For this project, I made a 3D box with planetary themes on each face of the box. I used this pencil box template video and changed the dimensions of the side faces to make the box a perfect cube. I also changed the number of interlocking notches to the side faces because I downsized these sides and wanted to prevent any clutter.
Top left image – Top face with “John’s Solar Box”, left face with etch of the Moon, right face with etch of Saturn
Top right image – Top left but showing the face with the Sun on the left side now
Bottom left image – Bottom face showing the stars, Sun on the top face and etch of the earth on the left side
Bottom right image – Same as bottom left, shifted slightly
For the faces, I added png images of the Sun, Earth, Moon, Saturn, and the stars, all of which I found on google images. On the top face, I added an inscription which reads as “John’s Solar Box.” I used some scrapped balsa wood for this project.
The first issue I encountered was that the images would mess with the red lines that are supposed to be shown on the printer technology. To alleviate this, I asked my good friends at NOLOP for some assistance, and I turned each image into an image trace. This helped ensure that the faces would be completely cut through the print.
Additionally, when calibrating if the design was good to print, I realized that the size of the design was slightly larger than the piece of wood that I was using. I resized the image and was good to start the print off.
The last issue I encountered is that there is not enough friction between the notches on the side faces of the box so they need an adhesive to be kept together when assembled properly. I used wood glue and some tape to alleviate this.