As I began drafting the working drawings, I quickly became aware that this wasn't the simple box that it appeared to be. Don't be fooled by my photos of the finished product either. This thing took seven sheets of birch ply (with almost no waste) and had a significant number of critical dados, rabbets, moving parts and other complications that required precision craftsmanship to keep from revealing the device's secrets.

the mockup

CO2 Meter

Since exporting the working drawings to .dxf files required little more than a mouse click or two, converting them to cutting files was a snap. For the record, the hidden, nesting trap doors had a 1/32" tolerance and were so close to air tight that we had to make a series of masked breathing holes to keep the carbon dioxide build-up at a safe level for the "unseen" performer.

ShopBot at work on project ...
(a 4x4 PRSstandard)

Contact John:

Department of Theater & Dance
Colby College
Waterville, ME  04901-8840
jdervin@colby.edu