Miniature Overnight Pill Buddy

I take daily medication at night with my dinner that, if I miss it, makes me cranky :p As such, whenever I go out, whether to a restaurant or just chilling at a mate's playing some board games, I need to make sure I take the meds with me because I'm likely to forget about it once I get home and at that point, typically, all I want is to go to sleep. Also, as someone who likes to travel light, I don't always want to drag a bag around with me. This miniature pill buddy is perfect for this situation as you can easily keep it in your pants pocket and fish it out when needed.

Scrap piece of wood of you choice approx. 10 cm in length / 3cm width

Drill bits (metric size 11)

Sandpaper (100, 120, 180, 220 grits)

Wood oil

Tools:

Lathe
Drill press (optional)

NOTE: for this project, I assume you have knowledge and experience of working with a lathe. Always wear face protection when turning wood and follow the required safety precautions!

My rough blank (walnut) was approximately 12 cm in length and 3 cm in width. These measurements can vary, depending on your lathe setup and your personal woodturning preferences, as long as you have sufficient material for turning your pill buddy, which, once finished, will eventually be around 4-5 cm in length.

The next step is to round out a rough blank from the initial square piece. I used a skew chisel to do this, but whatever works best for you. Once this is done, since I aimed for a final pill buddy of 4-5 cm in length, I cut a piece off the original blank that was approximately 7 cm in length (including the back section that will be held by the lathe chuck).

I put the 7 cm black back into the lathe chuck and carefully began turning it down to size. For the one I made, I would eventually use a size 11 (metric) drill bit to create the pocket inside. Depending on the volume you require inside the pill buddy (e.g., you may need to fit two capsules/tablets inside) you can vary this size. Once I had the size I wanted, I sanded the tube using 100, 120, 180, and 220 grit sandpaper. I did this on the lathe because it's fast and an easy way to keep the sanding even but you can also do your sanding by hand. I also added some details using a wire to burn in accented details (black rings).

The next step is to cut off what will be the lid of the pill buddy. I made mine just under 3 cm, allowing for a bit of play in case I made a mistake and had to trim it down. Because the cut-off is quite close to the lathe chuck and a bit awkward for using a chisel, I used a small hacksaw to remove the front piece.

The next step is to hollow out the 'cup' part of the pill buddy. I started using a small chisel to mark out where to start (working towards the middle). I then used a sharp number 11 drill bit, inserting the drill bit slowly by hand and having the lathe turn at a medium/low speed. I did this by hand because the tailstock of my lathe is not equipped to feed through a drill bit. If you are not comfortable doing this, you can also remove the cup part from the lathe chuck and drill the hole using a drill press. I find this way difficult personally because the drill bit tends to wander and I end up with the the hole not entirely in the middle. This can to some degree be compensated for by starting the hole with a smaller bit and drilling out to the final size.

Take the bottom of the pill buddy out of the chuck once you are happy with the size of the inside cup space. Wrap some painter's tape around the lid piece to protect if from the lathe chuck jaws and secure it in the chuck. Measure the outside edge of the bottom part (from the outside edge of the container to where the hollowed out part starts) and mark its width off on the bottom of the lid. A good idea is to make it a fraction thinner than the actual width you will need to help avoid making the tenon too small, which will cause your top/lid to not fit properly.

Slowly and carefully begin to trim down the outside edge of the bottom of the lid to create the tenon in the middle; this will fit into the hollowed out cup of the bottom part. Stop OFTEN to test how much further you need to go for the tenon to fit snuggly into the cup part of the bottom of the pill buddy. Don't rush this part because you may end up with a too-loose fit. Once you get to a point where the fit is almost perfect, switch out the chisel for some sandpaper (180 will work well) and do some fine-tuning to get your fit just right. Once you are happy with the fit (not too tight but tight enough for it not to come off on its own), put the bottom onto the lid (while still in the lathe chuck) so that you have the entire container in the chuck and take the opportunity to do some final sanding if needed.

Take the pill buddy out of the chuck and prepare for the best part - oiling! I don't oil the inside but for the outside, I used a wood oil rich in linseed. Once the oil has soaked in (I left it to do so overnight) I gave it a good wipe and a final buff with beeswax. Mmmm, smells good!

Just look at that tiny wonder.

Remember, the instructions for this project is versatile in that you can adjust the size of the final container to suit different needs. All of the construction principles essentially remain the same.