Flex Box 2

A flex box 2 is a type of box made up entirely of wood and through laser cutting and intricate designing, it is able to bend, allowing it to close and open. The purpose behind the making of this box is give a new variation to the classic and usual box. There is plenty of open space on the side, top, front, and back of this box to allow for an expression of anyones' creativity to be shown, whether it is a drawing, a belief, an idea, all things can be expressed. However, there is a process when it comes to making this box, luckily all the instructions are down below.

Aside from needing a computer to run the designing software, "RetinaEngrave." You will need of course a piece of 12x12 flat wooden plank as well as wood glue for the box to maintain its shape and last a long time. Most importantly you will need a laser cutter, the one I had personally used being the "Muse Titan v3 48x24 CO2 Laser with AI 3D Camera." You absolutely need the laser cutter to be able to actually cut out all the detailed parts of the box, which would be nearly impossible with human hands.

Firstly, you need to get the blueprints of the box which are found in the website, "festi.boxes.py." While all the dimensions are all preset, you want it to be able to fit the dimensions of the 12x12 flat wooden plank. To accomplish that, you have to adjust some setting for example the "x" and "h" which are representative of the length and the height. You will want to adjust the "x" to 95mm and the "h" to 92mm. After adjusting these two, it will fit within the 12x12 flat wooden plank, but you can always test things out and see if other measurements are more to your liking. After adjusting, you just want to simply download it and then head to the designing website, "Retinaengrave" and first change the "Muse Core" to "Muse Titan" or whichever one you are using for your laser cutting. After you have done this, you can move onto the next step.

Secondly, you need to import the blueprint of the box into the Website, which can be done by following the instructions given in the photo. Once it is successfully imported, this is when your creativity shines. You can add pictures, writings, or anything your mind thinks of. Once you finish designing each side of the box, you want to add a 12x12 square into the software to ensure that the box itself can fit. After all this, we can move onto the exciting part.

While this is the most exciting part, where we get see our designing come to life. We still have to add some finishing touches for the laser cutting process so the laser can properly cut through the wood and properly engrave the designs. You want to adjust the Engraving speed, power, and current which will target the actual outline of the box and how well engravings will be made. You will also need to adjust the Raster speed, power, and current to make sure text, images, and other designs can be properly shown into the box, both of these aspects should be adjusted by your own reasoning. After you have done all of this, you can officially start the laser cutting process. After it is cut out, we can move onto putting the pieces together.

The last step, and the step which is most fun, the gluing. You should have every piece of the box cut and laid out by this point. All that is left is to use the wood glue and put it in between the spaces to make sure the box never breaks. You can either put the glue on directly or use a stick to apply the glue more specifically. After you have done this. CONGRATULATIONS! You have officially finished the flex box 2