Wooden Jewelry Box

Tired of losing rings and bracelets or not having a place to store them? In this project I made a wooden jewelry box using mainly the CNC router.

1. 6" x 5" 1/2 Inch wood (any)
2. 6" x 5" 1.5 Inch wood (any)
3. 1.75" metal dowel rod - 0.48" in diameter
4. Bandsaw
5. CNC Router
6. 1/4" and 1/2" end mill
7. Plastic nail gun
8. Super Glue
9. Drill and bit
10. x4 3/4" screws

I was inspired by these photos of multi-layered jewelry boxes. I originally wanted to have a few levels for my box but realized one level had more than enough space to serve its purpose. I only manufactured one level for my box, but you can include as many as you'd like. I gave my design a more teardrop shape but the circular shaped version or any other shape would work just as well.

I made a simple to-scale prototype using cardboard and hot glue. The prototype allowed me to test how the levels would rotate and to see how the long cylinder piece would work to hold all the components together. In this prototype you'll see that I included two levels as well as a bottom, whereas my finished product only included a level and a lid. It's up to you what you want to do.

I used Fusion 360 for my design, but it can be done in any other 3D software. I made the height of the level 1.5", however, I would advise choosing to make the height of the level(s) smaller (like 1" instead) as it will likely eliminate possible problems with manufacturing down the line. Make sure that in your CAM, you're making it so that the router will carve out/drill inside before cutting out the whole piece so that your piece will stay secure on the router. Also double check your stock size for the lid and level in your setups.

I first manufactured the level. Secure stock down on the router using screws (plastic nail gun nails aren't long enough), upload your process onto a USB and connect it to the router. When fixturing the stock onto the router, I had to counterbore holes prior to screwing the wood to the router to firmly secure the stock. Be careful not to split the wood. Set origin, select your process in files, get tool, and start the process. Because the axial depth of cut was so large for the level, it was difficult to make the manufacturing process on the router smooth. The wood in the pocket wasn’t being cleared and the milling was very rough. Some factors that likely led to this include using an old endmill, and making the feedrate in my CAM too fast. Use FSwizard to figure out the optimal feedrate. Check that the measurements of the endmill in the stockholder match that of your tool in your CAM to ensure that the endmill is coming down far enough and that there is enough distance from the stock and the stockholder.

Same process with the lid but you can use the nail gun if you want. When manufacturing the lid, the router didn't cut the piece entirely. Once again, check that the measurements of the endmill in the stockholder match that of your tool in your CAM.

For the dowel, I cut a metal rod down to 1.75" in length using the bandsaw. Use a lathe to shrink the diameter to around 0.48" if you don't have a rod with that diameter. If you want to keep the wooden theme, you can use a wooden dowel instead. You might find it more effective to shrink the diameter size of the partial hole in the lid during design and manufacturing so that the rod would fit nicely in the lid pocket and not the hole in the level. Another option could be to shorten the diameter length of the portion of the rod that fits in the hole of the level and keep a portion that would fit perfectly in the partial hole in the lid. Both of these ways would eliminate the need to use glue to assemble the lid and the dowel.

Sand down the wooden components for a more finished product

After you cut out the pieces, you should have a wooden lid, a level, and a cylinder piece (or multiple levels and a longer cylinder piece relative to # of levels and addition of a bottom if that's what you manufactured). Glue the dowel into the partial hole in the lid (I used super glue), then you can put the combined lid and dowel into the hole of the level. Now you have a simple jewelry box.

Once you are finished, you should have a simple, functioning jewelry box to fit jewelry or any trinkets. Overall, this project brought about a lot of trial and error so hopefully sharing my process and mistakes help you if you choose to make this or something similar. To make the finished product more aesthetic, you can woodburn/engrave a design on the lid or add a fabric bottom or even cut foam to put in the level so it can hold rings. If I started this project again, I would have manufactured multiple levels that would have a smaller height (like 0.5”-0.1” rather than 1.5”). I would have also included thin walls inside the pocket of the level that would give it more compartmentalization and improve organization of the things I’d put in there.

Hopefully in doing this project, you are now more knowledgeable about how to use Fusion 360 and the CNC router.