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Making a wooden business card case
This project was inspired by a friend who recently had some great businss cards made up based on a design my wife created.
I decided that it would be cool to have a nice case to hold businss cards, and as it happens loyalty cards are usually the same size so it can do double duty.
The whole point of handing over a business card is for someone to remember you and your business, what better way to set a good first impression than plucking your businness card out of a beautiful hand crafted wooded case.
Before making this final version I made a proto-type. I didn’t realise at the time that I was making a prototype, but sometimes projects don’t go so well, and it turns out that what you thought was going to be great, turns out to be nothing more than a practice run.
Tools
Tenon saw
Marking gauge
Chisels
Hand plane
Router with thicknessing jig
lathe
clamps
Materials
block of hardwood – I used Cherry
Small contrasting hardwood for hinge
Method
Below can watch a quick <3min video highlighting the main steps i went through in this project.
This is how the steps break down
The first step was to cut the block of hardwood into two equal halves. I used the router thicknessing jig to get the two halves to an equal thickness and also with a nice flat profile.
I then used the same jig to let me drop the router lower and excavate card size hollow in each side.
I then used my freshly sharpened chisels to square up the recesses on each piece. Once I was happy with the size of the cavity they would produce, I glued and clamped the two halves back together.
Once it was dry I could trim the sides even with a hand plane, then sand the whole exerior until I had a pretty nice smooth finish.
At this point I was almost tempted to stop. There is something quite interesting tactile about a smooth lump of wood which is odly lighter than your brain thinks it should be.
Next step was to cut off the part that would become the lid, and then smooth up the sides from the cut to get the best possible fit between the body and the lid.
With the main body essentially finished it just needs a hinge. In my prototyle I tried to make an integrated hinge which was actually quite difficult to get right. For this version I decided on an external hinge. This allowed me to get the hinge right before comitting to attaching it to the box. Which was good because it took a couple of tries to get a nice fit on the two pieces. By using a contrasting colour here it really makes a feature of the hinge.
With most of the hinge shaped, I glued it to to the case using duct tape to hold everything firmly in place whilst the glue dried.
Whilst I had been developing the hinge I was using a small panel nail to act as the pin, but the whole idea was for this to be a wooden case, so I didn’t want to let things down at the hinge with a metal pin. So I used the lathe and a pair of callipers to turn a 2mm wooden pin. The pin itself feels very fragile, but once it is in the hinge it is well supported and works great.
Once the hinge was working I found that whlst it was fairly straight, the lid did want to pull slightly to one side. To combat this, and to provide a nicer feeling close position, I turned a second pin to embed in the front of the lid, and a small drilled recess in the body for it to click into.
That last touch really makes it, there is a definite click when you open and close the lid which make the whole thing feel more robust.
Conclusion
This is a fun little project and yields a nice item that can be used every day. I leave my case in my jacket pocket and I avhe both business cards and a couple of select loyalty cards in it.
Do you use business cards? would you use a case like this? let me know your thoughts in the comments.
