Wooden Puzzle Box 2 (Part 2 of 2)

I've finished Puzzle Box #2 (see Part 1 of this design). Here are some details from the build.

I started by using a planer to cut all the 1.1x0.23 inch lattice trim pieces (from Home Depot) down to 1.1 x 0.2" inches (to fit the design). The lattice stock comes in 13 foot pieces, I cut those down to 6.5 feet before leaving the store. Each piece in the bill of materials was cut very precisely to match the drawing. Because pieces overlap everywhere their was very little room for error (I basically went for +/-0.01 inches tolerance). Many pieces were cut three at a time.

All told there were over 140 pieces. I cut a few extra of each piece because the saw would occasionally chew up an end, or a piece would have cracks or knots.

I worked on bite-sized chunks at a time, it was a complicated assembly process because I had to follow the design exactly in order to have the correct piece overlapping when larger pieces got glued together. Everything is held together by Elmer's wood glue, which when set makes a stronger joint than the wood...

Once I had all of the individual pieces glued into pieces like the one above, I taped all the pieces together to make sure that once glued into large sections, their would be no problems.

I then tore apart the taped version and sanded down all the rough edges. Next I began combining the small pieces into larger pieces. This was done carefully and with lots of clamps.

I ended up with three major pieces, each of which got another round of sanding and taped together again to check how the fit.

Last, each of the three major pieces was stained with two coats of Minwax "Polyshades" Stain and Polyurethane (which I've used several times before). This was a very challenging design and build, but it was pretty fun to finish too. I spent about a week designing it and another week and a half (hobby time...) constructing it, probably 40-55 hours total.

Next up on the project list is either patio furniture, or a tele-presence robot for CCCKC...I finally found something I can use the IOIO for.