Kumiko Dreams Box

I did one for a birthday present and the person loves it. Thank you so much for sharing. It was fun to peel the masking tape off too!..

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First time trying you’re beautiful project. I dont think the top pieces were supposed to come out? And the pieces didnt fit together well so I’ll need some tools to help me snap it together. Overwhelmed by this one.

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Looks like you probably cut the ‘score’ lines by accident?

Yep, as @jaltschuld said, you forgot to set the blue lines to “score.”

I can’t remember now how the fit was on mine; I usually try for a pretty tight kerf, though, so I don’t have to use glue. Unless your material is quite a bit different, you should be able to tap it together with a light rubber-tipped hammer.

What’s kerf?

And when I uploaded the image to the software I couldnt tell what lines needed to change so I left it as is.

@yankee7548, kerf is the amount of material removed by the width of the tool used to cut, be it be a saw, a rotary tool like a cnc or a laser beam. It is important if you intend to fit pieces together with each other in a construct.

Here is one explanation in the forum
https://community.glowforge.com/t/to-adjust-for-kerf-or-not-to/2619
but this topic has been discussed amply and if you search you will find more valuable information.

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Up in the top post I listed the colors used in the art (which makes the UI separate them into different steps) and what settings needed to be applied to each. The blue lines need to be set to “score.” :slight_smile:

What material was yours cut from?

I did it! I made mine out of draftboard…kerfs are tight, but to be expected if not using glue… wasn’t sure how draftboard would fare, but nothing broke, so…tada!! Didn’t add any extra flair, but still looks great! Thanks for the nice pattern.

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That came out great, thanks for sharing!

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I cut this out Saturday out of baltic birch. I think it’s the most beautiful piece to come out of our Glowforge. Thank you again, so very much!

It is just stunning! Still need to rub it down with Feed-N-Wax, and insert something pretty.

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STUNNING!!! Thank you for sharing this inspiration!

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Every ones boxes are amazing . I tried it twice and I had a heck of a time with the hinge. Is it because I used plywood instead of hardwood?

Mine was made from Baltic birch plywood. What was it about the hinge that gave you trouble?

It doesn’t fit

The circle in the middle, you have to decide which direction to fit it, one side of the cut is wider than the other side because of how the laser cuts it. So the first time I made it, I actually broke the circle trying to fit it in, then the circle was a bit off trying to put it in the hinge part. So I think I flipped the circle and it went into the tab much easier. Also, it didn’t open and close smoothly as is, so I found that putting butcher block oil/wax on before putting it together acted as a lubricant for my plywood, making the the lid much easier to move.

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It’s beautiful! Thank you!

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Thanks for sharing @geek2nurse! Our 38th anniversary was July 17th and when I realized she’d waited three days to tell me I’d forgotten it, I knew I was in trouble. I tried to say I was waiting on her and figured she’d forgotten it too, she said this was true but that I shouldn’t change the subject.

That night I turned and finished the best bowl I’ve ever made and gave it to her the next day. This helped somewhat. She has a birthday coming up and I wanted (needed)) to give her something special to help get out of the doghouse so I started with your box and made a few modifications.

First up was to fill in all of the engraved parts with CA glue. This worked but not as good as I’d hoped and I didn’t come up with a good way to fill in the recesses at the cut edges between the lid and body. On the other hand, those panels are hard as a rock. (If I had it to do over I’d use a flood coat of resin.)

My other modification was to engrave the bottom of the box. I found this heart in the Glowforge Premium Beta art collection and when I removed the fill and left the outlines it seemed to go well with the kumiko theme. The font was also from the Glowforge Premium beta collection.

The sentiment of the engraving was inspired by my lapse of memory regarding the anniversary.

Earlier I said “If I had it to do over…” it would be better. Problem is, she walked in on me while I was finishing it, confiscated it immediately, took photos, and texted them to the family. It was all I could do to get it back for final finish and wax! I objected that it wasn’t up to snuff and I wanted to do it over and she said I was absolutely forbidden to make it no longer unique in the world. So…no chance of doing it over.

If I did though…

  • Flood coat the lid/body panels with resin first and make the final cut after using a scroll saw.
  • Flood coat the lid with either clear or contrasting resin (a burgundy would go well with birch or maple). I’d temporarily hot-glue it to Plexi on the bottom so it would level from the bottom up, allowing me to avoid extensive sanding on the top.
  • Seal-coat inside and bottom with resin.
  • Polish to gloss.

I know that the resin and gloss aren’t normally associated with kumiko but I’ve become fascinated with high gloss finishes lately.

Thanks for making and sharing such an inspiring design! It is small enough to fit on her dresser and big enough that there isn’t room for both me and it in the doghouse. :wink:

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I love this! It’s gorgeous. One of these days I need to check out these challenges, even if it’s just to see all of the entries. This seems like it should be 1st place IMO. haha

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This is utterly beautiful. Thank you.

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good job, getting outta that doghouse! :laughing: i’m sure she loved the gift and the sentiment!

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