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Cigar Boxes - plentiful or sparse?

Earlier today, and in weeks past, I've read within several discussions that boxes are readily available in many areas, and pickin's are sparse and slim in others. There are a lot of cigar/tobacco shops in my immediate area, and I visit them regularly to select building materials. The selection is rather varied, and I can pick just the ones that experienced has shown are "better" candidates. I used to grab up 12-15 at a time until I realized that there were always a lot of them available. I typically pay $1 - $2 each, and the shopkeeper seems glad to see me. Not braggin', just stating the situation around here. It seems that some areas just don't have cigar boxes waiting to be bought. Why might this be? Are cigars not sold in certain geographic locations? Is there a return-of-box policy between the shops and the distributors? Are available boxes just too pricey in some locales? Just curious.

I enjoy making my own boxes for license plate git's, but I sure like the ability to form a factory box into a cbg, with all the possibilities they present. Making boxes isn't rocket science, but making a 90 degree corner four times isn't as easy as one might think, especially without a lot of experience and some good joinery tools. Butt joint boxes are easy enough, but a four corner mitered box takes some doing to have everything align top-to-bottom and side-to-side. And as nice as my box might be (at least to me), it still isn't a cigar box.

Whadda ya say?

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Permalink Reply by John Sawyer on August 31, 2016 at 11:43am

I get boxes for $2. My collection is diverse, with just a few duplicates, which makes it hard to assembly line build...

The costly part is shipping. If anybody is really desperate for boxes, I would be willing to ship a few...

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Permalink Reply by Jonno on August 31, 2016 at 2:51pm

@Darryl. Nope Bunnings dont do jarrah in a 40mm width. I think they do an 80 but I got no way of slicin that. As far as the merbau joints go I try to have lengths witg the joint at far end of headdstock beyond tuners. That way it doesnt get stressed at all. I find a slight upward angle at headstock ok. Partic for zero frettin. But I take your point that you should aim for something as straight as possible. 'Its not unusual it dont bend in anyway...' he he snort chuckle

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Permalink Reply by darryl kernaghan on August 31, 2016 at 2:55pm

another good option is hardwood battens for tile roofs,generally 40 x 19,most home builders have a fair bit of off cuts go in the bin

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Permalink Reply by Timothy Hunter on August 31, 2016 at 8:55pm

just left Bunnings. got a 1.2M 40x8 tassie oak for a fretboard and ended up getting another piece 40x18 mm x1.2M for the neck. will get at least 2 fretboards and one neck.

couldnt find any Merbau but they did have Meranti in a 2.7M section at 40 x18. twisted as a dogs hind leg the lot of them... just got to get some fret wire and tuners now and i can start the project....

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Permalink Reply by john mackay on August 31, 2016 at 7:07pm

I find them expensive over here so its cheaper for me to make my own box's.

with all this new fango 'E' cigs theres hardly any tobacconist these days.

all supermarkets sell them but no box's.

these are the cheapest that I've found but still cheaper to make my own.

http://www.humidorsonline.co.uk/empty-cigar-boxes-c-321_548.html

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Permalink Reply by Jonno on September 1, 2016 at 6:51pm

@ Timothy. Regarding merbau. As Darryl mentioned it is finger jointed. I thought the joins were about two to a 2.4metre piece. The first piece I bought was lije that. But some lenghs have more joins. The Merbau is in the bulk wood and sheeting section of Bunnings. It is sold as fencing. I am sure there are better hardwood options at a timber supply place. The merbau has roundish edges which is ok on its own. I did a tas oak fretboard on it but I didnt like the look. It would have looked good with a heavy duty sanding or rasping to merge the merbau and oak edges.
Nice box mate. Op shop?

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Permalink Reply by Timothy Hunter on September 1, 2016 at 10:00pm

nah, got sent to do a job on the south side of the river...driving through West End in Brisbane i saw a cigar shop Paladar Fumior Salon he has a web site too.. they nly had the one box there cause its a small place. the lady in the store said to email the owner and he could organise a selection. they are not allowed to display the boxes apparently. i dont smoke so no idea.

the Meranti was in the same section as the Tassie oak it was DAR ( dressed all round) so 40 x 18 and didnt seem to be jointed should have been a lot straighter if it was!

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Permalink Reply by darryl kernaghan on September 1, 2016 at 10:07pm

Might be worthwhile looking up Penny Nelson Timothy, she's a member here, and knows a lot of CBG people in Brissy and the coast, she ran the "Get Rooted" fest for a couple of years, she might be able to help you

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Permalink Reply by Jonno on September 2, 2016 at 1:20am

@Timothy. I've done meranti neck with tas oak fretb. Woz ok. Meranti is a bit splintery. I used two quad pieces which I glued together and glued oak on that..got a nice rounded neck. I just stuffed what was now half round meranti thru a box by cutting semi circle hole rather than typical rectangular slot. The downside is laminating the headstock.. Anyways I dont bother with seperate fretties now. Although I might re visit doing a half round neck again if I get some half or quad tas oak of appropriate dimensions.Its all great tryin out diff stuff and approaches

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Permalink Reply by Timothy Hunter on September 2, 2016 at 5:16am

nice one Wayfinder, must buy a cigar to put in the box for 1/2 hour after building so i can honestly say it held a cigar.. ok so i pinched that from someone else but its still funny.

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Permalink Reply by Eric Davis on September 5, 2016 at 7:07am

I have two cigar shops near my home. The selection varies from good to sparse. My guess is that I have competition in the area, so it's just luck when I find a stock of boxes I can use. The prices vary from $! to $5 a box, depending on the quality. I'm partial to Arturo Fuente boxes since I've become quite good at building with them, though I will try something different if the box looks really cool.

The most I've built at one time are three guitars. I'm looking at a five guitar build in the near future. Anyway, I don't see a need to keep a large pile of boxes on hand unless I run into a lot at the cigar shop that I just can't pass up.