Working Jack-in-the-box with Jester Pumpkin Character

Align the sides of the box with the slots in the base shown in Image 1, gently press the sides of the box together and slide base into place to assemble the bottom box. The pieces are a very tight fit and require firm, even pressure to fit into place. 

Repeat the same technique to assemble the lid. (I forgot to photograpgh the lid by iteself, so that is why a finished photo is being used, but at this point, you should only have a box and lid. Do not glue the Jester to the Spring until the very last step because the Spring first must be connected to the linkage.)

The first step is to get a 3 mm dowel to fit the center of the linkage mechanism.  The parts of the linkage mechanism that need to fit on the dowel are labeled in Image 1 and on Canvas 1 and include the Spring, Links1, Links2, Handle, Spacers, Caps. 

Spacers go on either side of the links, handle and box so those pieces do not move to the right or left on the dowel when the handle is turned.

The dowel will be cut in 4 pieces, approximately 3 cm long each and spacers placed on either side of each component to hold it into place, but still let the links turn. 

Build the linkage from the inside out, starting with the Link and dowel that will connect to the spring. Place the 2 Link2 pieces on the center of a Center dowel section that is widder than the width of the spring, plus room for 2 spacers and 2 Link1s. Do not glue Link2 to the dowel.

Let the Link2 pieces turn on the dowel, but glue the spacer pieces to the dowel so that Link2 stays centered on the dowel. 

At the end of the Center Dowel, glue each Link1 piece with spacers on each side. Link1 can be glued to each end of the Center Dowel.

At the other end of the Link1 pieces, repeat the spacer Link1 spacer pattern on two more dowels that are long enough to connect the Center dowel through the holes in the box with room outside for a handle to turn. These can be glued to the right and left dowel, but they must be free to turn through the box holes.

Place spacers on either side when the dowels are placed through the box holes, but do not glue the spacers to the dowel until the spring has been centered in the lid. 

To make sure the Spring is centered in the Box, add the Spring to the Center Dowel on the Link2 opening using the slots that are in the bottom of the spring and in the top of Link2. Then, fix the connection, by gluing the pin into the slot with glue and then trimming so the spring will still turn on Link2.

Place the lid on the box, with the Spring in place and test the linkage mechanism again. Center the spring in the lid and now use the spacers on either side of the box holes to set the location of the entire linkage. Glue the spacers on either side of the box holes and center Spring in box lid. Cap the end of the dowel to finish it.

Add the handle to the dowel on the side of the box with the last piece of dowel section, spacers and cap. Glue the handle firmly to dowel to make sure the dowel turns. 

Glue Jester hat and shirt to add dimension and then glue jester to Spring and get ready to turn your Jack in the Box until your wrist is sore! Enjoy!