Recently I have been doing a little wood carving. More specifically I am carving a very small amulet. Some of you will know it as a locket like the one featured in the movie "The Illusionist" though it is of my own design.

The inner workings of this locket will be quite complex. Possibly too complex for them to be made out of wood as well. It might be that I will have to fire up my lathe and make them from brass or stainless steel. One way or another I will create a working locket, even if it takes a couple tries for me to be satisfied.

This whole puzzle locket ordeal started several months ago. A friend of mine saw the movie and asked me if I could make one, stating "If anyone I known could make one, you could". I declared that it had to have been a fake, as such could not be made. At least such was my opinion at the time.

I thought about it for a while, and watched the movie clips. The movie clips were obviously fakes, using two lockets and cut scenes. For those of you that doubt this, notice that the picture inside would have to be cut in half. Could it be possible to make it using split hinges of some sort? Ideas formed and were quickly cast aside in favor of other ideas. Time passed.

Eventually I did a bit of web research. Apparently some puzzle boxes exist that use the same concept. There have also been a few people that have some working lockets, but all of them seem to be rather clunky. So I gleaned what I could and came up with my own design using some of what I have learned. We will see how it works out.

This whole locket ordeal has also lead to me becoming fascinated with Rubik's Cubes. Not in the sense of solving their puzzle, but in how their inner workings are constructed. I have come to understand how the 3x3x3 cube works, but both the 2x2x2 and the 4x4x4 cubes have me completely puzzled. I am on the verge of purchasing the 2x2x2 mini cube, just to gut it and see how it ticks.

This has all led to a desire to construct a 2x2x2 Rubik's Cube-like puzzle box out of wood. We will see what I can come up with. However I have other projects to finish first.

In other news, Needle's scabbard/sheathe is getting carved out of redwood that matches the handle whenever I get sick of working on the locket. Still looking for some inspiration for its external design, however.