Anotheryearon and I got to make the rune tags for the LRP Hospital again. I like to bring a little variation to the design so this year I gave it some shape as well as the year number.
This is my laser cut cryptex. It features 28 different characters and 9 rings, giving a total possible 10.5 Trillion different combinations. I took a bit of time developing the design so that I could add some nice features. This cryptex file is laid out so that you can have any number of rings in your own design. The best feature is that the codeword is changeable, each locking ring has an outer letter ring that can be placed in any one of the 28 different positions. Once the rings are back in place the ring locking bars can added and they prevent the rings from being modified until the box is open again. It's a bit hard to explain so I made a video showing how it all work (svg here)
It took a long time to assemble this so I lived with my initial design choices but if I were to remake it I would adjust the file to make the ring locking bars out of 6mm ply and maybe put some blind holes onto the code rings to prevent the code being brute forced.
I had a local craft fair this weekend, I wanted to add a few extra/new items to my range so that my stall would be very different from last time. I've seen lots of variations on this wine box so I thought I would make my own version. The living hinges at the top allow the sides to be pulled close and the lid closed, it also a great place to put a handle. The fretwork patterns down the sides make them unique to me as well as the custom labels attached to the side. (svg here)
I didn't sell very many and I'm not sure any were going to be used as wine bottle boxes, one lady wanted to put plants in it and another was going to put fairy lights in hers. Neither wanted the the custom labels so I'm pleased they were only held on with blue tak. It's definitely given me food for thought with the next craft faire looming.
I've had my new laser cutter resting on it's packing create for several months, I recently ordered 100 sheets of Birch plywood, 800x600mm and I still had about 50 sheets of poplar left from the last order so all of that needed a new home inside the garage (rather than the utility room). I rummaged through the scraps and planks in the shed and I already had enough parts to make a new small bench so I took my trusty little helper and we made a bench one day (you can tell the girls were out because we made it in the kitchen to avoid the rain). The bench works well, it's a little bit wobbly but it does bring the laser up to a nicer height for working at. As you can see I still have to plumb the extraction in to the existing outlet rather than opening the garage, especially in the cold weather, everything takes time.