Shelving For Australia Wine Cooler


Lucifer Morningstar

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Hello everyone.

I've contacted 20+ carpenters, and cabinetmakers and all of them don't seem interested at all in making shelves for a wine cooler.
I'm looking for someone in Australia (obviously) be it yourself, or someone you know to make shelves for me for a wine cooler.


This is in lieu of me buying a pre-made one from Amazon, as any warranty claims, and repairs will obviously be much cheaper, and much easier if I were to buy something available in Australia.

So a person who can make shelves, and is able to get Spanish Cedar. Shipping preferable, as I don't want to limit myself to my own state (NSW). I know of one place that might have Spanish Cedar in NSW. 

But shelves are definitely needed. I don't want to buy a bunch of trays. I want the cooler looking nice (and not hacked together).

 

Thanks in advance.

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I had a similar problem a few years back

Couldn't find anyone willing to do the job for a decent rate or to the quality I wanted

Ended up getting a set made in the US and shipped over

Wasn't as expensive as you would think

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I've contacted John.
Anyway, will see what comes of it. So far the wine cooler itself is around $230 with shipping.
Shevles (5 flat, 2 drawers) shipped from Forrest $232.65

All places I've contacted for Spanish Cedar don't have any. One will in March at $5,500 m^3.
Woodworkers I've contacted aren't interested as it's too small a job, which is unfortunate.

Anyway, will keep you guys posted. If there are any more suggestions along the lines of woodworkers, timber places, etc. I'd love to know.

I'll post a build progress and pictures when I have things in hand.

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28 bottles, 7 wire shelves included.
52cm x 46cm x 74cm (L x W x H)
See here.

I'm unsure on the final details, but the drawers should fit about a box. 
I might remove a couple of shelves from the order depending on costs.

I'm not 100% sure on the final details yet.

In the meantime, I've ordered everything. 
3 120MM USB Fans. And a USB hub for those fans. Will be routing cable through drain hole. Plugging it with either artists eraser, duct tape or something janky like that. Routing the water will probably be the hardest bit. One thing is certain - the water inside can be used for the beads.

Another half pound and 5 tubes of Heartfelt beads. (total 2.5 pounds).

Some charcoal to remove plastic smell, as a last resort if baking soda doesn't work. Can't get distilled vinegar in Australia and not 100% sure of just using white vinegar as it might linger.
 

John's Woodworks seems slightly more expensive than Forrest, and is about the same lead time. However, his work looks better. I may end up choosing John over Forrest. I'm still thinking the shelving. Not sure if I want all 7 or not. Hell, I could just skip a shelf and use a drawer for storing boxes - and without a shelf right on top of it I'd be able to stack boxes.

I've not got a huge collection. My purchasing of cigars will probably be a box every 3 months.
My collection right now is 15 cigars.

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I have a 28 bottle and now only have the false bottom drawer on the bottom with a flat shelf on top it to stack boxes. And 1 other flat shelf about half way up the wino.

As I accumulated boxes, I took out shelves to make them Tetris better. And fit more.

Mine came from Forrest. Little cheaper and look fine to me. All personal preference on who you go with.


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10 hours ago, Ryoken said:

John's Woodworks seems slightly more expensive than Forrest, and is about the same lead time. However, his work looks better. I may end up choosing John over Forrest. I'm still thinking the shelving. Not sure if I want all 7 or not. Hell, I could just skip a shelf and use a drawer for storing boxes - and without a shelf right on top of it I'd be able to stack boxes.

 

Trust me when I tell you the quality with John's is significantly better than other drawer, shelve makers. Do a google search on a side by side comparison of Forest and John's drawers & shelves. Also while John's lead times maybe longer those are 'Real" lead times and you will receive a monthly update of your spot in the que and a weekly update once your drawers are started.My experience is that Forest greatly exaggerates his delivery times.

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Piggy's unsolicited advice... 101.

Run your project before loading it up with obstacles. Furthermore, most smokers that buy in boxes will store in boxes making drawers a waste of money.

If you review some of the project assistance work that I have done here, you will notice a correlation to poor performance of the 'un-engineered' humidor and shelf/drawer use.

Use one of your wire shelves and see how it goes. Store in boxes... and best of luck on your project. -the Pig

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13 hours ago, PigFish said:

Piggy's unsolicited advice... 101.

