Hidden Treasure Box - Inlaid Wood Box with Hidden Compartment

Step 11 Conclusion

To open the secret compartment apply pressure at the beveled edge above the hinge. This will make the magnet release and pop it open.

The veneers are pretty fantastic to work with. They're about the thickness of cardstock and cheap - these were around $1 per square foot and the cardstock was $.60. It's a nice way to use exotic materials in a responsible way. You can get thousands of square feet of veneer from one tree and then glue it to something that is more easily and efficiently created. This was my first time doing anything like this and now I'm completely hooked - both on the materials and engineering secret compartments.

Comments

[CottMouMou]

You are a genious! love ya!

[joef07]

hey look in to making a a mayan secret box. there really cool.

[technoplastique]

Will do! There are so many amazing possibilities in the 'hiding things cleverly' genre.

[geoslim13]

I have an idea to lock the secret compartment by using the top as a kind of "combination lock." Once I work it out and try it i will try to post photos.

[paulpcc]

very nice.. i once made a jigsaw puzzle from mdf with a hinged outer box, but that was a sophisticated as i could manage. Would be nice to try out your box. very nice. (for brief moment it reminded me of some kind of pandoras / hellraiser puzzle box) - have you ever tried making one of those? :o)

[technoplastique]

I haven't tried any other puzzle boxes - aside from junior high industrial tech and framing paintings I haven't really done any other woodwork. I'm really looking forward to playing around with some other designs with secrets, though!

[paulpcc]

ok cool

[hoihoi151]

there are very cool puzzle boxes available. my dad is making me some soon. hehe

[OldOwlIronworks]

wow that is amazing! did you think of that idea or were you inspired by someone elses box?

[technoplastique]

Thanks! The lock/hinge combination is my idea and I assembled the design from my own ideas, but I looked at a lot of historical furniture (especially trunks, letter boxes and spice cabinets) online before designing it. The satin lining is lifted from a series of art pieces I'm working on.

[shannonehlers]

Wow, not only is this an ingenious project from the design standpoint - I love the hidden compartment and magnetic actuator - it is also beautiful. Gorgeous! I want to do a similar box, but I want anchors inlaid instead of mermaids (I love the mermaids and would do this too, for several gift recipients, but I have a large section of my dining room lined with nautical pictures and artifacts).

[technoplastique]

There were anchors in it until the very end - I decided that the pattern was a bit too busy and the pretty woodgrain was being broken up too much. They're still in the file waiting for another project to happen ;-) And thanks for the compliment!

[teamcoltra]

Arn't mermaids part of nautical tails and lore? :) Though I think anchors would look cool :)

[jeff-o]

Okay, now I definitely have to try my hand at using veneers. The method using contact paper is very smart! Now if only I had access to a laser cutter. ;)

[wupme]

Thats the same i was thinking. Geez when i imagine what i could do with a lasercutter.. I'm pretty good at handling powertools, also saws, but nothing compared to a lasercutter. Also, its much less work ;)

[gamemasterful]

I'm fairly certain there is a build a laser instructable or two floating around. One of them was featured a while ago? Anyhow, excellent instructable! I love keeping things hidden. (Candy for the most part.)

[jeff-o]

Considering how thin the veneer is, you wouldn't even need a very powerful laser, either. Somewhere in the 2-5 watt range might be enough...

[technoplastique]

Like I said in the instructable the veneer is around the thickness of cardstock and I know I've seen projects where people take apart DVD players for the laser and cut paper with it. There's a small gap between that project and this one.

[jeff-o]

That's what I'm thinking. You can get a 2W laser on eBay for a few hundred bucks. Surely a 2W laser, with ten times the power of a DVD burner laser, will be able to cut veneers.

[technoplastique]

For simple pieces even an exacto or utility knife would do the job. I also figured out that with some masking tape over it first I could cut it with sharp scissors on straight lines with pretty good precision. I want to use veneers for EVERYTHING now ;-)

[jeff-o]

Yeah, I was wondering if veneers would cut with scissors. Would scissors also be less likely to get caught in the grain, compared to a knife?

[technoplastique]

Definitely. I would use a low tack painters tape, cover the cut lines (and draw the lines on the tape) then use sharp scissors to cut it. You shouldn't really get stuck in the grain at all doing it that way - just cut slowly. Straight lines will be much easier than curves, too. A well matched wood filler disguises a lot of small gaps, too!