Kanojo.de Blog

5Jan/1146

Geek-ish Tissueboxes

IMPORTANT: For those of you are looking to buy cubes, we have a sales page here!

We happen to be fans of Big Bang Theory and in one episode, we spotted a Rubik's Cube tissue box somewhere in their geek apartment (back in October?). Of course they're not the first one to have this idea but we got curious and were convinced they would make awesome Christmas gifts for our friends. In the end we overdid it a little and made every cubic (and geek-ish) item we could think of. The result? A certain annoyed person who had to cut all those small pieces of wood for us (he paid us back with cutting them half-heartedly and not so precise as usual but no hard feelings..). Every cube made in a different way (some painted, stenciled, glued,..). Many gifts and actually none left for ourselves to keep and no drive to make more, ... as always.

Now this wouldn't be a real Kanojo.de blog entry if we didn't tell you how it works, so here goes:

Use 1 cm MDF and for one tissue box you'll need: 2 x 15 cm x 15 cm and 4 x 14 cm x 13 cm

The bigger ones are for the top and bottom.

Make the hole about 6,5 cm in diameter.

It's all mixed up photos now. I'll note which tissue box is currently being worked on in which picture.

Game Cube

Aperture Laboratories [Portal Warning Signs]

Rubik's Cube

Mario Question Block

Companion Cube

Mario Brick Block

Mario Question Block [The 2nd one]

Tagged as: , , Leave a comment
Comments (46) Trackbacks (10)
  1. Saavik
    January 6th, 2011 - 20:51

    OMFG! WANT! :) *putsMDFOnShoppingList*

    ( REPLY )
  2. bluesceada
    January 10th, 2011 - 17:46

    Yay, thanks again! :-)

    ( REPLY )
  3. 0tawin
    February 17th, 2011 - 14:15

    WOW I would love to have one of those portal boxes hehe

    ( REPLY )
  4. LRS
    October 28th, 2011 - 11:24

    WOW amazing!! Anyway I can buy two of the Rubik’s cube ones?

    ( REPLY )
    • nebuk
      October 28th, 2011 - 14:26

      Heyyas,

      YOU HAVE … MAIL

      ( REPLY )
      • Liss
        November 13th, 2011 - 23:08

        Wow – any chance of a rubiks cube one for sale?!

        ( REPLY )
        • nebuk
          November 14th, 2011 - 09:56

          Hey,

          recently someone else asked the same thing. I was very eager to try and make a good offer, but sadly it would’ve gotten quite expensive as i’m missing some of the materials that you can only get (nicely) in larger quantities. I estimated that if i make a few (say, 5 or 6 pieces) then i could offer them at around ~40-45Eur. I do know this is quite a hand full of money, but on the other hand look at what commercial items which aren’t produced in large quantities in this sector (check thinkgeek or the like :P ) do cost.

          So, yes, its possible – if i’d ask around, find another few people who want one and are willing to pay so much :( .

          I’m sorry, regards
          - Dario

          ( REPLY )
  5. Liss
    November 13th, 2011 - 23:06

    Wow! Perfect christmas gift idea – a rubik’s cube one going for sale!?

    ( REPLY )
  6. Charl
    November 14th, 2011 - 20:57

    If they go cheaper I would love a Rubix Cube one :) !!

    ( REPLY )
  7. Lynn Smith
    November 26th, 2011 - 06:03

    So, I’d like to try and make the Rubiks cube for my hubby for Christmas. Can you share the dimensions of the colored squares with me? Thank you do much.

    ( REPLY )
    • nebuk
      November 26th, 2011 - 13:32

      Heho,

      if you’re using the same dimensions for the outer box as we are, ~45mm per square (the corners are beveled a bit, as you can (hopefully?) see).

      Hope it helps, regards
      - Dario

      ( REPLY )
  8. Lynn Smith
    November 26th, 2011 - 13:52

    Thanks!!!!

    ( REPLY )
  9. usak0
    December 1st, 2011 - 15:15

    Ever considered Minecraft blocks? I would definitely buy some of those! :)

    ( REPLY )
    • nebuk
      December 1st, 2011 - 16:02

      Hey,

      sorry to say so but not having played minecraft myself yet (and not considering it right now) i can’t get myself to realize it :( . But using the techniques introduced here i’d love to see some backscatter!
      Also, as for the “sale event” right now we’re looking for enough rubiks cube buyers (as those seem the most popular right now, probably due to the big bang theory tv series) so we can streamline making them at least a little. So sorry to say this, but i doubt i’ll be able to make a minecraft block for a affordable price right now :( . Sorry!

