Lemarchand’s Box: Hellraiser Movie Box Prototype

Lemarchand’s Box is from the movie series Hellraiser which is a rather unique and interesting romantic comedy that to me, was more interesting than the main character in the series, Pinhead.

CNCROi.com makes custom boxes for a wide variety of applications for our customers but I wanted to make something instantly recognizable to fans of this movie series, of which I include myself into the pack.

I really like the symbolism across Simon’s design, watch the above video to see that it isn’t just all random images but he put a lot of thought into a box that’s skipped over quite a bit in the real movies.

The design itself is unique and I wanted to replicate the golden metal look of the “real” Lemarchand’s Box so I decided to go with gold leaf onto quarter-inch or 6 mm MDF.

Another box I made previously is one for my bike, it holds things wonderfully though it does weigh more than I’d prefer it to, whitewood is a great all-seasons material, I can attest to that personally!

This was a good choice of material combinations when it comes to making a prototype but in reality, there were far easier methods of producing this box in hindsight but that’s how I learn, by making, and the knowledge gained from this project will reward CNCROi.com customers far into the future on totally unrelated projects.

What our Austrian wide-format industrial laser is doing in these photos is vaporizing the gold leaf and revealing the MDF, I was originally going to paint this black for more contrast but decided against it because I realized how sticky things were going to be just after heating up the edges of the gold leaf, paint would have made it even worse.

Of course, this is not my first nor my last box I’ve ever made an example of here at CNCROi.com, here’s a Valentine’s box I made earlier.

Boxes of all shapes and sizes are a straight forward project for us to work on based on customer’s designs which they send to us to build from.

What I really like about Lemarchand’s Box is that the real life designer of the symbology on it really did a very thorough job of matching-up aspects of the Hellraiser movie theme with the design elements, I only noticed this after working on the box just how well it was really put together.

I also run TeaLightBox.com which makes custom boxes but this design is so intricate, I’m unsure if it would work if all these designs were cut through rather than engraved.

Our industrial laser does short work of gold leaf, I’m sure there are a few extra milligrams of gold in our extraction system as a result of all the gold that was vaporized during the laser engraving of the Lemarchand’s Box prototype I made here at CNCROi.com.

After the engraving process, it was time to laser cut the Lemarchand’s Box side elements from the MDF to ensure a perfect fit but one thing to keep in mind is that the laser cuts only at 90 degrees when things are placed flat on the bed.

This presented a unique situation in that I wanted the box to feel like a box, meaning the edges were all flush which would have required a 45 degree taper all around the perimeter so that when it was glued together, the Lemarchand’s Box wouldn’t even have a seam.

This isn’t the only scary box I made, one thing I did consider was actually making this Lemarchand’s Box from Hellraiser actually glow in the dark… maybe something to consider next go-around at CNCROi.com.

One of the many lessons I learned though was that I should have used thicker MDF or a solid wood as the more pressure I pushed on the MDF, which is glorified cardboard, it started to give way too easily and cut into the box, so I had to bring it down so the taper only started mid-way into the box sides.

Of course, another very good lesson for me learned with this Lemarchand’s Box prototype was that I should have also left the masking ON the box until the very end, I took it off too early and my dirty hands and general touching of the box at all angles reduced the shine, thus contrast, of the finished piece.

CNCROi.com also engraves various boxes with whatever you want, below is an example of text but regardless of what you want on your box, the results always are sharp and precise.

Regardless, I’m very happy with how the laser engraved and cut Lemarchand’s Box came out, I always learn something from making stuff and it’s applied to the next project which makes my skills better at every turn.

Due to the fact that the 45 degree taper started only half way on the thickness of the Lemarchand’s Box, it presented an interesting situation for glue-up as only half the surface area was actually in contact with another side.

I’ve also made boxes that we use to this day at CNCROi.com for storage of various smaller items that are easily lost here in the shop.

So I had to use too much glue and tape to try to counter this situation when it came time to do the glue-up of the Lemarchand’s Box from Hellraiser.

Even with all these and many more issues present with the current approach at making a Lemarchand’s Box prototype, the results still look great and I dare say, if this was in a movie, people would be hard pressed to tell the difference on their VHS tape.

I give huge props (pun intended) to the original designer of the Lemarchand’s Box, they did a wonderful job and they had it even tougher than me, theirs was metal AND it actually had to move, that’s quite an engineering and design accomplishment!

So that leaves me to conclude that the next time I make this box, it will be made differently but the lessons from making a movie prop prototype will stay with me for a lifetime.

Do you want a custom box? Contact CNCROi.com right now!

And if you want your own custom tea light box, any shape, design or size… or material, head over to my other company TeaLightBox.com!