Скачать или смотреть 34: Drilling the Grill and Fitting the Chime Mechanism - Mini Cathedral Music Box

In this session, I wrapped up some final tweaks on the test piece using the drill press to clean up the grill vents and check sound resonance. I also thought through some mechanical fit issues, like the screw head insets and overall material thickness, and made decisions that’ll help with the final version.

🛠️ What I Cover:

Grill Vents Cleanup on the Drill Press: I used the drill press to help finish opening up the grill vents that didn’t cut through cleanly on the CNC. Turns out I accidentally drilled through the wrong ones at first — you can see a couple of oops holes in the piece, but that’s fine. This is still just the prototype.

Sound Check After Cleanup: After opening those grills, I wanted to hear if it made any difference in tone or resonance. It did! Still not loud, but definitely better. I also used headphones to listen a bit more closely to the sound change.

Material Reflections: I mentioned again how much I’d prefer to use solid 8/4 or even 1.5" material instead of gluing two pieces together. Even though this one's bookmatched and looks decent, the seam is still visible and not ideal.

Screw Head Inset Too Shallow: Looking at the screw pockets, I realized the insets for the screw heads aren’t deep enough. Right now, there’s not enough wood to seat a head securely, especially on the top corners.

Solution: Adjust the Back Pocket: I’m going to shrink the back pocket slightly — just move it in by about 1/16" — to allow for deeper insets on the screw holes without breaking through the side walls. That should still leave enough room for the back panel and let the screws sit flush.

Keeping the Design Proportions: I considered thickening the walls, but that would throw off the overall design proportions, so I’m not going that route. Instead, small adjustments to internal geometry should do the trick.

🧠 Final Thoughts:

Even though this prototype won’t be a finished piece, I’ve learned a ton from it. The grill cleanup, screw inset adjustments, and general fit and finish issues have all helped me refine what I’ll change in the next version. Figured walnut is beautiful but delicate — chip out is just part of the game unless I slow things down. I’m feeling good about the next steps!