I saw a design for a Switch game holder not too long ago, but it was a sliding drawer-style design and I found myself wishing it was more of a clamshell. So I decided to make one, and here is the result.
The outside is made from a board of 1/8" purpleheart I’ve had sitting around waiting for the right project. This seemed like the perfect showcase, it’s such a beautiful material.
The interior is… wood. I have no idea what it is, I got a box of remnants from Ocooch a while back and this was one of the pieces. It was also .225" thick, so somewhere between 1/8 and 1/4, which ended up being just the right size (though 1/4 would have worked).
The hinges were key to making this work, because they ultimately set the scale of how thick this needed to be. These are tiny, but got the job done. I got them off Amazon here: Amazon.com
Finally, the interior is 3mm EVA foam (cut at 275/80). I think 5mm would work a bit better, but I cant get any delivered right now, so 3mm it is!
Unfortunately, I didn’t take any WIP photos, but honestly it’s not complicated. I cut the exterior panels out of the purpleheart, along with a slight engrave for some magnets. Then I cut the interior slices out of the thicker wood. I did multiple, heavy engrave passes and cut deep enough to slot in some small magnets - I suspect doing two 1/8" layers and cutting a hole in the middle one for magnets would be easier, though it would make the gluing more of a challenge.
With everything cut, I glued and clamped the two sides separately. Once they had dried, I sanded the edges, attached the hinges (protip: pilot holes), and then sanded everything smooth.
At this point, I cut the foam and did a dry fit. And then I had the idea to put the engraving on the inside as a hidden surprise. This would have been a lot easier to do before assembly, but it went pretty smoothly.
Finally, I gave the whole thing a good cleaning, then a couple coats of linseed oil. And that oil made all the difference - this wood just lit up, as you can see in the photos. I didn’t plan it, but I also like how much it looks like a book when closed. I left a bit of the char on the lighter inner layers, and I think it adds some texture on the sides.
(I’ve added the design to the free files area if you’d like to make your own)
