Phone Lock Box

In this month’s “In The Labs” project we look at a clever way to use thread milling to turn up your VCarve projects and make this fun and practical multi-material Phone Lock Box!

Olly talks through how quick and easy it is to create and customize your own Phone Lock Box to limit screen time and help promote healthy habits for all the family. Watch Olly show you how he uses his mood board with inspiration from Todd’s screw lamp project plus other ideas found online to create this family-friendly container, giving you 3 main sheets for cutting, toolpaths and a handy design layout all on V&CO to help you get started.

Choosing the walnut, maple and oak material to build up his layered box, Olly shows you how to use simple circle, oval and square shapes to draw vectors for the base, lid and middle. He creates thread milling toolpaths for the matching screw and bolt mechanism, then quickly adds some fun "unplug" and "it's a beautiful day, put your phone away" v-carved text to the lid and base. See how Olly uses the pocket and profile machining to cut out the parts on each sheet, using the ball nose tool to smooth out the finger holes in the lid for a better grip. Olly also includes tips on using dowels to secure the project for double-sided machining and later gluing together, plus how he uses tabs to check the thread milling works whilst still on the machine bed. He then finishes the box with a simple sand and a splash of clear Danish oil to bring out the beautiful striped contrasting wood.

Check out our tutorial showing how to use multi-threaded tools, a single-threaded tool and then how to create a matching bolt and hole https://www.vectric.com/support/tutorials/aspire?search=thread%20milling&video=thread-milling-toolpath-guide

There’s also a wealth of forum posts with fantastic thread milling projects shared by our Vectric community.

Why not have a play around designing your own Phone Lock Box, customize it to fit any phone size or decorate it to match your home décor or personal style. This versatile stacked cylinder design also makes a great cookie or treats jar for those trying to shed some pounds, or even a jewellery box, safe or hideaway for your favorite things! Get experimenting and take a break from your phone to focus on some peak family fun time!

Happy Making!