The Bigger Bolder Blog: The Pennsylvania Quest Box

After much consideration I will likely be building a modified version of one of these wonderful boxes, known to the woodworking communities as a "Pennsylvania spice box". I like this box form for it's mystery and history. Also... secret compartments!

This will then be made more rugged by stripping away the fancy parts of the outside (dainty feat, molding) adding corner guards, and making the outside appearance look old disheveled. This might be accompanied by an old lock and key or symbols burned into the outer shell.

In contrast inside the door there will be multiple different woods, fancy pants drawer pulls, an inlay on the back of the door and maybe even text. It will look grand and unlikely for something with such a utilitarian outside.

Somewhere there will also be a mounted display and a button that when pressed displays a distance to an unknown destination on the display as well as how many "steps" in that destination. Steps will be used for writing with GPS later on. Once the box is brought to withing a couple hundred feet of the destination, one drawer will be opened by a servo.

This drawer may contain a small part needed to complete a larger puzzle at the end of the journey, a small prize, a clue or something to be used onsite for a location specific geo-cache.

This process will continue until all of the drawers are opened and the final prize is revealed. Of course there may be some secrets about the box that aren't so evident...