18 Again Reprogrammable Puzzle Box

A puzzle friend sent me these beautiful hand painted boxes for me to retrofit.

They were beautifully painted by an artist in Romania and so inexpensive how could I say no, even if it is just a 'pine box'.

I was moved to build a combination style lock, one that is reprogrammable if possible, that was my challenge.

I learned how to create tumblers that when activated are either locked or unlocked.  For each pair of buttons (on the vertical) are the on/off buttons for that lock.  Depending on tumbler orientation, the top button could unlock, while in the next section it could be reverse.  If this locking system had only one tumbler it wouldn't be very challenging, but having 9, well that is a different kettle of fish.

The fun part was that I used a code to make things easier for me and for the end user.  I determined that the top row horizontally would stand for 'consonants' and the bottom horizontal row would represent the 'vowels' of a word.  So, if a customers name was 'Robert Ras', then the first vertical set of button would be set so that the top button would be the unlock selection.  The second vertical row of buttons would have the bottom button as the unlock selection, and so on.  To unlock, you just have to spell their name.

The center dowel rod threads them all together creating one axis point.  Each of the tumblers is cut the same, but installed either up or down within the carriage.  To reset and change the layout, just remove the carriage, then the center dowel axis pin.

After having said all of this, the setting of the lock tumblers in not enough to open the lid by itself.  An internal slider piece that is attached to the removable carriage that requires a gravitational bump for it to finally slide into the unlocked position.

After all of that, there is no room inside for anything, lol.

Thanks for looking guys!