Mechanical Gift Box
April 10, 2025 4:50 PM Subscribe
Mechanical Gift Box [via mefi projects] MetaFilter's own churl ("engineer, builder, learner, lover") posted this 20-minute video documenting his 10-month project: handcrafting a beautiful mechanical gift box of wood and brass. Super cool to watch his process and try to figure out where he's going at each step. Nice closeups of his painstaking detail work, plus ASMR goodness. Or just skip to the 19:00 mark to see the heartwarming reaction of the recipient. Congratulations, churl and Robin!
And if you're curious about the adorable tiny table saw, click the mefi projects link above.
And if you're curious about the adorable tiny table saw, click the mefi projects link above.
❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
posted by hilaryjade at 6:13 PM on April 10 [2 favorites]
posted by hilaryjade at 6:13 PM on April 10 [2 favorites]
Lovely!!!…and yes, I was curious about the table saw.
posted by brachiopod at 6:16 PM on April 10 [2 favorites]
posted by brachiopod at 6:16 PM on April 10 [2 favorites]
Well, that was a hellluvva payoff and certainly worth the ride!
I love watching stuff like that.
posted by JustSayNoDawg at 6:19 PM on April 10 [3 favorites]
I love watching stuff like that.
posted by JustSayNoDawg at 6:19 PM on April 10 [3 favorites]
I think some of the saw dust got to my eye there...
Loved the hand done drafting and geometry to get the opening right
Beautiful
posted by JoeXIII007 at 6:35 PM on April 10 [3 favorites]
Loved the hand done drafting and geometry to get the opening right
Beautiful
posted by JoeXIII007 at 6:35 PM on April 10 [3 favorites]
churl is much more restrained than I would have been at 7:26
posted by Dr. Twist at 9:04 PM on April 10 [2 favorites]
posted by Dr. Twist at 9:04 PM on April 10 [2 favorites]
omfg
posted by egypturnash at 9:09 PM on April 10 [1 favorite]
posted by egypturnash at 9:09 PM on April 10 [1 favorite]
As I was watching I was trying to guess how much time elapsed for the entire build. My wild guess is 120 hours.
What a neat build!
posted by Pemdas at 9:09 PM on April 10 [2 favorites]
What a neat build!
posted by Pemdas at 9:09 PM on April 10 [2 favorites]
Golly. Great patience, wonderful tools, fantastic imagination and a beautiful conclusion. Wow wow wow!
Congratulations to you both!
posted by ashbury at 9:38 PM on April 10 [2 favorites]
Congratulations to you both!
posted by ashbury at 9:38 PM on April 10 [2 favorites]
I have a tear in my eye. Thank you!
posted by nostrada at 1:20 AM on April 11 [2 favorites]
posted by nostrada at 1:20 AM on April 11 [2 favorites]
How wonderfully wholesome!
posted by humbug at 4:23 AM on April 11 [2 favorites]
posted by humbug at 4:23 AM on April 11 [2 favorites]
What a fun build!
posted by cmfletcher at 5:25 AM on April 11 [2 favorites]
posted by cmfletcher at 5:25 AM on April 11 [2 favorites]
Love this and congratulations again!
posted by ellieBOA at 5:43 AM on April 11 [2 favorites]
posted by ellieBOA at 5:43 AM on April 11 [2 favorites]
Oh man. If I ever end up in a long term relationship, let it be known that a months long effort of virtuoso nerdistry culminating in a quiet moment at home with dogs is exactly the kind of over-the-top proposal I am looking for. That is spectacular in all the right ways.
posted by jacquilynne at 6:18 AM on April 11 [4 favorites]
posted by jacquilynne at 6:18 AM on April 11 [4 favorites]
That was absolutely fantastic. The time and effort and measuring and crafting--beyond amazing. And her reaction to the box was just perfect. Congratulations to you both!
posted by ceejaytee at 9:47 AM on April 11 [2 favorites]
posted by ceejaytee at 9:47 AM on April 11 [2 favorites]
Blushing! Sharing these comments with Robin has been rapturous. Thank you!
Pemdas: "As I was watching I was trying to guess how much time elapsed for the entire build. My wild guess is 120 hours. "
Probably right on the money for how long it would have taken if I wasn’t such a beginner at this stuff. I don’t have a real count of hours, just a rough idea based on how much video I ended up with, which is a little over 200 hours. Though I only thought to start recording after I was a little ways in, and I didn’t record any of my time sketching out different ideas or drawing out the patterns and all that. (I actually got a ways into designing & prototyping it as a dodecahedron before giving up on that direction.) So probably 250-275 ish all told.
Woof. Luckily I only plan to need one of em
posted by churl at 11:52 PM on April 12 [2 favorites]
Pemdas: "As I was watching I was trying to guess how much time elapsed for the entire build. My wild guess is 120 hours. "
Probably right on the money for how long it would have taken if I wasn’t such a beginner at this stuff. I don’t have a real count of hours, just a rough idea based on how much video I ended up with, which is a little over 200 hours. Though I only thought to start recording after I was a little ways in, and I didn’t record any of my time sketching out different ideas or drawing out the patterns and all that. (I actually got a ways into designing & prototyping it as a dodecahedron before giving up on that direction.) So probably 250-275 ish all told.
Woof. Luckily I only plan to need one of em
posted by churl at 11:52 PM on April 12 [2 favorites]
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