Hermetically Sealed Bookcase (Reverse Humidor)

[lotus_net]

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

[Hoyt Weathers]

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:

looks exactly like mine, but I got mine from Fort Knox. Sealing your bookcase is another matter.

Hoyt

lotus_net wrote:

[Benson]

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:

[codepath]

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