Shutter Box

I made a pretty simple version of a shutter box. This box is relatively small in comparison to a traditional bread box which is similar in concept. you can use it to store small jewelry, cards, cash, or whatever else you can manage to fit in it.

1 foot By 1 foot by 1/8 inch wood sheet

Wood glue

80 and 120 grit sandpaper

Access to a computer and laser cutter

Go to festi.boxes.py and find the shutter box option.

Your settings for the should look like mine which are the default settings but feel free to experiment with them.

Click the generate button to preview the SVG file

If it looks right, then click download and open up the laser cutting Software,: RetinaEngrave

When going about importing, make sure you use the "vector content" for cuts and the "raster content" for images that you want burnt into the wood.

For the first import use vector

When you first import it will be in a rectangular shape and have some numbers and letters at the bottom. to delete them go to the left to open up layers and objects and delete element 0-19 and then rearrange the other parts to fit on a square that's 11.9" by 11.9" using the ruler at the top.

Your cut settings should be around 70-80 percent power on 100 percent speed and 1 pass

for a rasterize do 50-60 percent power on 100 percent speed

After cutting all the parts you should have these parts in front of you.

notice the curved pieces are slightly different.

Ghe larger curve should follow the top curve of the largest outer wall pieces like this

Glue it to the top and make sure you wipe away the glue with a cotton swab or toothpick or even folded piece of paper.

Also glue the smaller curved piece under it a little more than an 1/8 of an inch

Now glue the square piece and the smaller rectangular pieces along the wall like this and wipe off the excess glue again.

Now you can glue the bottom on to the piece. Its not too necessary here but for the rest please wipe up the glue.

Sand down the sides of both the door handle and the flexible door which are both pictured here. first sand down with the 80 grit to remove material then use the 120 grit to smooth it out more. some would use some wax to lubricate the surfaces but i find it to be not too necessary.

Then glue the handle into the door.

Now glue the little curved pieces to the sides of the walls on the inside making sure to make it flush with the cutout notches and not the protruding tabs.

Put glue on the back panel like this and BEFORE (unlike me) you put the back on slide the door in with the handle facing out. if you assemble the whole box before putting the door in you'll end up needing to break a wall off and maneuvering it in.

If you want you can put weight on the back while the glue dries but its not too important.

After you let all the glue dry it should be finished

You may need to cycle the door a bit to get it moving easily and its best to not put pressure on the top of the door.