BOXES

The boxes are usually not manufactured in the same factories as the musical movements.

The inner sides are often made in elm, a very stable wood. Then the elm is covered with a precious wood: natural, colored or tinted.

The bottom is in a certain way the loudspeaker of the music box. It should be thin enough to vibrate well, as a violin, but thick and solid enough to bear the weight of the musical movement, as well as during the shipment.

The lacquer is made by 1 to 3 layers for 18- and 36-note boxes. For the deluxe boxes, more than 20 layers are applied. Between the layers, 3 to 4 days are necessary for drying. Polishing and cleaning are the last steps before applying the next layer.

There are also boxes made of other materials than wood, such as crystal glass, ceramic, plexiglass, and combinations of it.

Many variations of (colored) wood are used for musical boxes.

Boxes with inlaid work

Inlaid work is entirely hand-made. Sometimes, more than 100 species can be used and a design is made of 500 different pieces of wood. After the cutting, the pieces are assembled together on a sheet of paper, then stuck on the box. The paper is taken off by polishing.

The shadows in the inlays are achieved by burning the wood, piece by piece, in jars filled with hot sand.

The most common material for inlay work is wood. But there are also boxes that use brass, steel, or mother of pearl. The picture shows a Swiss Ornament Inlay combining wood, brass, mother-of-pearl.