15-Nov-2024
The three-color Ichimatsu Yosegi that I’ve been working on recently is almost finished. However, it’s not quite complete yet, as I still need to slice this Yosegi block. Today was actually ideal for slicing, but I haven’t attached the block to its final baseboard, so slicing will have to wait. As shown in the photo, the Yosegi block will be attached to a slightly thicker base before slicing. This setup ensures the block can withstand enough pressure during the process and prevents it from falling apart at the last stage.
The reason today was ideal for slicing is because of the rainy weather, which has made the humidity high. The sliced Yosegi sheets are very thin (around 0.15 ~ 0.2 mm) and can dry out quickly, making them prone to falling apart, so humidity is crucial. Unlike making puzzle boxes, where low humidity is preferable, higher humidity is actually better for Yosegi work.
Fortunately(?), the weather is expected to stay a bit rainy and humid from this weekend through early next week, so I plan to slice this ichimatsu Yosegi during that time.
Today, I also worked on attaching certain wooden parts and applying the top panel for the 3-sun 12-step Japanese puzzle box currently in progress. Although it’s small in the photo, you can see that walnut side panels are already prepared. I plan to attach these side panels tomorrow.
This time, I was able to prepare a small amount of traditional Yosegi, so in addition to the planned solid wood design panels, I’m also making a limited number of boxes using the traditional Yosegi type. The combination of traditional Yosegi and walnut for the 3-sun box has been part of my product lineup for a long time, so even with the current shortage of Yosegi sheets, I’ve decided to keep it in my making list.
By the way, Walnut wood has also become a significantly more expensive material lately, and high-quality pieces with good grain patterns are becoming harder to find. Walnut wood has long been a globally popular wood (often called one of the world’s top three woods), but it might eventually be considered a luxury material.
