Trying my best but with no luck of getting the Shoji Votive Candle Holder together. Everything seems way to tight and the pieces don’t easily go together like in the youtube video. Any suggestions?
Step one: Make sure you are using the correct thickness of material. If you are using something other than what was called out it would probably have required changes on the tabs.
IF using the correct thickness of material, a tight fit is a good thing (usually).
A light tap with a soft mallet will do the trick .
I really like things that stay together without glue.
With that said, if I am selling it, I usually give it a little dot or two anyway, once the parts have been proven and it is assembly time.
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I think I may hold the record for having made more of those than anyone else, so far. 
At one time, anyway. Shoji lantern overload
I bet you’re getting tricked by the acrylic. If you look closely, you’ll notice the tabs on the bottom edge of the acrylic pieces are asymmetrical. Pick a direction (clockwise or counter-clockwise) and an edge (long space to the first tab, or short space to the first tab), and then place them around the inside with that edge leading in the direction you chose.
I think I actually have one lantern left, so I’ll go see if I can take a photo that makes this clearer than mud!
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And, of course, the one I have left is one I got all funky on and decided to see what it would look like with purple acrylic. Not only do I not really like the look, but it’s really hard to photograph! So I drew a picture instead.
The acrylic pieces look kind of like the top image (not to scale, don’t judge me!), in that the tabs on the bottom edge aren’t aligned equidistant from the edges. That’s because to fit into the slots on the bottom of the lantern, they will be arranged like in the bottom image, when you’re looking down at them from the top, so they’re off-center by one material width.
So you have to pay attention to how the tabs line up when you’re putting them in, or they won’t go in correctly. Also, don’t try to put the bottom piece (with the circular hole cut in it) until you’ve got the acrylic in.
I hope I guessed correctly as to what your problem is – if not, I’ll be happy to try again!
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I can’t get the frame together.
Ah, okay. What material did you cut it from?
Medium walnut
That should work fine; I made a ton of them from that. Did you find the instructions in the project folder? Their photos are 'way better than I can do, especially with this funky purple one.
In case you didn’t, from the Glowforge User Interface (GFUI), with the Shoji project file loaded (see screenshot below), click on the three little dots at the top of the screen (just to the left of the gear icon), and that should open up the instructions. I’m thinking it’s just something about how you’re putting it together, since you used the proper thickness and all!
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