Wood is a lovely and useful material. It comes in a spectrum of hardness and color. It can be worked by machine or hand. It looks beautiful painted or left bare. It lasts long and ages well, it can float or burn, it can be curvy or straight.
Wood and paper both come from the trunks of trees. Trees are plants, and live through a chemical process called photosynthesis. Their cells have a pigment called chlorophyll, which absorbs red and blue light very effectively, and converts the light energy into chemical energy.
Pine is the most common tree for woodworking, though I’m partial to Poplar for boxes. Pine is soft, cheap and attractive. For straight cuts across the grain, the right tool is a hand saw, circular saw or chop saw. A miter box can align 45° cuts for a seamless joint, which look particularly nice with a continuous grain.
There are a number of ways to join the sides of a box. With a miter cut, wood glue maintains the aesthetic. For 90° cuts: nails are the quickest, screws are better if the box needs to disassemble. The more advanced option is a dovetail or box joint with no connectors.
Build a Wooden Circuit Box
- Go to a nearby hardware store and check out their wood stock. Unless you go to a specialty store, it will be pine. Compare the different sizes and compositions, find something you like. Borrow a ruler, measure the thickness of the board; don’t buy anything yet.
- On paper, draw your box as a rectangular prism. Use your hands with a ruler as a guide, and figure out what general size box you want. Make sure it can accommodate a microcontroller under the lid. Note Width, Height, and Depth on your drawing.
- In 3D modeling software, render your box precisely. Account for the thickness of the wood you’ve selected.
- Consider how to join the sides of your box. Do you want to mitre? Nails, glue, or neither? Remodel your box accordingly.
- Explode the box model into six pieces and flag the lengths of the unique edges of each.
- Make a printout for yourself and/or the hardware store. Add ⅛” to every saw line. Figure out exactly how much wood you need.
- Select an appropriate saw, given your box design and woodworking experience.
- Cut your wood, get it cut at the hardware store for a small fee (straight edges only), or find a laser cutter (thin wood only).
- Sand every face of every piece in a circular pattern with first the coarse side, then the fine side of a sanding sponge.
- Find two metal hinges and a clasp. Attach the lid, keeping it well-aligned.
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