Puzzle Boxes, Hip Monsters

After building a number of dovetail puzzle boxes the HipMonsters sister team set out to make their own unique design. We explored many designs and drew influence from creations like this one on YouTube. The sisters wanted something that looked deceptively simple and easy to make. Thus was born Push My Button!

Please note, this material is provided for entertainment and informational purposes only and is not a guide on how to create the designs. Please read our disclaimer.

Here is Push My Button from side view. The sides of the box are made from a several of 1/4 wooden square dowels. These are our go-to material for many of our designs.

The top, sides and bottom are made from 1/8 inch plywood.

Here is a view of a corner. We purposely made it look slapped together to confuse people. The lopsided look makes it appear that the sides of bottom can be slipped off – which cannot be done.

But the key to opening Push My Button to to press the correct button… but which one? We added spacers between some of the dowels and aligned them irregularly to make harder to tell which one is the key.

When we give it as a gift, we usually leave earrings or chocolate inside to reward the receiver once them uncover the trick.

Happy Creating!

This puzzle box was inspired by Roy Underhill’s Woodwright Shop. Based on an early American grease pot design it is crafted out of poplar. It measures 8 inches by 3 inches, just big enough to hide special jewels or a secret treasure.

Handcraft Wooden Puzzle box DYI — Puzzle Box

The clean dovetail is essential to making this puzzle box work. Ideally, you want to use a harder wood than you used for the box.

Starting a dovetail for a puzzle box — Measuring a dovetail

Use a chisel to measure the width of a dovetail. Cut two sets of parallel line and carefully remove the outer edges, then cut it off the wooden beam.

DIY wooden puzzel box — Cutting the lid and lock.

Make use to secure the wood and cut very slowly to get a clean cut. If using a Japanese saw let the weight of the saw do the cutting, instead of using lots of force.

DIY wodden puzzle box — Drill a hole after cutting off the lid

We tried drilling the hole before cutting and found out the pieces did not align tightly. Even a thin blade takes a lot of material from a piece of wood.

Remember to carve out the dovetail before cutting the lid and lock. Be prepared to make mistakes- that is all part of the process. For the locking slider make sure it is angled to secure the lid. We made that mistake more than once, so we used the wood that we made mistakes on for other projects.

To make the dovetail pop, we typically use a darker stain. To make it harder to unlock, you can paint the whole piece to hide the locking mechanism.

Happy Creating!

Category: Puzzle Boxes

Puzzle Box: Push My Button

Puzzle Box: Dovetail