I came to the workshop in the afternoon today. As expected from the weather forecast, it was unfortunately raining, and the humidity was high, so I did not do much making work. Instead, I did a few other tasks. The limited version of the 4-compartment box that I listed on my website yesterday has already sold out, thanks to customers who said they wanted it. Thank you very much to everyone who purchased one. Unfortunately, I only made 4 pieces this time. I will not make this design again, but I will make the 4-compartment box itself again. At that time, I will probably make another limited design as well. Today, I packed those boxes for shipping, and I also checked some other boxes that I had not checked yet.
The 5-sun 7-step natural wood boxes have now been fully assembled, so I would like to do the finishing work after the weekend. Some people say they like this kind of box, so I would like to continue making simple natural wood boxes as well. Walnut wood is still popular. It is a difficult wood to use for Japanese puzzle boxes, but by combining it with other woods, like I did this time, some of its disadvantages can be reduced. It also makes the design more interesting. I would like to keep using it with this kind of small idea and adjustment.
After these boxes, I plan to make 3-sun 12-step puzzle boxes next. But when I looked over my notes carefully the other day, I noticed that I had made a mistake with the quantity. I had counted the made-to-order boxes as 20 pieces fewer than the actual number. I am glad I noticed it…😅 So this time, I plan to make about 140 boxes, which will make this an even larger production. I have already made the axis panels, but I need to make a few more. I also need to prepare more long side panels. Since I noticed this before assembly, it will be easier to adjust. Actually, it is not ideal to make additional axis panels later. In that case, I carefully measure the dimensions, place the actual panels side by side, compare and adjust them, and try to make them exactly the same. Usually, once axis panels are made for one group of boxes, I do not use the extra ones for other boxes. So even if one or two pieces are left over, I dispose of them. The dimensions of the axis panels, especially the width, are that delicate and important.
In today’s Japanese newspaper, there was an article about summer heat and working hours. The heat has been getting stronger year by year, and this is also true in central Japan. According to the article, in the capital city of Tokyo, the amount of working time lost because of the heat is said to be 2.8 billion hours per year. At first, I thought, “What does that mean?” But if each person gives up a few hours of work or activity in a day because of the heat, the total becomes 2.8 billion hours in one year. That is a very large loss. Of course, that does not mean those people are doing nothing instead. For example, if they stay indoors and read books, then sales of books or other media may increase. It may be a little similar to the time of the pandemic. At that time, people could not go out, so they worked and spent time indoors, and many things connected to that kind of lifestyle grew. Maybe it means that the way people work and live is changing. However, the newspaper article said that jobs that can only be done outside, such as construction work, are greatly affected. That is certainly true. Work such as construction must be very difficult in this heat. Also, as something connected to this, it seems that sales of work clothes and wearable items that help reduce the heat are increasing. I suppose that is also a new kind of business. My workshop also gets quite hot, but I try to make some adjustments. For example, I make parts in the morning, and in the afternoon, I turn on the air conditioner in a small area and do assembly work there. The Japanese summer is not as humid as the current rainy season, but it still has a fair amount of humidity. So it is not really a good season for making Japanese puzzle boxes. Yesterday, I bought more moisture absorbers on Amazon (photo). They are small and disposable. When I need to store boxes that are still being made, or of course finished boxes too, I put the boxes and these moisture absorbers together in a case. I am not sure exactly how effective they are, but when I measure the humidity, the inside of the case is certainly not that humid, and quite a lot of moisture has been absorbed into the moisture absorber. They are not very expensive, so I think this is also a method I can recommend. Around this time of year, people everywhere start talking about how hot this summer will be. Some people say this year may not be too bad, while some reports say it will be hot as usual. It seems that everyone is very concerned about it. Even now, many countries are already having very hot days. Please take good care of yourself.
