Here’s another project I made. My son is graduating from college this week and as part of his program he needed to start a business. So here’s a business card box made of 1/4" Baltic Birch, living hinges for the banding around the sides, an inner box made with slotted parts and engraving for his school info.
I also put Chicago’s Professor Pollack’s “financial tips on an index card” on the banding and base of the box. Figured it was just what a kid starting out in his career should have He was one of only a dozen kids who was named a Syracuse Scholar so that got front & center billing on the box.
It’s all press fit - no glue would fit. Think I have to work on the tolerances I did pin the banding in place in the back next to the dovetail joint using 23ga headless pins.
That’s a really nice piece as well Jim. A lot of the detail in your post goes over my head (maybe region specific knowledge) but I love all the extra details you added to the casing (I’m sure they have some serious significance, just I don’t understand it). I’m curious as to whether you design your living hinges yourself or use some kind of software/tool to assist with it? My attempts resulted in snapping hinges haha. On a side note, as your pieces are really nice, I would like to suggest for longevity of the internal linings to consider something like moccasin suede. Definitely has a longer lifespan than felt. Probably slightly higher price, but over here (in AU) I can get a sqft of suede for between AU$6-9 (although you have to buy the whole hide usually ~6-18 sqft).
edit: Congratulations to the son for graduation day!
doing it in 3yrs saved me a bundle. He did it because he didn’t like the weather.
Found a girlfriend though who is on a 5yr architecture program so he’s going to take the school up on a job offer. He’s going to be a grad assistant and they’re also paying for him to get his MBA.
Told him fumes will be his downfall - motorcycle gas fumes or a girl’s perfume. Either makes a guy irrational
@Yuusuf_Sallahuddin_Y good idea on the moccasin suede. There’s a leather store a couple of towns over. They always have great scrap & small piece piles - no need to buy the hide I’ll give that a look for the next one. Working on a large Settlers of Cataan board and custom box. That one looks like it will take 2 sheets of 18x24 plywood.
@Jim_Hatch Something like that for gaming would definitely benefit from soft suede as it will get plenty of use (from cards/tokens/etc) & the suede will handle years of that treatment. You can use a “contact adhesive” to attach the suede. Check at the leather shop too regarding that. If you’re handy with a needle & thread, consider adding stitch holes also & hand-stitch the edges on to give that professional look Pretty easy process using leather needles (blunt points) & waxed thread. Should be able to get all that from the leather supplier too (reasonably cheap for the thread/needles too).
edit: Oh you can laser cut the suede too very easily. The 2mm stuff I have cuts beautifully. Can also be engraved (with low power like 4mA & high speeds like 500mm/s). Gives a nice subtle engrave.
@Yuusuf_Sallahuddin_Y I use 3M 300 Spray Adhesive. It’s a contact adhesive in a spray form. There are 2 other strengths available from 3M too. Not sure it’s easier than a brush out version though.
@Jim_Hatch Haven’t tested that 3m stuff before, but if it works well let me know. I purchase the contact adhesive directly from my leather supplier. Can’t find any specifics on the makeup of the adhesives I use for leather/suede, but there is either “cement” or “adhesive”. The cement says “84% hydrocarbons” & the adhesive is “50% hydrocarbons”. http://www.maclace.com.au/product.php?id=1514&list_page=1 http://www.maclace.com.au/product.php?id=1409&list_page=1
Once bonded, you need a blade to get the pieces apart.
Thanks for the link for the living hinges. I think I saw this one once before & it all looked too technical to me haha. I saw some equations & ran away lol.
@Tony_Sobczak I use both a K40 (modded to a 14x10 bed) and a 60W with an 18x24 bed. Small stuff I do on the K40, large stuff on the 60. This is 5x5.5x3in.
Not sure what you mean by “edges out of a 12in piece”.
@Tony_Sobczak Ah, you mean the banding. Yeah it is something like 20" long. The first one I tried as a “pass thru” from the back (split the band design into 3 sections where the living hinges were with little side cuts to clip the scrap off. Stuck a 4X24 from the rear (no exhaust in place) and the big U shaped slot behind the rail. It actually came out pretty good - stopped when it finished a section, pulled the excess off and then moved the whole thing forward to the front rail.
But I had issues on some of the graphics so I had to recut it and I didn’t have the patience to do it on the K40 so I ran it into the big 60W. Way easier. I thought about making it in 2 pieces but couldn’t see a good place for the extra cut. Pinning it would have kept it in place but I couldn’t fit the vertical line from a cut in the design anywhere that made sense.
The project made me really want a bigger machine. I’m seriously thinking about the LightObject 400x600 kit. I can strip out the guts of my K40 & Smoothie board and use it in the LO kit. What seemed to be plenty big enough when I was doing little boxes, purses, coasters and tchotchkes now seems small for the things I want to make. Graduating to bigger stuff
The other thing I learned from the two attempts was that I don’t do regular polyurethane anymore. The rub/wipe on finishes like Danish Oil and Wipe-on Poly are way easier and come out much better. The first one I used spray poly and kept having to rub down with 000 3M pad and re-spray. It didn’t seem to flow. The only trouble with the wipe-on stuff is that I can only find the wipe-on poly online (Amazon). At least the oil finishes like danish & tung I can get locally when I run out or don’t have enough for a project.
He was one of only a dozen kids who was named a Syracuse Scholar so that got front & center billing on the box.
doing it in 3yrs saved me a bundle. He did it because he didn’t like the weather.
Pretty easy process using leather needles (blunt points) & waxed thread. Should be able to get all that from the leather supplier too (reasonably cheap for the thread/needles too).