Run your project before loading it up with obstacles. Furthermore, most smokers that buy in boxes will store in boxes making drawers a waste of money.

If you review some of the project assistance work that I have done here, you will notice a correlation to poor performance of the 'un-engineered' humidor and shelf/drawer use.

Use one of your wire shelves and see how it goes. Store in boxes... and best of luck on your project. -the Pig

 

I will be using shelving after I find the humidity being stable.
I'd obviously have to season the shelves, and I plan on using Boveda packs for those (so 14 days).
Unfortunately, I don't have boxes, and I don't plan on buying many boxes as I'm not a really big cigar smoker.

Shelving will be 2 shelves and 2 drawers. I've purchased a bunch of beads, more than enough - 4 fans as well. The first thing I do when I get the unit will be getting any plastic smells out, and making sure humidity is even throughout. Before I go putting any cigars in there, I will verify that the humidity is even throughout with the shelves in.

As always, any suggestions are appreciated.

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As your collection grows shelves will become collateral damage I personally wouldn't bother I have nearly no shelves left it's boxes on boxes . Just my two cents worth 

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On 1/14/2017 at 9:12 PM, OZCUBAN said:

As your collection grows shelves will become collateral damage

+1. Habano Tetris is no fun with shelving.

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I went to Forrest for my stuff

First fridge was half draws and half shelves
Second Fridge was the same so I swapped a few things around and now have one fridge full of draws for random singles

Fridge 1.jpg

Fridge 2.jpg

Shelves do make things easier if you need to access certain boxes for smoking stock. It kinda sucks having to unstack 16 boxes all tetrised together to access the cab of PLPC (or whatever) at the bottom of the stack

 

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4 hours ago, Dimmers said:

+1. Habano Tetris is no fun with shelving.

Exactly Dimitri

Couldn't of said it any better myself ,it's taken some time ,but now I just don't stress about it so much ,and I mean the whole cigar thing ,there will be disappointments it the habanos way you pay your money you take your shot ( and people buying from Rob increase those chances of success cos he understands Cigars ),but there will always be those cigars you'll never ever forget till the day you take your last breath ,but for me the cigars have always run a close second to the friends I have met, and to the people I have yet to meet.

but as far as the thread goes the shelves do look fantastic :2thumbs: polarbear  

but for me I am a cab Tetris sort of guy to find something you have forgotten about can be a real treat 

cheers all 

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Hi.

Appreciate the advice. I'm going with 2 drawers and 2 shelves which will leave enough room for some boxes.
The drawers and shelves will be close to the top, leaving the bottom for boxes.

As I just received the wine cooler, I'm looking at the drain hole, and it's super tiny. Meaning I won't be able to route any cables through it.
I'm uneasy of drilling into it - but how do you do your fans? Did you drill through the drain hole and have any problems?

FhcTHWs.jpg

Ignore the wet and powdered look. It's baking soda and distilled water. Plastic smell wasn't too strong after airing it.

Once I have everything sorted out, I'll post my build log and such.

 

If it has to come to using battery operated fans, I can do that. But seeing as there is only 1 fan in the thing, I want some airflow.

mT8vEJp.jpg

 

Fans I chose were some 120mm fans that use USB for power. Me being a tech head I have a bunch of USB wall hubs, so I could easily use one for all the fans (4). That connected to a timer to come on about every hour for say 15 minutes and I'd be set. If it weren't for the small hole. I don't want to ruin it by drilling into any PCB.

 

Anyway, let me know your ideas, and what you did in terms of airflow and possible drilling.
Having a sparkie next door helps, but I'd rather do this myself as they can get quite pricey.

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I bought this one from Amazon, no drilling required. The cable is super thin so you can just close the door over it. I only need it in the summer everything right now is perfect temp and humidity with the fridge unplugged.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00080G0BK/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

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John will be able to ship the shelves come the end of February.

In the meantime, the cooler is stuffed full of newspaper. It also happens that the drain hole has a plug supplied. I'm not convinced whether or not to use the Thermaltake ribbon cable fans. I've contacted the manufacturer to see where any electronics are (i.e., can I drill through the drain hole) so if I do something, I won't ruin it.

If it turns out to be a bad idea, then I'd have to use the Thermaltake fans. I want something on a timer, and the only viable option is something that plugs into the wall in some way, shape, or form.

