DIY M:tG Wooden Deckbox

Last November, me and my boyfriend found a page in Facebook catering to personalized wooden boxes for Magic: the Gathering card game. He plays it. I only dabbled in it. The boxes in the page was so well done and he really liked what he saw that I asked him if he wanted it for Christmas. Haha~ I knew he wanted it but he doesn't want me to give it to him for some reason. 

Anyway, we live in the Philippines, and the deck box maker is in Wisconsin. I also wanted to not spend too much on gifts this year, so I decided to just make my own. 

Materials:
1. Wood panels that are a quarter of an inch thick
2. Measuring tape
3. Saw
4. Wood Glue
5. An electric sander. If you don't have one, just a piece of fine paper sander would do (I got an 80 and a 150)
6. Varnish. Mahogany in color.
7. Candle (neat sliding trick).

I used a plastic deckbox I bought from the store as measurement. It's not ideal to base the measurements from the cards themselves because players tend to slip them in sleeves that would make each card wider. This box is big enough for the cards and the sleeves they're in. 

I don't have the exact measurements, but mine was around 3 inches (h) x 4 inches (w). The thickness was around 3 inches, but I made it the same as the height to give it a really boxy shape.

After cutting, clean the edges, and get ready for gluing!

Using Elmer's Wood glue, I glued the pieces and let them sit until they're dried before gluing another part. I didn't do any fancy woodworking slots or angling it because I don't know how! Haha! So I made it simple, but it works. The glue really held together. Have some really REALLY small nails handy just in case you want to put some in to make it more secure. But in this case, the glue is enough.

So the plan on paper didn't turn out the way it happened on the actual box, but it works. It still has the sliding mechanism I wanted, so I'm good. I used a separate, thinner piece of wood to complete my sliding mechanism in the box. The thinner piece was also part of the dollhouse, but I think a popsicle stick would also do the trick.

I used an electric sander to clean and smooth out the edges. I made the edges rounder because I think it'll look cool haha. I used a finer sandpaper to smoothen out edges that can't be reached by the electric one. 

I also put more glue on gaps and filled it in to prevent any liquid from seeping in just in case it gets wet.

I used three coats of a mahogany colored varnish because I wanted to see the wood texture in the finished product. It doesn't have a glossy finish I have an acrylic transparent spray here on hand just in case I needed a glossy finish, but the end product worked well, so I let it be.

Let it dry for a day until the varnish stopped sticking to your fingers.

The painting left the slots too tight for the cover to slide through. So taking some candlewax (hot and liquid), pour some on the slots, and it'll help slide the whole thing through. I just found out after I've given the gift to my boyfriend, and he was the one that added the candlewax trick! Really cool!

Anyway, he LOVED the gift. He opened it with his back facing mine because he was dreading that I DID get him a wooden M:tG box for Christmas. I'm so happy he loved it. 

Merry Christmas!