Living Hinge Curved Keepsake Box

Set the size. Get a laser file.

A curved keepsake box with no hinges to buy: one piece of wood wraps round the top and bends at the corners through a pattern of slits. Set its size and PrintCut draws the base, the two side walls and the wrap.

Type the outside size, or switch to inside sizes when what goes in it matters: PrintCut adds the walls for you. Width and depth go from 25 to 350 mm and height from 15 to 350 mm, or start from a preset: Small, Medium, Large, Pencil or Cube. Pick your material and its thickness, and every part redraws to match. Turn the box around in 3D, assembled or laid flat, before you cut anything.

Joints that fit

Every edge is finger-jointed, and the fingers are drawn for the thickness you chose. Set the finger width (5 to 25 mm) for the look you want, and the kerf (0 to 0.30 mm) for how much your laser burns away, so the joints press together snugly instead of falling apart or needing a hammer.

Wood that bends

A living hinge is rows of staggered slits that let flat plywood bend like fabric. The wrap is the end wall, the lid and the latch in one piece: it stands up from the base, bends over the first rounded corner, runs along the lid and bends down the second. Small tabs on the side walls hold it shut; lift the wrap off them to open the lid. Set the corner radius (8 to 50 mm) and the latch size for a softer curve or a firmer catch.

What you get

• Base: finger-jointed to the walls and the wrap.
• Two side walls: with rounded top corners for the wrap to bend over, and a tab that holds the lid shut.
• The wrap: end wall, lid and latch in one piece, with the living hinge’s slits at each bend.

The cut file

Download an SVG for LightBurn, xTool or Glowforge with each kind of line on its own colour-coded layer, a DXF for CAD software, or G-code for GRBL and Marlin machines. The parts are laid out on your laser’s bed for you, with the total cutting length and an estimate of the cutting time. When they need more than one sheet, each sheet is its own file in one zip. Part names are written in small blue text at each part’s corner; untick them if your laser program would burn them.

Built for the machine, not just the screen

• Parts are packed onto your laser’s bed; anything bigger than the bed is split for you.
• Kerf compensation widens every finger and narrows every slot by half the kerf, for a tight friction fit.
• The total cutting length and an estimated cutting time are shown before you export.
• The flex lattice is sized to the bend, so the wrap reaches round each corner exactly.

Assembly

1. Cut the parts. The hinge slits are on their own blue layer, so you can give them their own speed and power. They must cut through.
2. Join the side walls to the base.
3. Fit the wrap’s end wall to the base and sides, then bend it gently over the rounded corners and down the latch end.
4. Glue the fixed joints, and leave the latch end free so the lid opens.

Cut it from 3 mm birch plywood: a box for letters, jewellery or a wedding ring that people want to pick up and open.