Hellraiser Cube: (Lament Configuration)
Materials: 1/4" plywood(a 10"x10" square is plenty), Wood glue, various dremel tool cutting/sanding bits/dremel tool, black and gold paint/small brushes, polyurethane, fine grit sandpaper.
First thing you will need to make the cube will be the templates to carve the designs into the wood. Which you can print out from the link at the bottom. Now that you have your patterns you can start by cutting the pieces to form the sides of your cube. Take and measure 4 rectangles 3 ¼" x 2 ¾" (for the sides) on your ply-wood and cut them out. With the remaining wood cut 2 squares 3 ¾" x 3 ¾" (for the top/bottom). Next assemble the 4 sides, interlocking them together with wood glue (see pic 1 below). The reason for interlocking them is to make your box stronger, this way the load is distributed evenly around it. Once the sides have set up so that they can be moved without them falling apart (20-30min) take and attach the top and bottom squares, let sit another 20-30 minutes then look it over for any spaces that need to be filled. Fill any open areas with glue and let sit for 24 hrs. Once the glue has set up you can now smooth any uneven areas with some sand paper, or a dremel sanding bit (sanding glue is not easy and takes time... be patient). Now that you have it pretty even you can take those templates you have printed out and 1 at a time place it on the cube and cut the designs into the wood with your dremel. (only do a light cut while the paper is on the cube, finish your cuts and make them deeper once the paper is removed. Remember not to cut really deep you only have ¼ thick wood) If you have to do any carving through glue be careful, it is not easy to cut through. The glue tends to heat up and become rubbery. If the glue gets caught on your bit burn it off with a match or lighter. Then pull the ash off with your fingers, and continue carving. Once all sides are fully carved sand them with a fine grit sand paper to get off any left over strands of carved wood. blow off the dust and apply the black paint to all sides. When the black is dry carefully paint the gold on the raised portion of the cube. Let dry coat it with a high gloss polyurethane....and there you have it, your very own Hellraiser Cube.
Pic #1
Finished Project:
<<Note the inter-locking
More information about the Lament Configuration can be found here:
More information about Philip LeMarchand and his other puzzle boxes can be found here:
