Business Card Holders (for Your Pocket)

I am always bending and crushing my business cards while they are in my pocket. so I made something that will hold them and keep them safe while I work...
It works great and looks classy when I hand them out.

******SAFETY FIRST******
ALWAYS USE PROPER SAFETY GEAR WHEN WORKING WITH POWER TOOLS!
FOLLOW ALL SAFETY INSTRUCTIONS FOR YOUR OWN TOOLS
COMMON SENSE IS THE MOST IMPORTANT!

For this project I used the following tools;
Tablesaw
Planer
Scrollsaw
Router mounted in a table (with a small round over bit)
Sander
Drill press
small clamps, Vice
Wood-glue
sandpaper
scrap wood

These are made from Blood wood, Cherry,  Ash and Box Elder.

I placed the business card on the middle board (its about 3/16-1/4" thick) then marked the outside edges of the card.. I made it a little larger than the actual card. then, using my scrollsaw I cut that part out.

Cut the two outsides the same width as the middle, but about 1.5" longer. Then sand all pieces flat with 80 grit.

a little glue goes a long way here...  you dont want any squeeze out inside the box....

After drying for a couple hours it should be OK to un-clamp and sand the edges...
You can use a hand-plane to get the edges smooth then sand, but I just used my belt-sander, then sanded by hand the rest of the way.

now this is a tough part kinda... The hole is to make it easier to grab a card out of the box without having to tip all of them out to grab one...
First mark a center line from the top of the card box down to about a third of the way towards the bottom. now using a compass draw a 1.5" circle with the middle line being the center-point for the circle... this is to give you an idea of what is going to be removed while drilling.. if you go too low on the center-line or too high it will make for a very ugly box.

but once you are happy with where the hole should be use that scrap piece you cut out of the middle sandwich board and drill through with a 1.5" Forster bit... be careful and have a board under the box to prevent tear out when that bit goes out the other side.

Now drop a card into the box to see how much you need to cut off the top and using a depth gauge or a long skinny srewdriver check the depth of the box to the outside and ad at least 1/8 and make your mark...
Now cut where you need to...
Finish sand the entire box, if you do get glue squeeze-out on the inside you should be able to clear it out with a 1/8" chisel.
Now round over all the sides with a 1/4" roundover bit on a router mounted to a table.
Sand by hand the newly shaped corners

I sanded to 220 grit and then buffed them with a 3 stage buffing system (the last stage adds carnauba wax) followed by a home made wax I made in This instructable. I love the feel of the buffed and polished wood and it looks very classy...

I'm Entering this into the Cabot Woodcare Contest to ensure people do not lose respect or forget about the natural wood colors available. You can obtain "the right color" without stain.

Thanks for looking.

I took quite a while for me to get those holes right, but i got a couple nice ones out of the deal....