It was sunny and dry again from the morning today. On TV and in the news, they are reminding people to be careful with fire during this season. It’s true that this time of year is very dry, and many fires happen. Woodworking shops have often had fires since long ago, and because a lot of wood is stored inside, they can easily become big fires. I feel that I must be especially careful.
I went to my workshop again this afternoon and did a little work. Before that, I also trimmed the trees planted outside the workshop. Since there are many of them, it’s a lot of work to take care of the leaves and branches when they grow. At this time of year the temperature is already low, so they don’t grow very much, but when I have a little extra time, I try to trim even just a few of them. It’s too hard to do all of them at once. Today I decided to trim only two trees. I used a long-reach pruner and a ladder to cut the highest branches. I don’t have to plant trees, but the workshop is located right next to a large river, and depending on the season, strong winds blow. The trees act as a windbreak so the wind doesn’t hit the workshop building directly. Also, because of this location, the sunlight is strong in the summer, so the trees also help by providing shade. Well, it’s hard work, but maybe it’s good for my health 🤣
After that, I finished making the Aruki panels for the 5-sun 36-steps puzzle box. Yesterday I made the side Aruki panels and completed the process up to the middle. Today I finished making the top and bottom panels, so now all the Aruki panels are done. Next, I will move on to the attachment process. I posted photos on Instagram and Facebook today. The side Aruki panels tend to become a little looser than when I first make them, because they have small cutouts on both sides for the sliding key’s small wooden pieces. These cutouts reduce the friction of the Aruki panels, so they become a bit looser. But this box actually needs the panels to be attached slightly loosely, so it works out well.
After that, I suddenly started making the ichimatsu yosegi (checkered pattern) for the side panels of the 6-sun 18-steps box, which I plan to make next. This time I’m using two types of wood: walnut and nyatoh. I’m making this ichimatsu yosegi especially for the 6-sun box, and two sheets will be needed for one box. Each square of this pattern is larger than the usual 4-sun ichimatsu pattern. The 4-sun version has squares of about 5 mm, but this one has squares of 6.5 mm. Because of the problems with the natural-wood hexagonal box this time, I decided not to use natural-wood side panels for this box. Instead, I will make it with yosegi sheets on the side panels. I think this method will be more stable. The photo shows the first step, where I glued eight boards together in order. I am making two blocks like this. Each board is 6.5 mm thick. After that, I will cut the block again into 6.5 mm-thick pieces and glue 14 of them together so that the colors alternate. I want to finish this yosegi sheet early, so I will continue working on it every day from tomorrow as well 😊
