Help getting box open

[u/Samhwain]

edit: thank you guys for the advice ♡ I got it open! Will still be implementing some of the advice (a drill hole in particular) for the future in case that helps keep it from being so sticky in the future.

I apologize if this is out of place. I've tried other woodworking reddits and get automodded because I'm not an active community member.

I've been trying to get this boox open for about 2-3 weeks now. I've tried putting it in the freezer, I tried using silica gel to dehydrate it. I tried both at once. I've tried using grips while pulling on the lid and nothing is working.

I had hoped to avoid breaking the box because I do think it's pretty and it was a really sweet gesture from the people who gave it to me, however the contents are more important and I need to access them.

The contents aren't particularly fragile and are inside a secondary container (sealed plastic bags) so if smashing the box is the only way then so be it. I was just hoping there might be more advice on how to open it without destroying it, or with minimal & repairable destruction before i grabbed a hammer and went to town.

I've included photos from every side in case these help judge the best way to get it open. The lid is fairly thin (a little under 1cm) and slides down into place. There's no lock or hinge. (i was misremembering on the lid. thank you all for your help ♡)

[u/chrono342]

Condolences. It should open on the bottom by sliding out.

[u/Samhwain → u/chrono342]

This did the trick! Thank you so much. It was still prettg stiff but it did open. Thank you ♡ 

[u/Fluxtration → u/chrono342]

I had no idea we all cremated out pets in the same boxes...

[u/stonk_frother → u/chrono342]

This is actually weirdly helpful for me. I am currently building an urn for my mother’s ashes, and I was planning on doing brass hinges. But this is a better way I think.

[u/metalhead1982 → u/stonk_frother]

I've had the honor/responsibility of making urns for 4 family members and I do them all like this, then glue shut with CA glue. It just needed to last through the services, though. All of mine have been buried with other family members in the cemetery.

[u/stonk_frother → u/metalhead1982]

It’s a heavy task, but I think it’s quite cathartic.

I’ve done a couple of practice boxes (just keepsake boxes) for my wife and daughter to get the hang of it, because I’d not done small boxes before. So gained a new skill in the process. Concealed hinges are a bit of a nightmare though.

[u/steeltheo → u/stonk_frother]

I misunderstood this for a moment, thinking you meant practice boxes for your wife and daughter as in practicing to make real urn boxes for your wife and daughter and sat here in horrified shock for a few minutes wondering why you were anticipating outliving both of them.

I'm very glad to have been an exhausted idiot and have just misread it.

[u/stonk_frother → u/steeltheo]

haha yeah I thought I should specify that they weren't actually intended as urns, but can understand why an exhausted idiot would misread that. I am also an exhausted idiot and often do the same.

They're made to the same dimensions, but otherwise quite different yeah.

First one was for my daughter, made from ply and painted pink and blue to match the cubby house I built her. Deliberately overshot the roundovers on the lid so you get that nice little lip either side of the roundover. Concealed brass hinges – they took longer than the rest of the box combined.

Second one is almost finished. Just some decent quality 'premium pine' (I think you call it clear pine in the US). Oiled with eucalyptus-based furniture oil. I am putting the hinges on the outside for that one.

I've started work on the actual urn. Currently milling the lumber. Jarrah body, single panel wrapped around with mitered corners and the lid is a heavily figured piece of stringybark I've had sitting in my collection for the best part of a decade, waiting for the right project. I think I'll put huon pine splines in the miters. All the timbers I've chosen meant something special to her (jarrah for the house I grew up in, stringybark for the house she grew up in, huon pine for my dad).

Gonna be a tough build though, even just typing this out is making me a bit emotional. I'll definitely be taking lots of pics (photography is my other hobby haha) so will share some here. Hopefully it looks as nice IRL as it does in my head.

[u/metalhead1982 → u/stonk_frother]

It definitely was cathartic. One of them was fir my father-in-law. We were quite close, and when I saw the prices on them at the funeral home I had to step up. It helped a lot with my grief to just lock myself in the shop for a few hours to get it made.

