I’ve never been to great into decorative boxes, however, throw the word puzzle into the foray and you pique my attention.
I made this box a few years ago and posted it on LJ back in 6th. March 2019.
Unfortunately I had no intention to unleash it on the innocent public, so no build happy snaps were taken. Nevertheless if interested, there are links to a SketchUp model and PDF to assist in building your own… the only downside is you’ll have to read/search in the original post below for the links.
Recently posting a hint about shellacking, this box being the subject of the demo made me nostalgic enough to post it here and to prove to many skeptics that I can actually make something out of stuff other than just MDF and the laser isn’t always my first go to cutting tool.
Anyone that want’s a quick glimpse can view this SketchUp animation that I seem to have absentmindedly omitted out of the original post.
Feel free to see how a non-pretty, pretty box is made.
Then again you may not have… unfortunately there's no third option so you must choose between the two… now don't lie to yourself!
This project presents my take on the UnaBox which I made a few years ago when I was a SketchUp duckling in my late 60's.
The reason I'm belatedly presenting this project is because a friend asked me about shellacing and as the UnaBox was used in a shellacing demonstration video by a very clever master ctraftsman woodworker whom I proudly call a friend, I decided to link that video to this project and hopefully provide some useful information for some. Now in defense of the presenter (to provide anonymity, let's call him Carl... only because that's what his mother named him), while we have debated the French polishing topic often in the past, this was an ad-hoc, unrehearsed undertaking through my continued persistence, cause he owed me a favor and I demanded my kilo of flesh. We ferreted around for about 10 minutes in preparation to amass some of the items required, clear his dining table (much to the chagrin of his missus) and set up the camera… and of course poured me a generous glass of vino. The video goes on for about 1 ½ hours, however, it is about how shellacing is done traditionally and not the modern day twist presented by those shoot from the hip cowboys that may have sniffed a tad too much metho. If you want the craftsman version, please check out this video, otherwise if you just want to brush it on, simply search the Internet. We did pledge to make a rehearsed formal video, however, time has been our major critic… and I feel (contrary to the presenter), this "rough cut", unedited video is better than not knowing about it rather than some of the "shady advice" found on the net.
Back to the UnaBox. I downloaded the plans off the internet, imported into SketchUp, and then totally disregarded the SU model and went off and did my own thing… shit, somehow it actually worked and it now has a nice coating of shellac… thanks to Carl.
The box was made out of merbau and flocked (with an "O") on the inside. That beauty spot on the lid is where I dropped it, dented it and patched it and called it a contrasting feature as I was too bloody lazy to fake another dovetail by making a new lid..
I wanted to make the box puzzle self-destructive without any external tools. You could use a coin to remove the threaded plug, however, all my friends are cheap and when they borrowed my 10c piece to undo the plug they never return it… the 10c not the plug… just think… if 1,000,000 people undid the box, I'd be $100,000 poorer. Consequently there is a dummy plug with a cam that can be rocked out of place revealing an underlying washer,
The washer is used to remove the threaded plug.
The threaded plug and the hole both have repelling magnets forcing some upward pressure on the plug to remove the need to exert strong closing force.
The top lid can be swung around out of the way,
To permit pushing the lid back out of the captivating notch,
Then the whole lid can be swung around exposing the flocked cavity
waiting for that elusive 10c piece to be placed inside, that never eventuates…
Anyone crazy enough to undertake this project can get the plans and vague measurements from here, otherwise don't waste more time and do yourself a favor and get educated by this video (in case you ignored the previous link)..., just don't forget the popcorn
and a potty
if you don't have a pause button on your video player.
I think I have puzzled myself out by this latest instalment, so you may rest easy knowing that there is no planned masochism on you, the unwary public.
If your first cut is too short... Take the second cut from the longer end... LBD
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