll just let people choose what they like.
Thanks for reading, hope you enjoy the photos.
The cigar cutters/punches came from Exotic Blanks and each one you order comes with a spare cutter head which is a nice feature. I have found they're wonderful to make with that leftover 1.5-2" you might have from a pen. I can't bring myself to get rid of those pieces and now I know why. It's like a free blank.
Both options assemble "somewhat" in the same fashion as a pen although at a larger scale. They hold nearly the same length cigar and take almost the same diameter (ring scale) cigar. The Craft Supplies holder is slightly larger and longer. I posted in late summer about trouble getting finishes on these and had some wonderful help from Egnald and use some awesome scaled up finishing bushings now and they work like an absolute charm.
Rockler Cigar Humidor: This comes with a sponge in the bottom of the holder for humidor liquid and has a hygrometer built in the center to help you keep track of the internal humidity. I like this kit but I don't think the overall fit & finish of the actual parts is as good as I would prefer. You can find areas that are not perfectly machined right angles and wind up with a little gapping. I found I did not like the bushings a whole lot, they're plastic. I think if I was going to make this particular one a lot I would have steel bushings made for it. The tubes that go inside the humidor are excellent, strong thick walls and I like the black color because it will hide or shield any issues. You'll use epoxy to hold on some of the end pieces instead of a press fit like a pen.
Craft Supplies Artisan Cigar Holder: This one feels much more like making a big pen. Instead of the sponge and hygrometer it has an integrated cigar punch/cutter in the top. This has O rings at juncture points and they should help seal the internal environment. The tubes are made from aluminum and are not as thick but function just fine. You will want to be careful to make sure you don't inadvertently scratch or mar the interior or it will show in the finished product. Once you have the tubes glued into the blanks everything (to me) acts like and feels like a very large pen. All the parts are a press fit. Unfortunately, some of the assembly is too large for my pen press and I have to use one of my parallel jaw clamps to do final assembly. The sections fit together really well. The O ring squeaks because the tolerances are pretty tight, I've found that a tiny amount of vegetable oil (won't flavor the cigar) wiped around the O ring and then wiped off completely fixes the issue and makes it much easier to open & close to boot.
Both options require you to use a fortsner bit with an extension to drill out the center of your blank. If you somehow manage to have that not work correctly you'll have some time with a file in your future to line everything up right.
Overall, I think I prefer the Artisan Cigar holder over the Rockler Humidor because I don't think the final machining of the Rockler parts are quite as good. It's a perfectly fine holder to make, I just like the Craft Supplies option better. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder though. I donated a Rockler humidor to a charity auction late summer and it did well. (chose that because it was the only one done at that moment) I just finished making a Craft Supplies holder over the weekend for my brother because that's the one he likes better. I think I'll just let people choose what they like.
Thanks for reading, hope you enjoy the photos.
