Living Hinge Pencil Box

Box in a box is a good solution :smiley:

They came out great.

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Gorgeous–tambour / living hinge hybrid!

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I had to go look up “tambour.” :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

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Your grandkids are pretty darn lucky in my opinion. These are super cool! How well do you think the living hinge will hold up to the repeated movements? I don’t have a feel for that.

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Beautifully done.

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It doesn’t feel at all stressed when pushing and pulling it. Seems to me that motion has to be easier on it than the flexing it would get if used normally as an actual hinge, so I’m hoping it will last well. I guess we’ll find out!

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zomg I love this! Thanks for sharing your design, too - that is very kind.

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Just Wow!

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Oh-MG! I tried my first living hinge box last week and it cracked when I tried to bend it.

Your work is impeccable — what wood did you use?

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That is beautiful AND useful! I love it and must make one very soon, cause who doesn’t need one of those!!!

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These were made from 1/8" Baltic birch plywood.

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The sliding top is wonderful! Awesome stuff. I like your choice of engraving too, it really adds some class.

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Wow!! Came out really pretty!

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Gorgeous work!

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I only steal the best. :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

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Snapped living hinges is my area of expertise. Ugh. Waiting forever for a living hinge to cut only to snap it, is sad.
Double check the edges of the hinges to make sure they’re cut through. If there are attached bits even if seemingly innocuous, the piece will snap.
I found quickly wetting (not soaking) a stiff hinge will help it to bend the first time.
Keep in mind that hardboard will sort of disintegrate if it gets too wet. Just a quick trip under the tap. I used hot water.
Do not rub the hardboard or it will pill.

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Been there, for sure! This design has enough hinge in it that it didn’t have any trouble with the first bends, though. (I’ve only made it from Baltic birch plywood, so YMMV.)

One trick I learned here is that alcohol won’t make the wood swell like water does, so that’s what I use now for wetting my more stubborn living hinges. :slight_smile:

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Welcome back about. If you want to make hinges more robust then get rid of all the pointy places as sharp corners will be where breaks happen. where there is a curve the laser does not stop and make an irregular hole but a curve keeps the forces from concentrating there If the cut is dumbell shaped and there is a bit of wood dropped out you will not have incomplete cutting. I have seen just circles at the end of a straight cut to almost super long ellipses but they all are less fragile than spindle shapes.

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I can’t figure out where the file is to download

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She put it in the Free Files section at this link.

Right click on the drawing in the first post and choose Save Image As…SVG.

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