Monthly Archives: January 2013

BPAL Scent Index – For Reals

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2014-02-10 11.16.46After experimenting on the Proof-of-Concept version of the Scent Index, I got cracking on the final, gift-worthy version.

Instead of the weird, long base piece in the Concept version, I cut it into feet that were screwed onto the outermost pages.  This adds for stability when the whole thing is fanned out, and also the pages don’t scrape on the base, which was a major problem on the Concept.

Had to drill another 150 recessed holes, which, again, took forever.

2014-02-10 11.14.42Ebonized the exterior surfaces of the box using a mixture of steel wool dissolved in white vinegar, brushed over the wood panels that were soaked with a black tea.  I wanted the grain of the Birch ply to show through, but after all was said and done and sealed, you can hardly see it.  I could have saved myself a lot of hassle if I had just rattle-canned the whole thing with semi-gloss black.  After sealing the surface of the wood, I applied silver acrylic into the etched designs.  Helped make them stand out, and the paint wiped cleanly off the surface of the smooth sealed wood.

Used Birch edging to conceal the plywood edges.  That worked out very well.  Also rattlecanned some battleship-grey to the interior, at Cyl’s request.

I cut thin strips of thin craft foam to line each and every recessed hole.  Now the bottles are securely ‘hugged’ when seated all the way down.  You can tip the box onto its side, and all the bottles should stay firmly in place.  Also keeps them secured when opening and closing the Index.

Lessons Learned
I don’t like standing at the drill press for longer than an hour.  Steel wool dissolved in vinegar smells awful and effortlessly stains my workbench.

BPAL Scent Index – Proof of Concept

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I have a friend that collects perfumes.  Lots of perfumes.  She showed me a perfume storage box on Etsy she had her eye on, and I thought I would rip off the design wholesale, and give it as a gift.

IMG_1293After creating a copy of Millinginline’s design in Sketchup, I started making modifications to it.  After an hour, I had a design that was all my own.  Millinginline’s design is made for compact ease-of-accessability, and features ‘bonus’ storage for odds and ends.  My design, however, holds standard 5ml bottles only, and would fan all the perfumes out at once.  I dubbed it The Peacock.

Got to work on the proof-of-concept.  It took forever to drill all the recessed holes for the perfumes to sit in, as the thing holds 150 5ml bottles of perfume.  There are two sets of doors on each side that are mirrored copies of each other.  One side of each panel is longer to act as a ‘kickstand’ to keep the box from tipping to the left or right.  Unfolded, the wingspan is pretty impressive.

IMG_1294I also noted that when folded up, there’s an unsightly gap between each ‘page’ of the Scent Index.  Something I’ll need to remedy before making the finished product.