So I was down the wood-shop the yesterday, and the wood-shop guy said “I thought we’d seen the last of this, but they’re now pulling old logs out of the bush helicopters”.
Rimu.
They’ve stopped making it – which is to say, New Zealand only allows sustainably logged timber – which means “plant one; fell one”. And Rimu isn’t exactly a cash-crop (unlike fast-growers like pine), so the price is going to about $300 a sheet.
Rimu laminate was what I was making the boxes out of.
And business is good – business is so good in fact, that I’m finding myself spending all day, every day doing NOTHING except sand-papering wooden boxes. It’s incredibly time-consuming, and it’s driving me insane, so I’ve figured that:
a) I need a new case design and
b) I kindof needed it anyway, because my packaging is a bit transitional at the mo and
c) Whatever new thing I design : NO SANDPAPERING.
Or gluing.
So last night, I designed this: 
First rudimentary photo – but the actual thing looks fantastic – it’s a quantum leap better than what I was doing before, and it “clicks”. Literally – it has magnets.
So from now on, I’m using these as the standard box with everything I send out. I’m also going to charge an extra $5 – which is fair enough because:
a) they’re beautiful, and have magnets, and before I was just using cardboard boxes and
b) I haven’t put prices up in 5 years and
c) I’m still cheaper than everyone else
I’m not sure how I’m going to do “sets of 3” boxes – the trouble with those is they make the postage costs really really high, and anything that flat/thin no matter what it is, is going to warp. I’ll need to experiment with “magnets in the corners” which might counter-act warping. I haven’t done that yet though.
I’ll post some better photos over the next couple of days.
So anyway – I’ve stopped doing wooden cases.
That said – I’m going to get a CNC mill (probably in Jan) and start making cases using a fast-growing tropical Rimu-relation… which I’ve used before, and which looks amazing (a lot more dramatic than NZ Rimu in fact). This will be a high-end option though.