Decorative Wooden Box Frame and Music Box

So this is a short a project I started for a gift for some one for their family pics. I say short because its an assembly project as opposed to doing a lot of crafting work. In other words i bought stuff and put it together as opposed to cutting out the box from the wood etc.

Initially I didn't set out to make a rotating music box but since the possibility was there I took advantage of it.

Also the photobox out of the box, as stated by the supplier, does not stain well. This is due to the way this box was constructed. I was really disappointed by the quality of the box. It was really sloppy and needed to be repaired right out of the box. It was nothing that was a non starter but I was a little disappointed. But then again.. the price was right for my budget! Just putting this out there so you don't purchase anything on my advice without knowing this.

Things you will need:

Box Frame: https://woodcrafter.com/bx1248-photo-cube-carousel...

Music Box: http://www.rakuten.com/prod/windup-music-box-movem...

Photos

Screw Driver

Drill

Wood glue (optional if you need to repair box)

Hot-glue and glue gun

Gorilla Glue epoxy (or equivalent)

Sand Paper

Utility knife

Wood Stain

So before you we get too far into the fun we need to take out the plexi-glass and removable parts. Find a safe spot to store there parts until you need them again.

The plexi glass slides out as well as the photobacking. Next remove the carousel assembly from the bottom of the box.

From here if you want to do any cosmetic work to the box you should.

I corrected some of the non-matching joints using my utility knife and sand paper. I trimmed the wood with the knife as the wood is really soft. (caution there is a chance of ruining box doing this if you slip)

I re-glued some parts that came loose during shipping.

Sanded rough spots and sanded with a really fine grain to give it a smooth surface.

This step is just pre-fitting the pieces to make sure there isn't any other trimming you will need to do before gluing and assembly.

You will need to drill a hole in the bottom of the box. This is where you will put the music box key through. The 'key' will be assembled with the base later this step is just to make sure it wont rub when its glued.

You will also have to drill through the base to allow the key to fit through.

Drilling these two holes can be tricky because if the are not center your photo box may not spin with the music box.

Next is to glue your music box to the photo box and glue the music box key to the photo box carousel.

When gluing your music box to your photobox you will need to attach the key to ensure that the spot the music box is in allows the key to spin freely. you will also need a place to let the glue dry that does not rest on the key and cause the music box to move.

Once I applied the epoxy I wound up the music box and let it spin to make sure it had enough room and i let it set until it dried. You have to make sure you don't put too much glue and you have to key the glue away from the hole. you don't want to accidentally glue the key in place in the hole.

Once the photobox was dry i glued the key to the base. I chose hot glue because its flexible. The carousel plastic was flexible and I think the hot glue will give it its best chance of not coming unglued when the base flexes.

Next I stained the photobox. This step probably could have been done during step 1 or right after, but since I had to glue some parts back together, and once that was dry i was gluing the music box in so I figured Id wait until that glue was dry to stain.

Staining was difficult because once i applied the first coat i realized where the manufactures glue had not been cleaned up. So i had to sand through all the uncleaned up glue. I had to do a lot of sanding....

After that I applied some graphite to the area where the bearing of the carousel will be traveling in hope to help with any friction issues.

After that just screw the new base/key to the music box/photo box.

After that trim your photos and put the photos photo backing and glass in place and you are done!