Today marked the start of another new week, and it already felt like summer. I heard that temperatures in central Tokyo went above 29°C, and even around my workshop it reached about 26°C. However, the air was still dry and the humidity was low, so it felt quite different from the heavy heat of summer, and it was not too uncomfortable physically.
After the start of the new week, I immediately began attaching the sliding key panels for the 5-sun drawer puzzle boxes. In the morning, I worked on processing the boxes and making the sliding key panels, and then attached them in the afternoon. For this drawer puzzle box design, the sliding key panel is only on one side, while the other side uses a single solid panel. Because of that, if the work is done carefully, it is possible to attach both sides at the same time. I did it that way again this time and then placed the boxes into cases afterward. On days when the weather suddenly becomes hot like this, the wood can warp, shrink, or otherwise move, so I try not to expose the boxes too much to the outside air and keep them stored in cases when possible. Today the air was very dry, so it was actually an ideal day for attaching the panels. If everything goes well, I plan to move on to the finishing process tomorrow.
After that, I thought about what to work on next. Instead of continuing with the 2-sun cube puzzle boxes that are currently in production, I decided to prepare the yosegi boards for the next project, which will be the 4-sun puzzle boxes. Because the air was dry today, I thought it would be a good opportunity to attach the yosegi sheets and let them dry thoroughly. This time, I decided to make the 21-step mechanism version, so today’s work was preparation for that project. I will not make a very large number, but a few of them are already custom orders. Along with the traditional yosegi version, I will also include collaboration models using rosewood sheets for the top and bottom panels. The side panels will use the usual Ichimatsu pattern (photo). It has been quite a while since I last made the 4-sun 21-step puzzle boxes, but when I checked yesterday, I found that I still had enough internal parts left over from a previous production run. Because of that, it seems I will not need to make additional internal parts this time. At the same time, so that I can immediately move on to the next step after attaching the yosegi sheets, I also prepared the structural side panel boards in advance. Some of you may already know this, but many 4-sun size (about 12 cm / around 4.7 inches) 21-step puzzle boxes made by other craftsmen are already widely available on the market, so I do not think I will make this model very often in the future. If possible, tomorrow I would also like to begin the next preparation step, which is attaching the side panels.
