I wanted to make a new layered box concept I’d been thinking about, but knew that the indexing between layers was going to be essential to success. I’d experimented with using brass pins as structural/indexing tools so I thought this would be a good time to put that technique to use.
Quick notes:
1/8” solid non PG maple.
Ten total layers tall, roughly 2” in diameter.
Tiny magnets are 3mm cubes. ([source here](radarfn Magnetic Cube 216pcs 3mm… Amazon.com))
Sanded to 600 grit, sealed with wipe-on satin polyurethane.
The top and bottom are both engraved, here’s the bottom.
As a proof of concept it’s pretty successful. My next iteration would be at double the x and y size to make it a more useful piece, but for now I’m calling it a win.
oooh, I like it a lot. Do you make your designs use parametric settings, or do you have to adjust manually when you make it bigger? Excited to see how this looks in a bigger size.
That is just gorgeous! It’s great to see an example of indexing, haven’t seen much of that. And I have a stack of those magnet cubes—you’re giving me ideas…
I cut the rods using tin snips approximately to length. Get them into position. Cut them close using a dremel with a cutoff wheel. Sand them flush with standard sandpaper (340 grit in this case), then finish sanding the whole piece with 600 grit.
If you want to see my previous posts about using brass they are here:
It sands pretty easily, but it does take a little elbow grease. That’s why I used the dremel to cut it off nice and close… I didn’t want to sand longer than I had to. I’d say it took me about 1-2 mins to sand each face down flush on this piece, then a couple more mind with 600 grit to get it super smooth.
Man you should feel it in person. You put the top on and then twist it until the magnets snap it into place. It makes the coolest clicking noise as it locks down. Hard to show in the forum, but it’s really pleasing.