 

Anyway, if anyone happens to have a Cybercool, and has drilled through the drain hole - let me know! Otherwise, I'll wait for the supplier to get back to me.

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My opinion (I have 2 Newair 281 same size as yours):

1. Depending on how many boxes you have or will have, you may not need any fans.  The more boxes the less likelihood the need for a fan.

2. If you want to add a fan - try slipping the power wire between the door and the frame when the door is open.  The rubber gasket around the door is pretty pliable...you can put a piece of duct tape over the spot it snakes thru to cover the wire if you think the seal is not good enough there.  Just like Blazer said above.

3. I'm using HF beads in my first one and it holds the RH% rock steady at 64% and it's about 90% filled with boxes.  I just added an Oasis XL active humidifier to my other one to see how that works cause it's not filled up yet.  The less area taken by boxes the more need for circulation.

4. Unless you have a ton of singles...most of your singles will stay in their boxes so I'll bet you end up with 1 drawer and 1 shelf...this way when you get your second winedor - you'll be all set with the other shelf and drawer...LOL......

5. Good luck and don't overthink the whole thing.

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On 18/01/2017 at 6:11 PM, polarbear said:

I went to Forrest for my stuff

First fridge was half draws and half shelves
Second Fridge was the same so I swapped a few things around and now have one fridge full of draws for random singles

Fridge 1.jpg

Fridge 2.jpg

Shelves do make things easier if you need to access certain boxes for smoking stock. It kinda sucks having to unstack 16 boxes all tetrised together to access the cab of PLPC (or whatever) at the bottom of the stack

 

wow you have a lot of stock there , the shelves look like they are going to buckle.

I just ordered my shelves from Forrest aswell , I like some shelves  so I can organise limitada regionals and brands seperate , and a couple of draws only because I tend to buy mulitple boxes in the brands that I love to smoke , so I keep them as singles in the draws. Oh yeah and another small draw on top aswell so when your friends come they only open the top draw ( sharing draw)

 What kind of thermo electric wine cooler did you get ? Looks kind of like the one I have .

 

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On 21/01/2017 at 10:46 PM, Ryoken said:

John will be able to ship the shelves come the end of February.

In the meantime, the cooler is stuffed full of newspaper. It also happens that the drain hole has a plug supplied. I'm not convinced whether or not to use the Thermaltake ribbon cable fans. I've contacted the manufacturer to see where any electronics are (i.e., can I drill through the drain hole) so if I do something, I won't ruin it.

If it turns out to be a bad idea, then I'd have to use the Thermaltake fans. I want something on a timer, and the only viable option is something that plugs into the wall in some way, shape, or form.

 

Anyway, if anyone happens to have a Cybercool, and has drilled through the drain hole - let me know! Otherwise, I'll wait for the supplier to get back to me.

Don't drill through I have a cybercool  make a custome tray or get beads In a stocking place on the bottom . My humidity in mine seems to work fine , Dont go off the reading on the door I purchased a xikar puro temp so  I have readings on top middle and bottom without opening the door , and plugged bottom with a gromet which was provided.

Which cybercool do you have ?

 

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I rotate and check and love tetras. I find that temp and humidity can be off a fair amount from top to bottom another reason why I'll always moving around boxes. Plus I love seeing the boxes and the jars and the cabs when I open the door I much prefer second picture above which is odd because I'm fairly neat/organized otherwise.

Sorry no real benefit to my post.


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3 hours ago, bb360 said:

Which cybercool do you have ?

 

 
 
2

28 bottle one. From here.
The whole fan thing - if I need one, it will most likely be the Thermaltake or a fridge aerator (Camco). But I've yet to fully eliminate the plastic smell.

As for drawers and shelves, if I do manage by some miracle to get tonnes of boxes - I can easily get that sorted. Besides, the coolers themselves are dirt cheap - end up paying the same for hygrometers and humidification.

So once plastic smell is gone, I will load it up with beads and monitor it all using my hygrometers. Just the water dripping has me worried. I'm not sure how to route it using a custom tray (pics would be lovely @bb360)... Will monitor it all with drain hole unplugged, and if it's all good will remain so. 

 

Anyway, 2 shelves and drawers are on order from John. Will get those by the end of Feb.
After all - I have the wire shelves it comes with. John gave a good number of how many boxes on the shelves to be safe. So the wire ones can also be used (why not?).

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