
I got a lot of great response to the articles on the laser cut Mystery Box I built for Wired blogger John Baichtal. A number of people asked where they could buy one. I’ve heard your pleas! I have started a new company, Magnolia Atomworks LLC, to build the kits.
You can now purchase one of your own from ThinkGeek and the Maker Shed.

I had a lot to learn when getting this thing going. First off, you can’t pick an odd size of wood for something like this. Has to be easy to find. I switched to 1/8″ Baltic birch plywood, since the 3/16″ I was using became suddenly scarce.
Additionally, I revised the kit to simplify assembly. I designed small notched tabs to lock the longer brackets in place. They have the added benefit of filling holes to prevent curious Mystery Box recipients from peeking inside.
I purchased an Epilog Zing laser cutter for the venture. This allows Magnolia Atomworks (me) to design and prototype products quickly. However, I don’t want to go into mass production, feeding material into the cutter for hours on end. For that, I contracted an outside company. They have many, faster cutters and can burn through a production run pretty quickly.
I’m really pleased with the results, and super-excited to see the kits for sale. I have huge respect for ThinkGeek and the Maker Shed, so it’s an honor to have my product for sale at both sites.
My Mysterious, Inspiring J.J. Abrams Mystery Box [Wired GeekDad]
Building a mystery box [MAKE]
John Baichtal
Epilog Laser











More atoms!
Congratulations! I’m planning to start my one kit building company in the next few months, so this is very inspiring to me. Good luck!
Awesome! and So that is what has been on your desk all this time… and hanks for turning me on to ThinkGeek and MakerShed. I was wondering how to make Xmas shopping fun. Coolness!
Thanks for your encouragement!