feedback and suggestions on the box!

Once i had the sample box, i wanted to take some advice from someone who would be able to tell me what material would be good for it and also overall feedback and suggestions. So i spoke to John, Gautam, Lavanya, Sudipto. It was sooo helpful!

John: He said that the MDF sample looked the way ti did only because of bad craftsmanship and that it could be polished and finshed to be made to look pretty decent. He said that i should give it to a polisher who would sand,fill the gaps, make it even and polish or paint it, based on the look i want. A wooden box would be more expensive to make compared to MDF. Here are some of the things we discussed:

Sudipto: He explained the whole process of box making so that i have an idea. He also showed me how to do drawings that would make it easier for me to explain to the carpenter. He suggested i work with timber instead of MDF. He also showed me ways to determine and differentiate between the cost of producing a prototype and the manufacturing cost of several units of a product.

Gautam: We covered almost all aspects of the box in our conversation-material,hinges,design,cost, etc. MDF is cheap but cant hold hinges/nails well, cannot withstand moisture at all, not very durable and is not a very child friendly material as it uses glues that are not safe.Also, the lid of the box could fall and jam fingers as it is very heavy and the hinges are such. For this he suggested:

1. The lid could be bigger than the bottom which would make it hard to jam fingers.

2. Could be a box with a lid that can be removed completely rather than hinged.

3. The hinges could be of a better quality, which enables the box to open and close differently(slower) but these hinges would be very expensive.

He aslo said i should find out if there's anything i can spray the MDF with, to make it moisture resistant because even a little bit of moisture can make the MDF bloat.

He also said i should make the grooves much wider.

He said having a table top with grooves would create a separate play space for little land, but a box would allow them to carry it anywhere and play.

He said i should speak to Lavanya as she knew alot about box making and could probably help me make one.

Lavanya: She asked me what i like about the box and what i didnt like about it.

MDF doesnt feel as good/real as wood.

Could look at a different joinery for the corners of the box.

If worked on, MDF can be made to look really nice and finished.

Alot of points overlapped with the points that came up when i spoke to gautam.

I told her i used sand paper to sand some of the grooves but it was taking me too long, so she suggested i use a piece of wood or something solid between the sandpaper which would speed up the process and sand it evenly.

All this information was extremely useful! I will be going to Lavanya's workshop on Sunday to create a box with her. I'll be doing something like this for the first time!Nervous but very excited!:)