The rain from last night stopped, and it felt humid from the morning today. It became sunny in the afternoon, and the temperature went up to around 23°C, so it felt a bit warm. I was out in the morning, so I did some work in the afternoon. I attached the sliding key panel on the other side of the 3-sun boxes and also worked on attaching the internal parts for the 4-sun boxes. I finished those by the evening, and if possible, I would like to move on to the finishing work for the 3-sun boxes tomorrow.
The 4-sun boxes I am currently making are double boxes, but while working on them for the first time in a while, another box has come to mind. That is the 4×4 box. In a way, compared to this double box, it could be called a Four-Compartment Box. As you can see in the photo, the internal space is divided into top and bottom like the double box, and each of those is further divided into left and right. I’m thinking about making this box again. Not as a limited piece, but maybe adding it to my regular lineup. I’ve received requests for it before, and recently I’ve had a few reasons to think about it again.
Not long ago, I had a chance to look at an old puzzle box. It was a normal one with about a 10-step mechanism, but the sliding key panel on the side had come off, so I could see the inner Aruki panel. The way that Aruki panel was made was different from the usual method—it was actually the same kind of construction as this 4×4 box. In the 4×4 box, the sliding key does not move in just one direction like a typical puzzle box. It can move both left and right. Because of that, if you use the usual Aruki panel design, the movement range becomes too short. So a different structure is used. Instead of shaping it from a single piece like a normal Aruki panel, it is made by assembling four separate parts. That old puzzle box had this kind of structure. I was quite surprised that a craftsman from that time was already using this method. It was probably something they came up with on their own.
And one more thing—one customer found and purchased one of my old limited-edition 4×4 boxes online. It had a date written on it and my old stamp as well. They let me know about it and even uploaded a video on YouTube. It brought back a lot of memories when I watched it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n83lI-ZvRsw&list=LL&index=3&t=25s
I probably won’t be able to make such a detailed solid wood limited version like that again, but if I make it now, it would likely be in traditional yosegi or Ichimatsu yosegi. I’d like to include it in my plans when I have the time. But since it takes a lot of work, it may be a bit expensive 😅
