Chest Box

Reference picture

The Chest Box

The dimensions of the chest box are 6 1/8" x 6 1/8" x 1 1/8"

Here's a template I've drawn up for you to use.  Click on it for the larger version and print it.  This way when you make your little bits and pieces, you can size them up against the template.

Chest Box Template
(click for larger image)

I purchased another gift box from the reject shop that measured approx 6" square.   Discard the box - keep the lid.  Lay the template over the lid and mark where the holes are to go for the lights and drill away.  I wanted a curved edge all around so I purchased some 9mm quad and cut it to fit.  Because the lid was about 2.5cm high, I needed to add some packing to the 9mm quad.  I just used styrofoam cut 9mm x 1.5cm.  Glue the foam to the quad, BUT DON'T GLUE THEM TO THE BOX UNTIL YOU'VE ATTACHED THE STRAPS!!!

To keep it on my chest, I've chosen to use straps that can be found on backpacks and hand luggage.  I purchased it from Clark Rubber for about $1.00 p/m.   There will be a strap on each side of the box and two on top (picture coming soon).   Have 4 x 1 metre straps and staple and glue them onto the insides of the box.  See the diagram for a better explanation.   Now you can attach the foam and quad to the lid.

If you have noticeable grooves between the lid and the quad, you can fill them in with clay or some Tamina Putty (this stuff really stinks).  Just try and get a the surface as flat as possible.

Next step is to cover the box with black contact.  If the lid has a smooth surface, just rough it up with a bit of sandpaper.  You may want to smear a bit of glue around the entire lid, quad and foam before hand.  Contact isn't really that sticky and you want to get a really clean finish.  Leave plenty of spare contact around the edges so you can tuck it in underneath the lid.  If you want a really good finish, you can get some material from Spotlight called "wet look vinyl". 

The chest box has a few tricky bits to it.  The silver rods down each side, the rocker switches and the card slots (which are actually coin slots from vending machines).  All of these can be very hard to find.  You can purchase them but I've come up with substitutes that aren't too bad.  They are not exactly like the real thing, but it'll get you by until I find something better.

The Silver Rods

I'm using an aluminium rod with some connectors off computer and stereo parts and some washers.  The effect is quite good and probably as close as I could do to the real thing.

The best thing to do is prepare all your stuff first.

Cut two lengths of hollow aluminium rod to approx 12.5cm. 

Now with two of the cable connectors you need to cut off the grooved bits.  Neaten up the ends with a file or a grinder.

The thick washers are actually two thin washers stuck together with super glue.  The spaces between the washers are the rubber ends off the cable connectors cut into thin rings.

You need some Selley's Knead-It.  This stuff sets pretty quickly so work fast.  Stuff it into the cable connectors and then push the rod into the middle.  Work it around a bit to make sure that it's centred.   Now push putty into one of the cut-off grooved bits and thread that on, again, working it so that it's centred.

Rest stop.  Now the washers and the rubber bits.  Thread on a rubber bit, then a washer, another rubber, then a washer, another rubber (this sounds very bad), then another washer.  The reason for having a rubber on the bottom is so you can maker sure that everything is even before you fix it into place.  Now with everything even, carefully remove the bottom rubber and let the bottom washer slide down the rod.  Place some super glue onto the rubber above it and then put the washer in place.  Do the same for the top one.

Now you can put on the other cut-off grooved bit. 

This Knead-IT can be cut fairly easily.   So cutting off excess putty with a Stanley knife is easy peasy.

To top it off, I glued four washer together and placed them on top.  Glued them in place.

Give it all a light sand and then spray paint it with Chrome paint.  Give the rubber rings a touch with some black paint and that's it.  TRY NOT TO TOUCH THEM AFTER YOU'VE PAINTED THEM.  The chrome paint becomes dull from excessive handling

I would have liked to include more pictures but when I made these I was getting pretty excited and forgot to take pictures.  If you don't understand any of the instructions, please email me.

The bits on the top and bottom of the rods

I just made these from balsa wood.

The Rocker Switches

This is the substitute.  I'm not really happy with how these turned out but they will do until I find something better.  I went to the local hobby shop and purchased some balsa wood.  I cut it into 1.5cm pieces and glued two of them onto a thin strip of cardboard.  I sanded down the edges to give them a slight curve.  Paint it with undercoat and then give them about 5 coats of paint.  One is red, the other three are a very pale blue.  I then gave them a few coats of clear gloss to try and make them look like plastic.  The sides of the switches should now be painted black.

The rocker switches are based on some sort of plate.  It measures approx. 10 x 5.5cm.  I cut this out from 3mm balsa wood.   If you've ever cut balsa wood before you'll know it's much easier to cut along the grain and you get a much neater cut.  Therefore, make sure that the grain is running vertical (see picture).  Use the template below (click on the image for the bigger picture).

 

Rocker Switch Base Template
(Click on image for bigger picture)

Each "finger" is approx 20.5mm wide and the space is 6mm wide.  To have the bottom of the spaces rounded, I wrapped a bit of sandpaper around a thin paintbrush and sanded it down

Sand the corners to a rounded edge and then give the whole thing a light sand.  Now you need to paint it.  Use the gloss black modelling paint and give it about 5 coats to try and hide as much if the grain as possible.  Then give it a few coats of clear gloss.

