Kudos to all of the wonderful Advent Calendar designs, especially [designvh619] for his outstanding and inspirational locking advent calendar. He inspired me to take a run at creating one for my mom’s 80th birthday (which was this past Thanksgiving Day).
So here’s my creation, a terrific joy to design and a great way to bond with my parents as we assembled it together today:
We started with the arsenal of parts:
The calendar features multiple gears that when engaged via a thumb-driven wheel turns a 25-tooth gear with each of the first 25 days of December engraved on each tooth. It also rotates the turntable which this year holds a Christmas tree fashioned from various-sized snowflakes. Brass axels add a nice look with the tips of the main wheels and a “click” mechanism that marks each turn of the day. Thanks Clayton Boyer (www.lisaboyer.com) for the gear drive inspiration (kinda like his orrery) - he’s got a very helpful guidebook for clock-making that I bought right before I bought my Glowforge.
But taking a cue from other designs, this calendar features the obligatory locking drawer that only opens on Christmas Day. It’s finished with a four-star overlay, snap-on sides and matching stars for the tree-topper and drawer pull.
Here’s a short video tour: Glowforge Advent Calendar
I’m hoping to create a kind of “subscription” for subsequent years for new designs for the turntable (maybe a manger scene, wildlife, three wise men, etc.) that can be swapped out over future years.
This is my third project, and I’m really having fun! I have to admit that the box is over-engineered and I will certainly make a few modifications to the design but I’m really happy at how it turned out and my mom loved it!
