The music box mechanism arrived in the mail yesterday and it plays Teddy Bear Picnic perfectly so our next step is to install it in the box. Here are photos of the mechanism:
Here is a closeup shot:
To do that I will need to finish the interior shelf I created last week for it to sit on.
There is a possible problem here: the shelf will need to be thin, about 1/4" so the key to the mechanism will protrude through enough so it can be wound from underneath the music box. I am concerned about the strength of the shelf. This is both soft wood and the shelf consists of end grain fibers and I'm not sure if this will be strong enough to support the box and to resist cracking over time after it's been wound time and again. In addition to this I'll need to drill about a 3/4" wide hole in the shelf for the key to protrude through and this will weaken the shelf further.
If the resulting shelf is too thin to support the mechanism then plan B is this: I'll cut away the shelf entirely and leave a short ledge along the edge of the interior wall of the box. I'll then create a stronger shelf out of hardwood and install that into the box instead.
Here is an example of a thin piece of hardwood. This is some scrap walnut leftover from a past project:
The shelf at present is about 1" thick and I'll need to remove about 3/4" of that thickness. I'm going to go down to the wood shop and measure it carefully and then remove the waste wood from the shelf.
I'' be posting more photos today so be sure and drop by in a couple of hours to see what happened.
More later,
VW
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