Laser box generator
Set the size and your material's thickness, pick a lid and joints, and download the parts laid out on your laser bed, kerf included.
Drawing your box…
How to make your box
- Measure your sheet's thickness and set it here. Pick inside measurements if the box has to fit something.
- Choose a lid: an open tray, a closed box, a lift-off lid that sits over the box, a sliding lid, or a hinged lid.
- Choose the joints. Finger joints press together and hold with a little wood glue. Flat edges are plain butt joints for glue. T-slots hold the box with machine screws and hex nuts (M3 by default), so it comes apart again; the page tells you how many screws you need and how long they are.
- Add dividers if you want sections: 2 × 1, 2 × 2, 3 × 3 or your own grid. They slot into each other like an egg crate and drop into the box.
- Type a name to engrave it on the lid or the front. In the laser SVG it's a black fill, so set that layer to engrave and the red lines to cut.
- Pick your sheet or bed size. The parts are packed onto it, and if they don't fit they go onto more sheets: you get one file per sheet in a zip.
- Cut one small test box first. If the joints are loose, raise the kerf a little; if they won't go together, lower it.
Putting the lids together
- Lift-off lid: the lid is a shallow tray built like the box, 0.3 mm roomier all around so it slips over the top.
- Sliding lid: glue one grooved rail inside each side wall, flush with the top, with the open end of the groove at the front. The front wall is lower, so the lid slides in over it until it stops at the back.
- Hinged lid: a pin hinge with no hardware. The lid has a small square peg on each side that turns in a round hole near the top back of the side walls. Fit the pegs into the holes before you glue the second side on, and don't glue the lid. It opens to about 130° and works in 3 mm plywood or acrylic.