MSRaynsford

  The final box in the collection is a pumpkin shaped box. The plywood was painted orange and deliberately streaky for this final design to add to the pumpkin texture. I felt that trying to get the edge of the box to curve all of the way around the stalk was a big task so I simply drew the stalk on the lid only and curved the box around the basic pumpkin shape. I've tweaked all three designs to the point where they all work well and are ready to be cut on other machines. The designs are available for purchase through my Etsy store  for a nominal fee (which seems to be a good way to cope with the additional support some people need).  If you're interested and want to support me to make more designs like this, then please take a look. https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/1307591527/3-halloween-box-plans-gift-box-files

For the second of my new Halloween boxes I chose this cute little ghost shape. Again painted white and again a little bit too tight on the lower corners, but it still came out well and can be fixed on the next cut. I'm using the same method to make these boxes that I wrote about on instructables, way back in 2016. https://www.instructables.com/Laser-Cut-Heart-Shaped-Box/ . The process describes how you can make pretty much any shape using a mixture of separate flex sections and minimum bend radius curves. The outer skin is held in place while the glue dries using a former that is also cut at the same time as the rest of the box sides. Because the layers all nest inside each other these formers are a rather efficient usage of materials. I've got a third box design still to make and then I can tidy up the files for release.  

I realise that Halloween isn't till October but for those people who are keen, like me, it pays to get started early. I've had this idea for interesting shaped flex boxes floating around for a very long time but this year I actually got round to making some more. It's a simple skull to start with, some nice rounded curves on the top and some tighter bends at the bottom of the jaw. Too tight in fact, I've changed it to put a gentler curve on the bottom edge before I release the files. The side of the box is made from two different flex sections for the acute angles to the left and right of the jaw. The whole sheet was painted white which is hard to see from these pictures but it is a bit more obvious in person.  

The new magazine file design I've made a few of these magazine files before but they're getting well used, plus my kids are still subscribing to 'The Phoenix' comic so there are more and more comics lying around in piles so I figured it was time to revamp the design a little bit and make some more for storage.    Damage to the original box file caused by use You can see in this image how the kids have been taking the files on/off the shelves. This has resulted in them snapping the front panel in halve. I imagine overloading the file also caused the sides to push apart breaking the glue joint. The new version strengthens the front and back panel by making them overlap the side panels instead of just being glued on. Now all of the tabs pull through into the side panels rather than pull away from them. The base panel has a similar joint to stop the base from falling out.  Side panel joints are strengthened by overlapping material The two sides of this file tessellate pe

  My wife became a fully qualified consultant at the start of last year but she's finally got a permanent job and settled into an office now. She showed me the A4 printout stuck on her office door displaying her name which was probably a subtle nudge that I should be making her a better sign. This is made from 3mm Duo Perspex bought from Kitronik . It's a very thin layer of metallic gold acrylic on top of black acrylic so you can cut through the top layer and expose the black underneath it. Perfect for making these kinds of signs. I've just used some of my strongest double sided tape on the back because I'm sure someone will complain about holes in the door for any other fixing method. Hopefully it will last a while. With a new job in a hospital 45 mins away, this means moving the whole family to a different town (as alluded here before), but that also means a double garage/bigger workshop for me. I've got plans to release more laser cut designs and once we've s

 The sun may be setting on the #notableremains campaign but it will rise again in the #East. There's only 30 mins remaining to back the campaign so be quick. Just a few more sales and all the stretch goals will be unlocked https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1666104729/notable-remains?ref=7cjx2o

While I'm still busy doing fulfilment for my own kickstarter project I find myself looking for other puzzle games to do in the evening. Notable Remains looks like it's going to be one of those amazing puzzle games because the underlying premise is great. Take all the fancy map details and turn them into a clever puzzle game. The campaign was fully funded in an hour and, knowing the designer, it's a sure thing for fulfilment. As the campaign enters the last 24 hours it's also remarkably close to reaching the 'bonus game' stretch goal so now would be a great time to back the campaign and join us in the puzzle hunt. #NotableRemains #East