While laser cutting was not new to me, I had a lot of fun designing a sleek, modern, box for this project. I used living hinges and box joints to combine rounded and sharp corners. I included a little label plate on the front panel with my name, class name, and date. I first began by cutting a few test pieces to test different living hinge designs and box joint tolerances. Once I found fits that I thought were good enough, I cut out my pieces, using acrylic for the back panel because I thought it looked cool and plywood for all other sides. It took me a while to cut my box out, mostly because I had to play around with cut settings and offsets to get the living hinges to fit correctly with the corners. It took a few recuts to make it work right, but eventually, I ended up with a very snug fit.

Lastly, I finished the box with a black stain. Below are some images of the finished box:

 

Cost Breakdown:

• 1sqft of 1/8 in acrylic – $5 from Home Depot
• 4sqft of 1/4 in plywood – $4 from Home Depot
• Black Stain – $0.30 per unit from Home Depot
• 4 Hours of time at $15/hour – $60

Total unit cost: $69.30