In the middle of each outer finger, drill a hole so you can fit a small bolt through.

The Card/Coin Slots

These are difficult to make.  I spent about a week trying to figure out how to make these and only now am I in the final stages of getting something half reasonable together. 

My idea is to cast them from something (plaster, resin, spack filler, etc).  To make the mould, I purchased some plasticine (don't use play-doh as it dries out and is hard to work with) and made a mould using Lego blocks.   The Lego blocks I used had a slope to them (3 x 4).  I then used a spacer and just glued the two blocks together.  The width of the Lego blocks was about 4 and a half centimetres. 

Now get the plasticine and make an oblong type shape that is fairly thick (about the shape of 6 cm of a Mars Bar works well).  Then all you need to do is gently press the lego blocks into the plasticine to the depth of the spacer block.  Now very gently pull the lego blocks out and try not to warp the plasticine.  With a single lego block with the same slope, press into either end of the plasticine, and just neaten up any bits that seem warped.  You should now have a half decent mould to cast the coin slots.

I've tried a few different materials for casting the slots, however plaster and spack filler are very brittle and I fear that once I've done all the work on them, they can easily be damaged if they hit something (or something hits them).  So I'm going to keep trying to find something that is light, easy to cast, can be sanded to a smooth finish and durable.  I'm thinking of resin or a product called liquid wood.  The key to this step is to ensure that there are no air bubbles in the mixture when you pour it into the mould.  The best thing to do is pour it in, and then use a toothpick to make sure that the air bubbles are out and that the mixture gets into every corner of the mould.

To fix them to the box, while the resin is hardening I inserted a small bolt into the resin at either end of the slot. 

Once it's all dried, peel off the plasticine and give the slot a light sand.  Make sure the the bottom of the slot is as flat as you can make it so it sits flush on the box.  Paint it silver and give it a few coats of lacquer. 

Now do it two more times and you should have three reasonable looking slots that can be securely fixed onto the box.

The alternate version

The alternate version to casting them from resin is to make them from balsa wood.  Get the triangular stuff.  We're going to make three that measure 5cm x 2cm. 

Get a mitre box (you know the thing you use to cut 45º angles) and cut six 5cm lengths making sure that the angles are pointing inwards at the highest point.   I'm sure you can work this out where I'm going with this.  Then cut six 2cm lengths (again, angles going inwards). 

Give them a light sand to take off any excess wood.  If you think the gap is too big, then with a very sharp knife, you can trim off some of the ends, but make sure you keep the same angle.  Once you're happy with how they look (don't worry about gaps in the wood yet), glue them together and let it dry.

With the sharp knife, take off about 2mm from all sides.  Sand the top down about 2mm aswell.

Once the glue has dried, get some Knead-IT (wonderful stuff) and push it onto all the gaps of the wood and the joins.  Smooth it over and then let it dry. 

Give them all a light sand and paint them with chrome paint.   You can also paint the tops of them black.

The Writing

There is some writing under each of the coin slots.  There is a font called Aurabesh (just type it into any search engine and you'll find it).  It looks like the Imperial code.  I typed 'DARKSIDESITHLORD' and broke it up into three lots.

You can print this out on a good quality printer and then just stick them onto the chest box.  Or If you think you're handy with a brush, go ahead and paint them on.

The Square Lights

These don't light up though, so the easiest option is to make them from balsa wood and cover them with a clear plastic and paint one red and the other blue.

Lighting up the coin slots

I haven;t done this yet, as I'm still trying to find the easiest way to do it.

Sticking it all together

The chest box so far

This is where the fun begins.

Start with the rocker switch base plate and place it in position.  Drill into the holes and through the box lid.  Now the longer slots between the fingers should be marked.  This is where you insert the slide switches.  Cut the holes for the switches, place them in then paint them white (this may take a few coats).   Place the rocker switch base plate on, insert the bolts and tighten it up.   Glue on the rocker switches.

Coin slots are next.  Mark where the screw holes should be and drill them into the box.  Also, mark the inside of the slot so you can cut it out.  Make sure the holes in the box are neat.  Insert the coin slots and tighten them up, but don't over tighten them as it may rip the screw from the slot.  If you're using the balsa wood method, the you just need to use some VERY strong glue.

The silver rods should be glued on and I'll be taking the extra precaution of tying them on.  Near the top and bottom of where the rods will sit, drill two tiny holes in the box (or hammer a needle half way through).  Take some fine fishing line and thread it through the holes (or the eye of the needle) to form a loop.  Glue the rod in place and tie up the fishing line on the inside of the box.  The fishing line should be nearly invisible, but if it isn't, just go over it with a little paint.

For the two square lights (why do I call them lights if they don't light up), just glue and screw these into place.  You'll also notice that there is another slide switch between them.  This will need to be cut out as with the other slide switches.  This is the switch you'll be using to turn the chest box off and on.

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Updated: 05 April 2001