Each person is mysterious in his own way. And everyone, no doubt, has their own secrets. For example, often many people long years keep all sorts of trinkets that remind you of significant life events. If you fall into this category, you may need a secret box. In souvenir shops you can easily choose the item you like, and it can be locked with a key for secure storage of “secret” little things. But in ancient times such devices were not on sale. And therefore, those who wanted to hide something from others came up with various tricks. One of these useful things there was a box with a secret made from an ordinary book. Only its owner knew on which shelf and in which row of the huge library (which was a mandatory tradition in those days) the keeper of the innermost secrets stood. This article will tell you how to make a box with a secret with your own hands - from a book, and even in the form of a book.

Making a real cache. Method one

You will need any book you don’t need that differs from the rest in its monumental thickness. It is desirable that the workpiece has a reliable hard cover and a thick cover. So, let's begin. Place the book in front of you and open it to the front endpaper. Prepare a thin wooden board in advance, which should have the same dimensions as the book. Place it underneath all the pages on top of the back cover. After this, draw the outline of the hole with a pencil on the first page. It can be either rectangular, round or oval. Naturally, cutting a rectangle is much easier. Yes, be patient: you will have to cut a hole in each page separately. Use a special sharp cutter for these purposes or, following the marked lines, bend the finished pages with a niche inside. So gradually work everything up to the bottom cover. The antique box with a secret is ready. Imitation of this product can be homemade device, which is described below.

Second method: secret box using cardboard

Such a craft may well become an original gift with a surprise. Taking this little thing tied with a bow, the birthday boy is unlikely to immediately realize that a boring, nondescript volume from the collection of classical literature is an interesting and unusual hiding place. The frame of an old unwanted book is used as a cover. Cut and glue four rectangles from cardboard (these will be the sides) and place them inside the blank, following the example of the previous box, forming an empty niche in the middle. You can pre-draw on front side border lines imitating pages. After this, firmly glue the inner frame to the bottom cover and spine. Make a rope bookmark for originality. Surely the gift will be memorable!

Japanese box with a secret

One of the ways to keep secrets is the traditional things of some peoples. For example, the history of wooden Japanese boxes goes back to the distant past. You can open such a hand-made device in several stages (sometimes there are more than a dozen of them). It all depends on the difficulty level. By moving fragments and walls decorated with ornaments and mosaics in a certain sequence, all the secret drawers of the box are gradually revealed. The process is somewhat reminiscent of a children's puzzle - tag, only here everything is much more complicated.

The world is full of wonders and mysteries! Build your own box with a secret, let the secret settle in your home!

The boxes were originally intended for storing jewelry and expensive things, so they were found mainly in the homes of wealthy gentlemen.

The variety of shapes, sizes and materials used to make the boxes was amazing. They were made of gold and silver, encrusted with diamonds and other precious stones. There were also simpler wooden boxes. Centuries have passed, but the fashion for these original and elegant products has survived to this day.

Remarkable, but do wooden box DIY is not as difficult as it seems at first glance. The main thing is to apply a little skill and use your own imagination.

Where to begin

Making any craft begins with a project, a diagram. The master imagines exactly what his masterpiece will be like, and, starting from the drawings, stocks up necessary materials and tools.

For many ordinary people, a wooden box appears as a rectangular box with a closing lid. This is true, but not entirely. A box is a real work of art, and even a handicraft made from scrap materials can look like an expensive antique.

Any box has its purpose in the house. Based on this message, the master thinks over the shape of the product. The following options are possible here:

for jewelry. Such wooden models have a traditionally rectangular shape, but the internal surfaces are lined with velvet, and the lid is complemented by a mirror. As a result, jewelry is not scratched and is convenient to try on;
for jewelry, trinkets. Characteristic feature Such a product consists of drawers that move freely inside the body. The number of retractable elements is unlimited, and a tight fit does not require special guides;
a small box for cherished and memorable items. Made in the shape of a heart and great for storing letters, cards, photographs and other things;
Puzzle . Quite a complex product that simultaneously serves decorative decoration and a children's toy. A system of wooden gears, reminiscent of a clock mechanism, is installed here, and the lid opens after rotating the handle or one of the wheels;
to hide a small amount of money. It is made in the form of a rectangle, but external finishing made to look like a book;
for needles, threads. Such wooden boxes usually have several compartments where you can store sewing supplies. The case is often complemented by a carrying handle.

In addition, there are boxes with watches, locks and secrets, original boxes and drawers for storing cigars, and products that make melodious sounds when the lid is opened. The shape is not limited to rectangular. Essentially, if there is modern instruments for wood processing it can be anything, including round.

It is noteworthy that all of the above options can be done independently at home. But still, it’s better to start learning how to make wooden boxes with your own hands with simple designs, making the task more difficult as mastery skills emerge.

How to make a classic box

Even a teenager with minimal skills in handling woodworking tools can cope with this task. Such a box is made from multi-layer plywood, and the selected sheet should not have visible damage: knots, cracks.

At the initial stage you will need a pencil and a ruler. In order not to complicate the task, it is better to choose the correct geometry of shapes for the walls, lid and bottom, for example, a square or rectangle. On a sheet of plywood, draw the outlines of four walls: 2 side walls are shorter and 2 front walls are longer.

Note! The sides of the bottom are calculated in such a way that after gluing the sides, it is recessed inside the walls.

Then all the drawn elements are carefully cut out with a jigsaw, the irregularities are processed sandpaper. To ensure that the end and side walls are beautifully connected to each other, small grooves can be made at the edges of the ends, corresponding to the thickness of the plywood sheet. This tip will help give the case a monolithic look and overall make the structure stronger. The walls are glued together, then the bottom of the box is placed. If the lower part enters with difficulty, the edges are processed with a file. The bottom should fit tightly.

