As I have pointed out in a few posts now, when I got my forge the first thing I wanted to do was try stuff. Just play and see where it took me and find out what was possible. I was looking for inspiration. One object that caught my eye, so I had to try and make it was a roll top box. It is again based on other’s designs with my own minor touches. I was fascinated by the roll-top portion using the living edge. Figuring out how to make it slide was interesting too. I actually did some research and found out that someone recommended just using wax paper (something I already had). It worked pretty well. In later designs I found it was hard to apply but in this one I was surprised how well it worked. I eventually found and bought a product called Slip-It. This works really well, but is a bit “wet” and can give wood a “wet” look. Mostly I use it in places you won’t see. Wondering…what do others do when they want moving parts made of draft board or other woods to slide easily?
I particularly liked the fact that the rolling portion hides away so you don’t see it on the inside. This was a gift for my father in law who is an amazing wood turner (sorry no glowforge…yet) but this is 100% made on the glowforge.
Very cool looking! I wonder if it could work using this design so the living hinge part would not show anywhere and apparently solid wood disappeared off to the side.
My experience with this was that the radius of the turn is the challenge. You could try other living hinge designs that would give you more or less turning radius, but I am not clear on what you are trying to achieve. (my issues with visualization). Having anything that is truly solid (no living hinge visible) feels like you would have to have a place for it to go that was equal to the solid part. The illusion on this box works out so well because the living hinge rolls around the back and then along the bottom (in between and inner and outer panels for the back and bottom) Really cool effect, but the living hinge is the key. Not sure if that helped.
Most living hinge designs bend equally on the top and bottom one side stretched and the other compressed, That design compresses on the bottom only letting the thinness of the top bend like veneer but spreading the stress out to hopefully avoid cracking. Put on such a box, you could not see the bottom and would give the impression of a solid piece of wood that slid into nowhere.
The living hinge does this also but gives away the game in having the cuts show on top.
Really nice! I got some Slip-It for wooden drawers… another thought, but would require altering the space, is use teflon tape to cover the top & bottom of the slots for the top.
Other thought is just the species of wood–did you use an mdf, or the maple ply? Just thinking the maple ply is a lot “slicker” compared to mdf, and that alone may make a big difference–or just finish all of the surfaces with tongue oil or something so the Slip-It is less apparent in the slides…
It is MDF so it was really showing and yes I agree a different wood would help. My brother mentioned the teflon tape so I will have to experiment with that.
spray dry-lubricant works great on wooden drawers, but might be too messy at this small of a scale.
Rubbing the slots down with a little bit of (beeswax, paraffin, hard-candles, bar-soap) might work.
Walnut oil is a fair lubricant for wood, but the liquid stuff may be messy, or spread through the grain and be visible. Rubbing the slider edges with an actual walnut might even be enough, without worrying about any additional cleanup.
