Monday, November 29 1999
Q. Recently I noticed that lid of my cigar humidor was not opening and closing properly. When I checked the back of the box, I saw that the pin that holds one of the hinges together was missing. I looked everywhere for it, but no luck. (Maybe my wife vacuumed it up.) It's not an expensive box, but it does the job. If I re-position the hinge just right, the humidor keeps its seal. Since I don't want to replace the hinge or the humidor right now, any suggestions?
- Bill in North Carolina
A. Interesting you should mention this, because I had the exact same problem with a humidor I was using in my office. At first I was going to go to a hobby shop and try to find a replacement pin, or just try to replace the hinge altogether. But since I'm not much of a carpenter, I didn't want to start dismantling the box.
So, in lieu of that, I took a bushy pipe cleaner and stuck it through the hinge where the pin would go. The fit was nice and tight. I tied the two ends of the pipe cleaner together and clipped off the excess wire. That was over two years ago, and it's still holding up. If it ever fails, I'll just do it again.
