I recently came upon some antique books in my possesion that are
falling apart due to Florida heat and humidity. I am an avid
woodworking enthusiast and interested in building a small (enough for
at least a half dozen books or so) bookcase that is hermetically
sealed against humidity. The idea is somewhat like a reverse humidor
and I have looked at some humidor plans, but still have no idea how I
am going to make this work. Anyone with: plans, ideas, stories,
comments etc. relating to this topic would be a lot of help.
-Alex
Alex, I suggest a heater used in gun safes to keep the humidity down. That is what I
have in my huge Fort Knox. Run a Google search for "gun+safe+heater."
Here is only one such hit:
http://www.kingmaker.net/mears2.htm
It looks exactly like mine, but I got mine from Fort Knox. Sealing your bookcase is
another matter.
Hoyt
lotus_net wrote:
> I recently came upon some antique books in my possesion that are
> falling apart due to Florida heat and humidity. I am an avid
> woodworking enthusiast and interested in building a small (enough for
> at least a half dozen books or so) bookcase that is hermetically
> sealed against humidity. The idea is somewhat like a reverse humidor
> and I have looked at some humidor plans, but still have no idea how I
> am going to make this work. Anyone with: plans, ideas, stories,
> comments etc. relating to this topic would be a lot of help.
>
> -Alex
The "goldenrod" heater is one option, in that instance you definitely do
not want the space to be airtight. Might be overkill in such a small space.
Another option for such a small space would be using silica dessicant.
It is available in metal canisters that you recharge in your oven. There
is a color change either in the crystals themselves or a indicator dot
telling you when the unit needs recharging. In this case, sealing up
airtight would be necessary so you're not recharging every other day.
lotus_net wrote:
> I recently came upon some antique books in my possesion that are
> falling apart due to Florida heat and humidity. I am an avid
> woodworking enthusiast and interested in building a small (enough for
> at least a half dozen books or so) bookcase that is hermetically
> sealed against humidity. The idea is somewhat like a reverse humidor
> and I have looked at some humidor plans, but still have no idea how I
> am going to make this work.
Can't help you on the bookcase idea.
But, a quick interim solution would be to seal up each book using one of
those kitchen vacuum food sealers. That's what I use for my most valuable
comic books. You'll want to go to a comic shop and get acid-free plastic
bags to put them in before putting them in the sealer bag.
That should, at least, preserve them until you solve your bookcase problem.
BTW: Once you find a solution for the bookcase approach, post it here for
others.
codepath
"lotus_net" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I recently came upon some antique books in my possesion that are
> falling apart due to Florida heat and humidity. I am an avid
> woodworking enthusiast and interested in building a small (enough for
> at least a half dozen books or so) bookcase that is hermetically
> sealed against humidity. The idea is somewhat like a reverse humidor
> and I have looked at some humidor plans, but still have no idea how I
> am going to make this work. Anyone with: plans, ideas, stories,
> comments etc. relating to this topic would be a lot of help.
>
> -Alex