Ash Box

 

This is technically the first wooden puzzle box I built. I made the Ash Box in 1993 when I took a woodshop class in high school. I was 15 years old. The teacher thought I was insane. He had never heard of puzzle boxes. I had been making similar boxes from cardboard before this.

It is a 12-step box, based on traditional Japanese style trick boxes.

The Ash Box is proportioned after the Golden Ratio. Both the top and the smaller side of the box are golden rectangles. I will use these proportions in almost all of my future boxes.

I will not get a chance to make another wooden box for five years! Finding shop space to use, especially when you are a young person, is so difficult.