Today was another sunny day, and the temperature rose to around 20 degrees. It actually felt a little warm during the day. I continued preparing (and making) the 6-sun box today. This one will be an 18-steps mechanism. The yosegi sheets for the side panels, which I glued yesterday, are stacked in a lattice shape and left to dry in a well-ventilated place.
Today I prepared the materials for the side panels and worked on the top and bottom panels. They are still in the preparation stage. The photo shows the ichimatsu-pattern side panels and the solid-wood top and bottom panels that I will use this time. The top and bottom panels are still in block form, but once they dry, I will slice them into several sheets. I plan to use these top and bottom panels for about two-third of this batch since I’m making only a small number. In the photo, you can see poplar wood cut into three strips with walnut in between, which has a slightly different color than usual. I used poplar before, but it has been a while. It looks similar to light-colored magnolia wood (Ho wood), but it is a little harder than magnolia—though still generally a soft wood. I’m thinking about cutting this block into boards and embedding a bit of another wood into them. This is a method I used often about 20 years ago. I also still have some solid ichimatsu yosegi left, so I plan to use that too. It’s a bit experimental, but even though it has been a long time, I still remember well how to do this technique. It’s like an expanded version of the “line pattern” design I created by embedding thin wooden lines randomly—this was the design that won an award at a Japanese traditional craft exhibition about 25 years ago (in 1999). It was highly praised as a box design unlike anything seen before. Even though it felt Japanese, it was different from traditional patterns.
Speaking of which, the box I posted yesterday on Instagram and Facebook was made around that same time, and its design was also an applied version of that “line pattern.”
And today I decided that the next project will be a 4-sun box. I plan to make the top and bottom panels a little special as well. For now, I prepared the boards for the side panels. This time, I’m planning to use the two-color ichimatsu pattern I made before. This ichimatsu pattern is different from the slightly diagonal type I usually make. It is arranged vertically, and I used it when I made the knock box before. The vertical arrangement feels closer to traditional Japanese style, so I made it at that time. I decided to use it again. I haven’t decided on the exact design for the top and bottom panels yet, but just like the 6-sun box, I plan to use solid wood as the base and add some decoration on it.
Have a great weekend! 😄