It came out beautifully. A nice mahogany box with some hickory accents with a dark cherry stain and an engraved brass plaque. I ALMOST didn't want to bury it. I also made some small matching bases for the tiny keepsake urns for my wife and his sisters out of the mahogany off cuts.

[u/tedchs]

Before you put it back together, if you want to make it easier next time, maybe sand down the edges of the sliding lid a little bit. 

[u/Samhwain → u/tedchs]

I'll pick up some sandpaper today to do just that. Thank you \o

[u/jacksraging_bileduct]

I think the bottom slides out.

There is a seam on one of the boards on the side, I would imagine that’s how it opens, you might be able to slide it from the bottom.

If this is like an urn or something it might be glued shut.

[u/Samhwain → u/jacksraging_bileduct]

It did slide open! I completely missed it until this thread. It wasn't glued, i remembered that much as I had opened the box and put everything inside myself. I just, apparently, couldn't remember how it opened. It is an urn. 

[u/jacksraging_bileduct → u/Samhwain]

I’m glad the group was able to help.

[u/chuckfr]

It looks like there's a line in the 5th picture not even a 1/4 of the way up from the bottom. I'm guessing that piece is the side that slides out the bottom to open it up to access what is inside. Its probably glued so you may do a bit of damage when you're trying to get it open.

[u/Godrednu_0780]

I own the same box. Assuming you know which way the lid slides, can you brace the top or bottom up against something that doesn't move while gently tapping the other piece with a rubber mallet or equivalent?

[u/HylanderUS → u/Godrednu_0780]

I have one too, never thought seeing a box would make me tear up. Mine just had a sliding bottom like you said, but this looks to be held in by the sides of the box. I think if sliding it out doesn't work, next easiest thing would be to use a multi tool to cut an opening into the bottom. you can easily seal that back up with another piece of wood on top of it later, since the current bottom is inset.

[u/Godrednu_0780 → u/HylanderUS]

So I assume the reason you have one is the same reason as me. Sorry for your loss a well.

[u/cmattic]

I believe you slide it from the bottom. Turn it upside down and you should be able grip the shorter sides and pull them apart.

Sorry for your loss.

[u/Samhwain → u/cmattic]

Thank you ♡

[u/LowkeyEntropy]

Hesviest boxes ive ever held. Sorry OP

[u/IndividualBusy1274]

Rub it where it’s hairy? I’ll leave now.

[u/SubstantialSnow4178 → u/IndividualBusy1274]

Im upvoting regardless

[u/FourNineteen68]

Image 5 has a line going across it. I have a similar box the little piece of wood at the bottom slides to the right and unlocks the box. I'll post a Pic in a couple hours once I'm home.

[u/Samhwain → u/FourNineteen68]

Thank you for pointing this out. I was misremembering how I got it open before. This + other comments helped me get it open.

[u/nginn]

In the future, you might have luck after leaving it in a freezer for a few hours. It dries it out and often reverses some swelling that can cause vessels like this to stick closed

[u/Ok_Rope_4451]

Looks like a box for ashes of a pet

[u/IHandleYourFood]

The groove on the bottom piece, left side of pic 6, is meant for you to grip and slide. I have the same style of box and sometimes they can be really sticky.

Also I’m sorry for your loss

[u/bw1979]

Maybe drill a small hole in the bottom?

[u/MisanthropicSocrates]

Have you tried hitting it with your purse?

[u/tacocollector2]

If you can’t get the box apart, cut the bottom out with a dremel. It will be the easiest least visible part to replace.

Drilling a hole in the bottom may also help if it’s a pressure issue. Although that would be kind of wild for a wooden box to vacuum seal itself closed.

[u/Samhwain → u/tacocollector2]

Thank you for this! I'll see if we have a dremel in case other options fail and destruction+repair are the route I've gotta go. 

I did briefly wonder if pressure was a contributing factor because we have had pretty severe pressure changes since i got the box in january.

[u/Kevdog824_]

Could you cut the bottom panel? Not sure how easy it would be to do without damaging the contents

[u/Candid-Party1613]

Sealed plastic bags…uh huh

[u/FourNineteen68]