Since it was Saturday today, I came to the workshop around noon. Maybe because it is the rainy season, I felt that there were fewer tourists than usual heading toward Hakone. I drive along the road that goes toward tourist areas such as Hakone, Atami, and Izu. Well, students will start their summer vacation soon, so maybe people are staying home until then.
Speaking of students, this has nothing to do with box making, but the movie I watched at home yesterday was quite shocking. It was a movie about the school environment, and it showed the difficulties that are often talked about in education today. The story takes place at an elementary school, and it shows many different problems from the positions of teachers, the school, students, and the students’ parents. Their thoughts and opinions cross each other, and in the end, no clear answer is found, probably. It also showed the difference between school education now and in the past. When we were students (It was a very long time ago, though… haha.), education was much more controlled. Schools and teachers had the strongest position, and students were guided by them. In that way, “order” was kept. Of course, it was not unreasonable. It was done under certain rules. Parents also respected the school and teachers as being in a higher position. But now, it seems that everything is more equal, and each side’s opinion often clashes. As time passes, the opinions of students and their parents seem to be treated as more important, and schools and teachers tend to respect those opinions more strongly. Because of this, it seems that teachers and schools are no longer able to deal with problems with strong leadership and solve them clearly. As a result, many teachers are troubled by this, and many are said to be leaving their jobs. It is a very difficult problem, and honestly, I feel a little relieved that my family and I are not directly involved in today’s school environment now… 😅 It seems that this movie was an invited film at the Cannes Film Festival.
Today was like a short break in the rainy season, so luckily it did not rain. It looks like the rainy weather will return tomorrow, so today I made and attached the last side panel for the 5-sun boxes. Since this is a 7-steps mechanism, one side has a sliding key panel, and the other side is a fixed panel. The photo shows that panel. The one on the left is put with about a 1 mm gap on purpose, but if the parts are fitted tightly together like the one on the right, it becomes difficult to see which part slides. When yosegi sheets are used, the sliding part can often be seen because the pattern becomes slightly misaligned. So this may be the biggest advantage of using natural wood for the sliding key. However, to make it work this way, the cut surface must be straight, and the three parts must fit together very closely. This is also quite difficult. When cutting the wood, this cut surface can sometimes become slightly curved. If that happens, a small gap appears at the edge of the joint. This bending can happen because of friction from the blade or resistance from the wood while cutting. I have heard that craftsmen in the past shaved this joint area with a hand plane after cutting, but when making many pieces, it is not easy to do that. For that reason, it is important to choose wood with straight grain and to use a relatively soft wood that is easy to cut. A sharp saw blade is also very important. This time, I was able to cut it straight and hide the joint well 👍
