Well, here’s what I did with the box elder wood. I designed a new type of band saw box. I call it the Presto Box. It has two compartments, each with a lid, and normal hinge pin construction. However, I extended the top of the box beyond the hinge pin to create a, sort of, actuation lever. When you press the top ends of the box, “Presto”, the lid opens.
Construction was kind of tricky using templates and lots of careful cuts on the band saw. I made two boxes since I found it is always better to multiples of a new design to learn the most about what not to do next time.
A coat of tung oil on the finished boxes really brought out the red streaks in the box elder. Almost too vivid. It looks like my granddaughter scribbled over a maple box with a Magic Marker. The larger box is 7 1/2" x 4" x 2".
This shape is only one adaptation of the design concept. I can picture all sorts of shapes that would give the same effect. These first two boxes are really “proof of concept” prototypes. Don’t look too close, or you will see all the flaws and mistakes. The next ones will be much better now that I’ve learned a few tricks. I guess we should all learn from our mistakes and keep on trying to improve.
