coming along

Glued the sides, and spent many more hours sanding the assemblies to fit into their respective slots, and fitting everything together precisely. 

filing and sanding

For the more intricate pieces I had to use a band saw, which was very imprecise.  Thus I had to cut way over and spend many hours filing and sanding the pieces down to dimension accurately.  So much work!

 Eventually I got them into good shape, and began assembly...

custom jig

Here's my custom jig setup for cutting many of the shorter pieces.
Not all my cuts were as precise as I'd like.  The table saw cuts, even with exactly the same setup, would drift plus or minus up to half a millimeter.  So I just used a shotgun approach and cut several more than I needed, and just selected the cuts with the least amount of drift.

precise

The table saw at Tech Shop SF is nice, but heavily used and not super precise.
Still, I was able to get some fairly accurate cuts.
(plus or minus less than one hundredth of a millimeter)

side split dims 2

revised design, shorter

final design pre fab

side split dims

sides_dissected

side split

there are many levels of complexity I could descend into with this project but I'm finding these days that time is a commodity I have so little of.  Thus I feel this is a good compromise.  Plus I like simple.
this side split takes into account two key factors:
1. wood end grain should not be glued to wood end grain,
2. I don't want any end grain exposed to the slot, where precision is most important
to achieve the second end grain will be exposed under the lid. this could be fixed with a thin cap layer, but that would damage the minimal, functional aesthetic

di.fm

I've been listening to digitally imported since 2000.  have always loved electronic music.
now I love their new web design.  their mobile app is also pretty sweet ; )

sides pre dissect

how am I going to build the sides with those slots in a precise way that doesn't disrupt the aesthetic ...

lid piece top dims

axle_key_top_dims

axle assembly

inventory.axle_assembly:
    1x bottom dim=160x160x10
    1x axle dim=20x20x100
    1x bearing radius=20
    4x axle_key dim=*axle_key_top_dims.png
    4x lid_piece dim=*lid_piece_top_dim.png

core mechanic top dims

core mechanic top dims full

push piece top dims

push piece

inventory.push_assembly.box_pieces:
    2x push_align dim=10x30x35
    1x push_button_face dim=10x30x30

x4 push_assembly total:
    8x push_align
    4x push_button_face

push assembly top gif

this gif demonstrates the push assembly motion as well as the core assembly underneath.
the push assembly transfers motion to the opposite side core mechanic assembly piece,
in effect 'pulling' the opposite side, thus a coordinated push of all four simultaneously is required.
in this gif you can see the push assembly range of 15 units, a pause, the push assembly is rendered transparent, and then the core assembly completes its range of motion.
in other words, the push assembly 'pops out' the core assembly buttons half way, and then the remaining motion must be completed by pulling the core assembly buttons

with box sides

here you can see the box sides.  each side will have two square slots. central slot will house core mechanic pull button and right side slot houses push button
note that bottom push assembly is hidden in this rendering

push assembly top

the push assemblies will lie both above and below the core mechanic pull assembly.
each push assembly consists of two identical pieces that transfer the push motion from the square button on the side to the central pull button on the opposite side
the core mechanic's pull buttons will sit flush with the outside of the box when in the fully closed position. the push assemblies allow the player to 'pop out' the central assembly's pull buttons. 
the push assemblies' range of motion is only half that of the core mechanic's full range of motion
full range of motion = 30 units
push range = 15 units

core mechanic assembly

fabrication technique will utilize layering to avoid end grain of wood facing out 'button'
consistent thickness of 10 units for all pieces
inventory.box_pieces:
    2x core_align dim=10x20x30
    1x core_button dim=10x30x30

x4 core_assemblies total:
    8x core_align
    4x core_button

core mechanic gif

The core mechanic assembly

4 interlocking pieces that must be pushed / pulled together: