Today was also fairly cool and comfortable. It looked as if it might rain, but in the end it did not. It seems that the rain will begin tomorrow, perhaps due to the influence of another approaching typhoon. Because of this weather, today was a good day for finishing work. It is easier to do this work when the weather is not sunny, but I also prefer to avoid rainy days with very high humidity if possible. So, I started the finishing process on the special-order boxes first thing in the morning.
As expected, this work took the whole day because these boxes have a high number of moves and the production quantity is also large. I finished preparing the boxes in the morning, and in the afternoon I moved on to the undercoat painting work. This box has sliding keys that move separately to the left and right, so after applying the finish, I must always move the sliding keys once before the coating dries completely. If I waited until tomorrow, the finish would harden completely, and it would probably become difficult to move them. That step also took quite a lot of time. It is now evening, but I am relieved to have completed the work up to this point. I will do the final coating later, while watching both the time and the weather.
While waiting for the coating to dry, I attached the long side panels for the 4-Compartment Boxes, which I had prepared yesterday. As you can see in the photo, I am using a two-color checkered pattern this time. I have not been using this production order very often recently, but I decided to use it again for this box. I also used a similar method for the 11-step boxes the other day. Since it has been a long time since I last made this box, I am using this slower, step-by-step method for now. I am not sure whether it can be called “traditional,” but in the older production method, it was common to make the inner box and the outer panel sections separately like this. Once these side panels are attached, a little pressure is applied from the sides to the top and bottom panels, so their movement tends to become tighter. For that reason, before moving on to the next step of attaching the sliding key panels, it is essential to do a final check of the movement of the top and bottom panels.
The weather is expected to be rainy from tomorrow, so I am a little concerned about the next steps. If possible, I would like to attach the sliding key panels. However, if the humidity is too high, I will not be able to do that. In that case, I may either do the final coating work on the special-order boxes or begin preparing for the next production. For the upcoming production, I am planning to make 3-sun 12-step puzzle boxes and 14-step Mame puzzle boxes. Both are mainly made-to-order items, with a small number added for my own stock.
