Casket (translated from Latin “scatula” - box) – small sizes a chest used to store valuables. Depending on the material of manufacture, plastic, wooden, and metal boxes are distinguished. Less common are items made of bone and stone.

In order to give beautiful view, boxes are inlaid precious stones, covered with leather, fabric, carving or embossing. They come in different configurations (round, oval, square, rectangular shape or describe the contour incorrectly geometric figure) and size (small – 50 mm x 50 mm, medium – 100 mm x 100 mm, large – over 150 mm x 150 mm).

The high cost of the box reduces the demand for this product. However, do not despair, it is easy to build a chest yourself.

Let's look at the history of its appearance, types and how to make a box with a secret with your own hands.

Video training “How to make a box with a secret with your own hands”

The emergence and formation of “secret” boxes

The first box appeared two thousand years ago in the Middle East, and a little later the “know-how” spread throughout Egypt, Japan, and China. During excavations carried out within Mesopotamia, archaeologists discovered fragments of wooden caskets. The chests found were decorated with juice lacquer wood, ivory, carving, inlay.

In Europe, “amazing boxes” appeared in the Middle Ages and indicated the status and prosperity of the owner. IN Ancient Rus' Every home already had a chest and was used to store jewelry, love letters, and memorabilia.

Before the advent of industrial production, a wooden box was made by hand directly to the buyer's order.

Russian craftsmen sought to outstrip their colleagues in terms of workmanship. Thus, “cunning” boxes were born that opened only after pressing a secret button.

The first music box appeared in Switzerland, its operation was based on a special mechanism - a carillon, then boxes for automatic watches were created that emitted a melody when opened.

Today, the chest has evolved from an expensive item to an "everyday" item that is mass-produced by contractors. At the same time, the scope of application of the box has increased beyond recognition: in addition to boxes for storing jewelry, products for banknotes, documents, watches, cigars, business cards.

Creating a box with a secret

A truly real work of art is the Japanese Himitsu-Bako chest. It first appeared in the vicinity of Hakone a hundred years ago. In addition to attractive appearance, which depended only on the imagination of the master, the box was a kind of puzzle.

Not everyone can open such a box. There is no hidden lever, button or locking mechanism. To get the “secret” contents, move the walls and fragments of the box in a certain sequence.

The box with medium difficulty opens in seven rotations. At the same time, there are hiding places designed for up to 125 movements, which serve as reliable protection against thieves.

Let's look at how to make a box with a secret with your own hands.

1. Prepare a block of rosewood, measuring 40 mm x 46 mm x 75 mm, check the perpendicularity of the canvas so that the parts of the box can move correctly. Perform this procedure regularly throughout the entire work.
2. Cut out the lid, walls, and bottom of the rectangular box. This procedure should be performed using a jigsaw.
3. Draw and cut out a key in the shape of the letter “T” on the lid.
4. Make a cut on the wall of the box. Set the sawn-off lid aside.
5. Draw a line around the workpiece 3 millimeters from the edge, intended to go around the key slot. Using a drill, drill a small inlet hole in one corner and make a cut along this mark.
6. Cut out the lifts. These end parts will subsequently be inserted inside the secret cell, supporting its lid.
7. Glue the walls of the chest to the bottom. Do not lubricate the area near the key slot with glue.
8. Attach lifts. To do this, apply a layer of glue to the inner ends of the walls of the box. Then place lifts at both ends. cover secret compartment put back in place as it holds the walls in place.
9. Clamp the box in a vice and leave it to dry for 10 hours.
10. Sand rough edges using a sanding block and sandpaper.
11. Apply finish using Danish oil paste wax.
12. Cover the chest with varnish.

A box with a secret is a proven way to hide personal belongings (money, jewelry, letters) from unwanted eyes and intruders.

We suggest watching an online video on how to make a chest yourself.

Each person is mysterious in his own way. And everyone, no doubt, has their own secrets. For example, often many people for many years keep all sorts of trinkets reminiscent of significant events life. 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 was a secret box 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 stood hidden secrets. 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. An 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!

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 small items, and also as gift or packaging for a gift.

For making 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