18-Dec-2024
Today, as planned, I worked on finishing the 4-sun 27-step puzzle box, and at the same time, I started crafting the structural components of the 3-sun cube 18-step puzzle box that I mentioned yesterday. In the morning, I completed the finishing work for the 4-sun box and then moved on to creating the frame panels for the cube box.
As shown in the photo, the cube shape is clearly visible. Since this box has 18 steps, unlike the 14-step version I previously made, the parts that were fixed in place will now have Aruki mechanisms attached. To accommodate this, the axis sections are adhered with open spaces in four directions.
This type of structure slightly weakens the overall strength of the puzzle box, so I made the axes 0.5 mm thicker than the previous version to increase the adhesive surface area. Whether this 0.5 mm adjustment is sufficient remains to be seen, but I am considering further increasing the thickness of the axes in future productions if necessary.
The cube box already has its components attached and is now ready for the next step: crafting the Aruki mechanisms. For the 18-step design, most of the parts can be repurposed from standard components used for 14-step or 12-step puzzle boxes, which makes the work progress quickly. This is because I always produce a surplus of 14-step parts and keep them on hand for future use. For this project, I only needed to create one new small part specifically for the 18-step mechanism.
In parallel, I also began crafting 2-sun cube Drawer 4-step puzzle boxes today. The materials were prepared, and the frame components have already been made. Although I won’t be producing many this time, the box has been out of stock for quite a while, so I decided to make it now. I plan to work on this box during downtime in other tasks, such as while waiting for glue or paint to dry.
As shown in the photo, this box features a small built-in drawer and opens with a simple 4-step mechanism. While the drawer is too small to store anything practical😅, the box’s charm makes it quite popular. Even though the mechanism is simple, requiring only 4 steps, the inclusion of the drawer adds complexity, and crafting this type of box still takes a fair amount of time. The drawer is not fixed in place and can be fully removed from the box. For this batch, I plan to make designs using traditional Yosegi patterns and walnut wood.
