2. Workshop

Trigger Box

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I wanted the base to have a little more support than just glue, so I drilled a few holes and glued in some cut off nails to reinforce things a bit.
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I wanted the base to have a little more support than just glue, so I drilled a few holes and glued in some cut off nails to reinforce things a bit.

  • The goal for this project was a simple one: Keep my wireless camera triggers from turning themselves on in my camera bag and draining their batteries. With that in mind the box had to fit the pocket of the camera bag and hold the trigger components snugly. I figured out a layout, cut the base to fit that, and then got the height for the stacked triggers and cut the sides, planing them down to exact duplicates on the shooting board.
  • For the next step the shooting board stayed front and center on the bench, and I planed down some 45 degree angles for the corners of the sides, again making sure the pieces wound up perfectly symmetrical.
  • I wasn't sure on the best way to put the components together, but it worked out well gluing and clamping the sides as shown before attaching them to the bottom.
  • I wanted the base to have a little more support than just glue, so I drilled a few holes and glued in some cut off nails to reinforce things a bit.
  • To reinforce the box corners, I cut some thin pieces of pine and planed them down (using the tiniest plane stop) to fit some notches I cut across the diagonals of each corner.
  • With the box together, the pieces do in fact still fit inside.
  • To cozy up the interior I dropped in some felt, notched and contoured to all the internal features.
  • Once the glue dried, the reinforcing bars were trimmed flush with a saw and chisel.
  • The body of the box, all stained up and ready for some clear coats.
  • With the box pretty much finished, I worked on fleshing out the interior with stops and supports for the gear, using small bits of wood covered in felt and glued to the inside walls.
  • For a lid I went with a simple slab, stained and felted, and attached it with four small hinges. My hinge alignment is conveniently just inaccurate enough to keep the function of the lid perfectly stiff, so it holds itself in whatever position you leave it, and since this box will be packed tightly inside my camera bag I won't be needing it to latch shut, so I left it without a clasp.
  • With the box completed and the triggers installed, everything fits together perfectly.
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