After this, they begin to make the lid. To make the design more original, it is better to choose not a flat, but a deep lid. For this, the scheme described above is used. A large blank is cut out, which will directly serve as the lid, end and side walls. In essence, it turns out to be a smaller copy of the casket body. All parts are sanded and glued together. The lid is attached to the body using small hinges. After assembly, the finished product is varnished or painted in any color you like.

In a similar way, you can make a box from solid wood. For this they use wooden board. It must be sanded and cut into pieces of the required size. Wood is more difficult to saw with a jigsaw, it is better to use circular saw. Curly edges can be made with a router.

If you need a drawer

Overall the box is made of wood with drawer manufactured in the same way as classic version, but there are a number of features here.

Simple rectangular shape the lids and bottom will spoil appearance products. It is better to make the long sides of these elements wavy using an electric router. In addition, by choosing this option, the lid and bottom are not placed inside the body, but left outside.

The walls are being made different heights. In particular, the back part and ends are made of the same height and glued together. For the front wall, cut out a die half as wide as the back part. This element is not recessed between the ends, but is installed overlapping and fixed with glue.

The box consists of two parts: a box that fits freely between the walls, and front part– similar in size to the top die. The elements are also mounted on wood glue.

A partition is installed between the upper and lower parts, which will serve as the bottom of the upper compartment of the box. Inside the retractable and stationary drawers, you can make partitions from thin plywood, delimiting inner space for several departments. The lid is installed on decorative hinges, the wood is covered with several layers of furniture varnish.

How to decorate with carvings

Carved boxes look much more original and interesting, but such work requires certain skills and knowledge. For beginners who decide to try their hand at wood carving, experienced craftsmen recommend starting with simple geometric shapes and large patterns. With a certain amount of patience, even a novice master will be able to cope with such a task.

The drawing is applied to the surface with a pencil, each line is well drawn. After this, the pattern is carefully cut out with an oblique knife or chisel in strict accordance with the applied markings. Small flaws and irregularities can be corrected with a file or fine sandpaper.

How to put a lock

An interesting solution is mortise lock, which will be opened with a small key, but such work is difficult to perform even for an experienced specialist. Therefore, it is better to limit yourself to a padlock or a decorative hook.

To install a padlock, loops are placed in the central part of the side wall and lid, which are screwed with small screws. The location of the hinges must be calculated in advance: even a slight displacement will break the symmetry, and the box will lose its attractiveness.

Making a box complex shape solid wood will take significantly longer. To do this, you must use a power tool, while parts from plywood can even be cut with a hand jigsaw. To the artist for decoration finished product A large field of work opens up. You can paint it with paints, attach decorative fittings, decoupage or burn it.

Box with a secret

Box with a secret

You can use this a box with a secret made with your own hands, for storing various necessary little things, and also as gift or packaging for a gift.

For the manufacture of boxes with a secret you will need six sheets of paper, preferably thicker. One sheet for the outer part of the box, a contrasting sheet for the lid and 4 sheets for the inner boxes. Cut as follows (all measurements in inches - 1 inch equals 2.54 cm):

outer part of the box: 6 x 11;
box cover: 8.5 x 8.5;
4 inner boxes: 8 x 8;

Method for making a box with a secret

Let's start making the box with 4 inner boxes. They are all made according to the same scheme. See further step by step photo manufacturing.

1. On the wrong side of our paper square, draw two lines from corners to corners.

2. Now we fold the corners to the center of the intersection of the lines on all four sides (like an envelope), and then unfold them again.

3. Then we divide the distance between the center and the fold in half and again fold along this line on all four sides - these are the sides of our box.

For clarity, everything in the figure is outlined with a marker, but this is not necessary.

4. Then cut out the four shaded triangles and get the following:

6. Now let’s assemble our box. He does everything without glue, you just need to firmly press all the corners and folds (although, if you wish, you can use glue).

In this way, all 4 inner boxes and the lid are made. The lid of the box, as well as the box itself, can be decorated according to your taste and desire.

Take a sheet of paper measuring 15.25 x 287 cm and bend it in the center, then divide both halves in half again and bend it again. Thus, we got 4 rectangles, each of which will have one box. We place our boxes on them as shown in the figure and glue them.

After the glue has dried, simply bend the sheet with the boxes along the folds

Our box with a secret ready!

Here are several options for boxes with a secret

Usage beautiful wood, elegant design and instructions - the DIY box below makes a great gift.

Designer sophistication with an artistic deviation from the usual corner connections- connection with tenons of variable width - adds zest to the corners of the box. Below we will present an option for making a connection - straight box tenons of variable width.

In production, you can also use pieces of various types of wood with a beautiful textured pattern, stored in advance. You can make boxes out of plywood, you just need to choose required thickness material.

Choose contrasting wood species for the body, lid and handle.

In this section, we will look at how to make a box with your own hands using straight tongue-and-groove corner joints.

Prepare end walls A - 10x56x46 - 2 pcs. and longitudinal walls B - 10x56x292 - 2 pcs.
To set up sawing machine To make the tenon joints shown in the drawing below, install a 19 mm thick groove disk and make a test groove on a piece of wood, then readjust to 6 mm and check the width of the resulting grooves.

Cut a 19mm wide groove in the trim, trim a 10x305 spacer to a thickness equal to the width of the groove, and check the fit. Then repeat the operation with a 6mm wide groove.

Reset the groove disc to 6mm, adjust to a depth of 11mm. Attach a wooden extension to the movable stop-carriage, protruding to the right of the saw blade at a distance of 15 cm. Place the extension over saw blade, cutting a groove. Cut a pin 50 mm long and 6 mm thick from a spacer 305 mm long.

Video on how to make a plywood box with your own hands