Ring Box

With a lid that can be placed on the top or the bottom of the base, this aluminum box is meant to hold or display a ring of any size.

Design Elements

Wanting the box to resemble that of a traditional ring box, my project partner and I decided to chamfer the corners of the box and filleted the top edge. Additionally, we included an engraving on the top for style (see left). We added a pedestal that centered focus on the ring when the lid was off (see right)

The box's design balanced elegance with functionality. Being made of aluminum, it is rust resistant and lightweight. The lid can also be flipped over and placed on the bottom of the box (see below). This allows you to place it next to your kitchen sink to keep your rings from falling down the drain when you are washing your hands or doing dishes.

Renders, Drawings, & Simulations

We used a diamond pin and dowel to ensure a well aligned fit every time we put the box lid on (see left). On the right you can see where the ring sits when the box is put together. The lid needed a pocket deep enough to leave the head of the ring untouched.

This is a simulation of our toolpath for the bottom piece. We set a goal to design a box with a minimal number of tool changes. This would help us save on cost and time.

To the right is a picture of the technical drawing for the bottom piece. Machinists should be able to use this drawing to recreate the bottom part of the box.

Reflection

I learned a lot from little mistakes throughout this project. Every time I had to rework something because it was not machinable, I realized the way I designed the box in CAD affected what I was able to do in CAM. Features that initially appeared easy to model proved difficult to manufacture. I realized through manufacturing the ring box that design and manufacturing need to be considered in parallel.