Hart Jewelry/ Music Box for Your Sweethart

I created a hart shaped jewelry for my three girls and my wife.  They loved it.  I hope you do to.  I also made a matching hand held mirror I have in another instructable.  https://www.instructables.com/id/Create-a-beautiful-mirror-for-your-sweethart/   I made this at TechShop.

Step 1: Materials

I used a .75 X 8.5" X 42" piece of maple. 
3 brass feet
2 hinges
1 optional 18 note music box pick one with the sound you like.
1 optional Plunger Style On/Off Assembly for Musical Movements 221-157-02
1 optional T bar key 3/8 " 221-010-08
If you are building a music box you can purchase a music movement online at http://www.nationalartcraft.com/subcategory.asp?gid=3&cid=18&scid=112
you will also need a Plunger Style On/Off Assembly for Musical Movements I used a 221-157-02.  You will need to modify this to work in the space.
I bought the brass feet and hinges on line at http://www.dlawlesshardware.com/jeboxfe4sets.html

Step 2: Create Drawing

First step is to draw the hart. I searched the internet and found some ideas But manually drew this up and put my own spin on it. this is a four layered hart. 1st layer is bottom, second layer, Third layer is the top of the lower box and finally the lid. Using a .dxf I created in a CAD package I imported it to V-Carve to create the cutouts. The bottom has two pockets with alignment holes and also the outside cutout. I used the tab feature to hold the cutouts in place. The next two layers both inside and outside are cutouts. I also made a pocketed insert to add additional storage or cover the music movement. The lid I V-carved an initial to personalize it. I then did a cutout of the outer edge. I attached the .dxf so you can bring it into your CAM program. I uploaded the file In a zip format since some could not open the file that was originally uploaded.

Step 3: Cut Out on Shopbot or Other CNC Router

I mounted the board on the shopbot running in the x direction.  I then ran the program to cut out all the pieces.  I started with the V-carving using a 60deg 1/4 in v-bit.  then installed a 1/8 " 1/4 " shaft up spiral bit to drill the holes.  Note do not drill all the way through the wood since the bits are shorter then the thickness of the wood.  you can complete the holes with a standard 1/8" drill bit latter.  I then installed a 1/4 up spiral bit to do all the pocketing and cutouts.

Step 4: V-Carve

use a 60 deg v-carve bit to the letter.

Step 5: Drill Holes

Using an 1/8 " up spiral bit drill all the holes using shopbot.  Note do not go though the full thickness of the wood or you will have over sized holes since most 1/8" bits only have .5" depth of cut.  you can see in the picture the first few holes I went too far.  Since these are in the lower sections it will be covered up.

Step 6: Pocketing

I then use a 1/4 in up spiral bit to do all the pocketing

Step 7: Inside Cutouts

I then did the inside cutouts with Tabs.  I could have done pockets through the hole part but that adds a lot of time to the job and creates lots of extra sawdust.  I chose to cut the tabs off and sand down the tabs instead of pocketing out the inside of each layer.

Step 8: Outside Cuts

I then finished off with the outside cuts with tabs.  The total cut time was less then 1 hr.

Step 9: Cut Out Pieces

I then cut out all the pieces using a hacksaw blade with no holder.  This allowed me to get into the curves to cut the tabs.

Step 10: Sand and Glue Up

The next step is to sand off the remaining tabs and sand the inside and outside edges to prepare for glueing.  I used the holes I drilled to align the pieces during glue up.  I used 1/8" bits  in 3 of the holes.  This helps but I found that the holes still have some slop to them and it does not hold the pieces perfect.  take your time when clamping to have all pieces aligned or you will have lots of sanding to do after the glue is set up.  It might take extra time to do 2 layers at a time so you get the alignment good.  Let set up over night to dry the glue.

Step 11: Round Over the Lid

I used a 1/8th in round over bit to put a nice edge on the lid.

Step 12: Sand Sand Sand

My favorite part (not) is to sand the part.  I spent a lot of time sanding the edges inside and out to make them look as good as I could because when you finish it little imperfections will show up if you do not.  the oscillating drum sander at techshop helped on the outside of the hart.  be careful with motorized sanders because they can sand off to much if you are not carful. 

Step 13: Add Stain and Finish

I  used a stain on these with a shalac (sp) finish.  after applying a lighter stain to the entire hart I then used some darker stain only on the letter on top.  I did this after the first coat so the reset of the box would not be stained dark.  I dribbled some darker stain into the v-carved letter and let it set for a while.  This help to make the letter pop a little.  once dried I added multiple coats of finish with fine sanding between each coat of finish.  unfortunately I did not take pictures during the finishing steps but here is the finished look.

Step 14: Add Hadware and Enjoy. Make a Great Gift.

Once finished I then installed the hardware.  The hinges have a pocket to align the hinges.  The feet were installed into three holes in the bottom to make a triangle.  I did not add one to the hole in the center.  If you are making this a music box you will need to install the movement and adjust the on / off lever.  You may need to cut the swing arm to shorten it.  This should come up through the hole with the cutouts below.  This was a trial and error thing for me.  you may need to sleeve the hole where the arm comes through the box.  I hope I covered everything.