Shifty Puzzle Box

Hey Guys, its been awhile since I made a one off puzzle box where I made it from scratch.  I am sure there are a few good intentioned purists that don't care for the cigar boxes, and that's ok too.  For me, those cigar boxes are but training for when I make a design where I do start from the ground up.

I think that when one's mind is constantly working to redesign how a box functions despite how plain it can look is what is fascinating for me.  With this design, the lid and base stays stationary and the middle section slides to the right for the lid to be able to be removed.  However, there are many hurdles and problems to solve to get there.

As with most puzzles making, one must take their time an execute the right tooling at the right time in order for the puzzle to work right.  Ugg, if I didn't miss a step and forgot to cut the dado track before the assembly of the outer box frame.  Luckily I was able to use a dado cutter on the router, but getting the slider parts in dado proved the next challenge.  I ended up gluing in the end blocks, then sliding 1" slider parts in without glue (where would it go?) and gluing in the last slider part so they all stayed still.  It worked!

The rest of the mechanisms filled in after I got the basic sliding effect I was looking for.  The inner box is attached to the base.  The lid pin located into the base.  Inside the box, the locking section of the mechanism is attached to the outer box frame, so moving it is the only way to remove the lid.  

The dials on the bottom are to use as manipulators for parts inside that lock other parts in place until the time is right. Using wooden pulleys its made to look like its mechanical in nature, but its just artsy and needs to be removed before you begin solving it.  I do love that I was able to make this puzzle box from the offcut bins!

Thanks for looking guys!