Ballot Box

Transparency is key!

Most of the voting/lottery systems are broken by design. I'm not gonna rant about True Random Number Generators (TRNG), rigged games or frauds, because I want You to do something against them! For example: with this cute little transparent ballot box.

Local restaurants organized a little lottery, but they used cardboard boxes! Yuck. They deserve something better, more elegant! So I made them a little suprise gift.

Because I can't send you guys free boxes, I share how to make one!

• acrylic sheet
• laser cutter (CO2)
• tape
• glue

Fire up Fusion 360!

My little box is a 24 cm cube. Since acrylic sheets have some significant thickness, you will need some tricks. It's not paper! I had 4 mm thick, 500x500 mm pieces. I left 5-5mm safety margin on each sidem that's why I ended up with 240mm. We need this little margin for manufacturing.

So, we just cut 240x240mm squares? Heck no! This is where thickness gives us some job.

We don't make dovetails, this is not woodworking day. We will just use simple joints and glue 'em together! But first: decide how they gonna fit together. My base plate is full-sized, the front and back have full width but shorter (the lid will sit on them), the sides are narrower. Those little joints are as long as the thickness of the sheets.

Since my laser cutter is dialed in, not much material gets burned away, so I don't have to play with tolerances. But I almost messed up on first try. Do that little extra work and check the assembled version before exporting your DXF or SVG!

Checked, and everything seems good? Export your stuff and cut those sheets!

Even a kid can do this, right?

NO.

You will be annoyed to death because it just falls apart before you could glue them together. And 90° must be 90°, but how?

Cheating, that's how! Put the box together, but fix the joints with some tape first. This is a temporary solution, don't go too overboard! After it's nice and square, peel up one side, glue the joints, squeeze 'em together, and tape back.

To be honest, I wanted to get some clamps first, but I don't have this big ones - probably you neither. Glues need some time to cure, so this solution is ideal, you can leave it to rest overnight. Just peel all the tape next morning and clean up the residual glue with some alcohol.

After the base is ready, get the lid. Metal hinges would look bad on this box, so use either some zip ties (don't fasten it too much) or strings. Wait, you forgot to drill holes? I hope not! 2 in the back, 1 in the front, so you can lock the box. After it's done, you are practically ready.

First: plan ahead. These joints can be really frustrating, don't make a puzzle! In my case, the four sides should be glued together, and the bottom piece comes last.

Second: don't fasten the zip ties too much. Yes, I already warned you, but in this case, small steps really give much better results. You won't open it every day, but you want to open it without breaking/chipping some parts.

Third: less is sometimes more. It's transparent, and errors in glued parts will be visible. (especially superglue, it can leave those disgusting white-cloudy stains)

And last but not least: yes, fingerprints will be everywhere, so clean it with some alcohol or window cleaner, but beware:

Acrylic is super easy to scratch!

I hope you liked it!