Basswood Box for Incense/Dry Flower Holder

The 5 pieces from week 02 turned out great, and the pouring process went well, so the extra mold became available.

I made an incense / dry flower holder with the mold. Same process, same technique, but no optical fibers.

In terms of the laser cut project, my initial idea was to cut a base for the Rockite piece and perhaps cut and assemble an acrylic box. However, like we discussed in the class, cutting acrylic produces toxic fumes. I do want to make our planet cleaner, in however small ways, so I decided to make a wood box for it. Personally I would avoid acrylic if it is not 100% needed.

I bought a piece of basswood, 1/4” x 24” x 8”, and made a quick laser cut file in Adobe Illustrator. 1/32” tolerance was given to each side of all pieces as they can be sanded afterwards if the size is slightly larger than it should be.

The cutting process went smoothly and the pieces were glued nicely. Aesthetically, I think the burn marks need to go therefore the boxed is sanded. I did not manage the box too well when using the sanding machine so the edges are not perfectly straight. I figured that the item should not be pushed too hard during the sanding process. One needs to be gentle and slow.

The result turned out acceptable, but definitely can be better. I am happy with the 1/32” tolerance decision since the box fits the Rockite piece just fine.