A typhoon is now approaching our area, in addition to the rain, the wind also became stronger today. And it seems that the peak of the rain and wind will be tomorrow. Because of this, the humidity was very high today, reaching over 80% even inside the workshop. With this much humidity, it would be difficult to do many of the assembly processes. So today, I left the boxes currently in production stored in their case and started preparing for the next production run instead.
Since yesterday, there have also been more earthquakes. It seems that weak earthquakes had already been occurring repeatedly in the same area as yesterday’s earthquake. Today, however, there was another large earthquake in a different area, closer to where we live. When an earthquake happens while the ground has been loosened by rain, there is a risk of landslides, so this is worrying. In Japan, many homes are built close together in small areas, and many people live very near mountains or hills. I hope there will be no damage.
At the moment, in addition to the 3-sun boxes, I am also scheduled to make Mame puzzle boxes by request in July. I have started preparing for and making the 3-sun boxes. The photo shows the boards I prepared today for the side panels of the 3-sun boxes, along with the axis panels. This time, the boxes will have a 12-step mechanism. I will be making around 120 boxes, which is a fairly large quantity, so this production will probably take a good amount of time. As shown in the photo, today I prepared the materials, planed them to the required thickness, and glued them together with two boards to prepare the side panels. I also made and completed the axis panels. The side panel design for this production will be walnut. Some of the top panels will be natural wood, but most of them will be traditional Yosegi. This is a relatively popular combination of traditional Yosegi and natural wood. The boards are glued together and clamped in a vise, but they have probably absorbed some moisture. Because of that, I will most likely wait until next month before actually cutting them and continuing the production work. It is also not good to leave the axis panels exposed to the air like this for too long, so I decided to store them in a case as well.
July will likely be a month with a lot of work on these ordered boxes. However, I would also like to make at least one special type of box again. The 11-step box I completed the other day has a relatively low number of moves, but I aimed to make the order of movement a little different. Like other Japanese puzzle boxes, it opens by moving the parts in sequence, but I designed it with a sequence that is not often seen. Its size also does not quite fit the usual standard sizes. This time, it is not very different from a 4-sun box, but it is a little plump… haha. As I wrote briefly before, it is possible to add two more moves to this 11-step mechanism and make it into a 13-step box, so I would like to try that someday as well. Even with the same sliding mechanism, I would like to add something a little unique.
Have a nice weekend!
P.S. Did you know that I also update my blog here on weekends? Please check it out if you are interested.
https://japanhappycrafts.com/