      ( REPLY )
      • Saavik
        January 18th, 2012 - 01:22

        I made that horrible mistake to start playing minecraft. Now I want a cube on my desk with a Creeper face. :( Would love to try getting the pixel-design on the cube. Let me know, when you order the next batch of material. ;)

        ( REPLY )
  10. Tiffany
    December 2nd, 2011 - 07:45

    I want a rubix cube one please. Email me details please. Thank you

    ( REPLY )
  11. Jeannine Mosely
    December 18th, 2011 - 18:10

    What, no Menger’s Sponge?

    ( REPLY )
  12. jenn
    December 27th, 2011 - 20:09

    I want a rubix cube one too. Email me details please. Thank you

    ( REPLY )
  13. Felicia
    December 29th, 2011 - 02:26

    I also would like to purchase a rubiks cube tissue box, can you please email me info. Thank you! :) felicia

    ( REPLY )
  14. Janice
    January 4th, 2012 - 21:55

    I would love one of the Mario Pow Block’s. How much are they?

    Please e-mail me back when you get a chance! Thanks! :)

    ( REPLY )
  15. Ben
    March 20th, 2012 - 02:00

    Hi,

    I would love to purchase a rubik’s cube tissue box, can you please email me price/info. Thanks

    ( REPLY )
  16. Scott
    December 10th, 2012 - 12:00

    Why not permanently attach the top of the box and have no bottom? you could just slide the cover down over the box.

    ( REPLY )
    • nebuk
      December 10th, 2012 - 12:23

      Hey,

      we kinda often relocate our boxes, and having no bottom would be impractical for that scenario, as the tissue-box would just fall out. But yeah, if you leave it quite stationary thats a good idea. Now that i come to think of it, maybe a strip of velcro, or even simpler, four thumbtacks and a length of thing sewing thread would do the job too?

      Thanks for your input ;P

      ( REPLY )
  17. David
    January 22nd, 2013 - 14:20

    Man, everyone wants a rubik’s cube! My favorite is the companion cube!

    ( REPLY )
  18. Matt
    January 23rd, 2013 - 03:34

    Nice work guys!! These cubes are amazing. You can see the love that went into each of them. I featured you on our site – http://whydontihavethis.com/gaming-geek-tissue-boxes/

    ( REPLY )
  19. Chris
    January 23rd, 2013 - 11:05

    How much do the two Portal boxes cost?

    ( REPLY )
  20. nebuk
    January 23rd, 2013 - 11:37

    Hey,

    with all you guys asking for Portal Boxes, i have a sad announcement to make: We do not know how to manufacture them for an affordable price! The specimen seen here are made of wood, hand-painted and hand-laminated with foil. This makes them quite expensive to manufacture as i need wood, glue, magnets, i need to cut the wood on my tablesaw which takes time, need to putty and sand it multiple times, then base-coat it, sand again, apply color, laminate foil. This takes a quite a few hours for every box, and the end-price would either rip us off, or you — and both is unacceptable.

    This led us to try another technique using the same cardboard boxes we use in:
    http://blog.kanojo.de/2011/11/29/rubix-cube-tissue-box-take-two/
    Unfortunately this didn’t work as well for the companion cube as for the rubiks one. The quality just wasn’t as nice: The colored paper we used starts to loose its silver gloss to your fingers, the cut-out paper doesn’t look quite good, etc…

    So with your renewed interest in those we can try to find new, better materials, maybe start cutting the paper on our plotter and see if we can increase the quality while keeping the cost reasonable. We’ll try, but we can’t promise when or if. Sorry!

    Best Regards, and Thanks for all of your interest!

    ( REPLY )
  21. Math You
    January 23rd, 2013 - 16:06

    Hey I would like to purchase a question block box. Please email me at ugle...@gmail.com & let me know the cost & where/how to pay you (if it’s still available).

    Thank you!

    Matt

    ( REPLY )
    • nebuk
      January 24th, 2013 - 09:25

      Hey,

      same as for the portal-cubes — we only have rubiks cubes for sale ATM, as the others are too time-intensive to mass produce and thus would get absurdly expensive. I’m sorry! And again, with the renewed interest, we’ll try new plotter-laminating-foils and see if we can fiddle out a technique that allows us to. Please be patient ;P.

      ( REPLY )
  22. Vanessa
    January 24th, 2013 - 04:50

    Do you guys make any LOTR themed tissue boxes? I like Mario but am a total J RR Tolkien fanatic. I’m what you would call a ‘Ringer’

    ( REPLY )
    • nebuk
      January 24th, 2013 - 09:24

      Hey,

      while i’ve only read the books and never watch films of books i’ve read (yes, there still are those people ;P), i can’t recall that somewhere a cubic~ish object is described. Thats why the idea of making a hobbit/lotr-themed tissue box never crossed my mind.

