Custom Wooden Boxes.

Paulownia is the gift trade's usual choice because it's light, fine-grained and stable. Pine suits rustic crates, birch plywood and MDF give flat panels for painting, and hardwoods such as walnut are kept for heirloom pieces.

Balsa comes in where weight matters most. Other wood species are available if your brief calls for it.

A slide-lid runs in grooves cut into the side walls and needs no hardware, while a hinged box uses metal hinges and usually a clasp or magnet. Slide-lids are simpler and keep costs down on wine and gift sets.

Hinged lids open like a small chest and suit keepsakes that get opened often. We choose the hinge and clasp to match the timber, because stock hardware on good wood looks cheap.

Wood moves with humidity, so we build from seasoned stock to keep that movement small. Hinged lids are where it shows first, as a lid that sticks or stops closing square.

A little clearance in slide-lid grooves helps, and so does sealing the timber with oil or stain. Kept indoors, a box made from well-seasoned wood holds its shape for years.

For most orders, yes, because engraving cuts the mark into the surface and it can't rub off. Hot branding gives a darker, traditional burned look, and screen printing handles solid colours on painted or light woods.

Inlays are an option on high-end pieces. Fine detail engraves cleanly on paulownia and birch, so small type and thin lines survive.

Most orders fall between 8 x 6 x 3 inches and 14 x 10 x 5 inches, in hinged and slide-lid styles. We quote inside dimensions, since timber walls add noticeably to the outside size.

Tell us what goes in and whether it sits on felt, velvet or wood wool, and we'll size the cavity and any dividers around it.

Wooden box orders start at 500 pieces. Timber work involves cutting, joining and finishing each box, and a run of that size spreads the setup sensibly across the batch.

Adding an engraved logo, branded hardware or a lined interior doesn't change the starting quantity.

Wooden boxes take 7 to 10 business days in production, and a rushed run comes through in 5 to 7. We'd suggest seeing a sample first, and that takes 5 to 7 business days, so you can judge the grain, stain and engraving on real timber.

Timber varies from one board to the next, which is exactly why a sample helps. Its cost is taken off your production total.

Wood wool, also called excelsior, is the traditional fill and keeps the whole pack in natural materials. It works well in crates and rustic gift sets, and it composts afterwards.

For keepsakes and presentation pieces we'd line with felt or velvet and fit custom dividers for sets. A lined cavity cut to the item makes more sense when things get taken out and put back often.