Hello; Does it take special carpentry skills to make a half decent trick box? I have the plans for a "self opening box",
but have never worked with wood before.
I'm not sure if I can afford to buy all the tools and materials for something that looks awfull and shoddy.

Adam,
You would be surprised at what I have built using only a Jigsaw, Hand Drill and a bunch of Sandpaper. It is a matter of making CLEAN patterns, taking your time and doing extensive prep work before painting. Lots of tools save lots of time but you can build a nice box by simply going slow.
Quick tip: Draw your plans up, make sure everything is proper then take your dimensions for the main box panels to Home Depot, buy the wood there and have them cut the pieces out for you. Normally you get 2 Free cuts and an additional .25 per cut. This will give you nice a squared form to start with. Then use your hand tools for the rest of the doo-dads
Hope this helps!
Chance Wolf

And don't forget the wood filler or spackle for those small gaps and no one will know once it's painted.

Matt,
I must have went through GALLONS of Filler back in the old days before I had my cool new tools! You be so right
Chance

Chance- I'm down to using the quart size. This is why I admire the builders that do the natural finishes and stained apparatus, no margin for error. If the wood is particularly rough, I use some ordinary spackle and thin it out with water so its real runny, paint it on with an old brush. Let it dry and sand well before the primer and this can save a bit of extra sanding and helps make for a nice smooth base to paint on....Matt.

Do not overlook Chance's quick tip on plans. The guy from whom I learned my woodworking said: Make lots of drawings. Paper is cheaper than wood.

A corollary: The trip across the room to get more paper is shorter than the trip to the lumber yard to get more wood.

Actually with all the advancements made in the last few years with various forms of polymers and fillers you no longer need wood.
Just sculpt your entire project out of putty!

Adam-
Check out this box:
http://allmagic.com/magicshow/stage/okitosobox.html
It doesn't have to be made from scratch. You can modify an already built box. Hope this helps.

I like the idea and the box. I didn't like the stop on the back of the lid to keep it from opening too far. It looks too clunky for me and you really can't show the back of the box.

When I make my box, I will use a regular chest or box lid stop instead, you could also use a piece of chain to accomplish the same thing.

It is possible to adapt ready made objects into props, or build them with minimal tools.

Thanks Air
Great!This looks very do-able for smaller boxes.
Dave