      As a “Ringer”, what idea for a themed tissue box do you have? Suggestions warmly welcome ;) .

      ( REPLY )
  23. Jonathan
    January 25th, 2013 - 01:46

    I would like to purchase one of these tissue boxes. How can we make this happen? Thank you.

    ( REPLY )
  24. m
    January 25th, 2013 - 18:01

    how can i buy them? please reply as i would want to buy in large quantities, and do you ship in the UAE?

    ( REPLY )
  25. Tim
    January 25th, 2013 - 22:45

    Dude, you should make a minecraft block one

    ( REPLY )
  26. edgar
    January 31st, 2013 - 16:47

    can you ship to the United States of America? What is the cost in US dollars? and how do I go about ordering? Thinking Rubixs cube or possibly Mario Question Block.

    thanks,
    e

    ( REPLY )
  27. Lynne S.
    March 6th, 2013 - 04:48

    Hello. These look amazing and I’m thinking of making a couple myself. I looked through all the pictures, but I didn’t see how you keep the top on when someone gets a tissue. I saw magnets mentioned someone in the comments… is that what you used? I thought of putting hinges on them, but it would out of place. These boxes (minus the hole) would also make excellent decorative storage boxes, or you could make them larger, add a cushion, and make a storage ottoman/seat (thought I expect you’d need to do more than just glue the pieces together if they’re taking that kind of abuse). Anyways, now you’ve my urge to build started. Who knows what’ll happen now.

    ( REPLY )
    • nebuk
      March 6th, 2013 - 08:54

      Hey,

      yes, we do use magnets to keep the top-pieces on. One very simple alternative would be to glue the top, but leave the bottom open and just put it “over” the cardboard-box holding the tissues.

      As for the magnet method: The magnets are sunk into these four holes:
      http://blog.kanojo.de/files/2010/12/IMG_9700-550×366.jpg
      like this:
      http://blog.kanojo.de/files/2010/12/IMG_9698-550×366.jpg

      Be sure to use a good, very sharp drill and drillpress to drill those holes, as they will easily yank out (right word?). In the most cases its not even necessary to glue the magnets, as they fit quite snuggly into the holes. Also, be sure to use those neat neodym “supermagnets”, i doubt regular ones would keep the top on the box when you violently grab a tissue.

      As for the sitting boxes … i don’t think it’d take that much more. I’ve build speaker-stands and did nothing but glue the parts together (properly sanding them before, also took care that the edges i cut were completely parallel and no slit was visible between them) — after drying them properly clamped together (and that means tons of force!) i could jump around on them. True, they weren’t quite large (~35cm height), but well … for a large sitting box you might want to consider some wooden dowels and/or an additional stabilization ledge on the inside — but thats about it.

      Have fun building something nice! Glad you like our idea! I’d be honord if you reported back once you’re finished with your ideas.

      ( REPLY )
  28. Aynamic
    May 27th, 2013 - 22:07

    Hey,
    I would like the instructions for the portal one please.

    ( REPLY )
    • nebuk
      May 28th, 2013 - 07:19

      Hey,

      we’ll be glad to help! However, what exactly is it that you need? Please be a bit more specific on where you need help, then i can try to help you ;) .

      Thanks

      ( REPLY )
  29. Zombieman2412
    June 11th, 2013 - 02:01

    hey i would like the templates for the portal apeture warning signs please (im using spray paint)

    ( REPLY )

Leave a comment

 
This Acrylic Cube
How-To: Rubik’s Cube And Other Geeky Tissue Box Covers | make handmade, crochet, craft
World’s Strangest | How To Spice Up Your Kleenex Boxes
Glenwood Agency » only so many words that we can say
Geeky Tissue Box « geekimperative.
Make Your Own Geeky Tissue Box |Gadgetsin
I Want These Geeky Tissue Boxes « Band Nerds Gone Wild
Top 10 on Thursday, 10 geeky gifts for your geeky girlfriend « Hot Cute Girly Geek
Geeky tissue boxes « the Link Larder
Geeky Tissue Boxes
» «

Tag Cloud

administration airbrush anime baking birthday present bread bugfix cat cloths computer diy figure figures Food game garage kits General gk hacks household internet iPhone linux Mahjong merchandise Non-Tut no pattern otaku Otaku paper Pattern Plushie portal programming quick ragnarok server Sewing speakers Techniques tinkering touhou Tutorial useless stuff wood

Categories

RSS Kanojo IdeaBlog

RSS Figure.fm

RSS DannyChoo

Blogroll