08-Apr-2025
Today, I worked on a few different tasks, moving each one forward little by little.
First, I attached the panels to the 2-sun cube boxes that I had clamped with a vise yesterday. This time, the boxes are drawer-type with a 4-step mechanism, so these panels don’t have any “Kannuki (slide keys)”. That means I can attach the panels to both sides at the same time. However, there are still a couple of important things to keep in mind. One is to choose a day with low humidity for this work. The other is to pay attention to the direction of the wood grain. It’s best to attach the panels in a way that causes them to warp slightly inward toward the box. After attaching the panels, I immediately secured them with rubber bands. I will keep them like this until tomorrow.
After that, I attached the final panels—the Kannuki panels—to the 3-sun 18-steps puzzle boxes. This was the other side, continuing from yesterday. Since these panels include Kannuki, I attach them one side at a time. I also secured these boxes with rubber bands and will leave them until tomorrow. However, I can’t apply the rubber bands right away. I need to let the glue dry for a little while first, then apply the bands at just the right timing.
With this, the assembly of both types of boxes is now complete. Next, I’ll move on to the finishing and base coating steps when the timing is right.
After that, I did the final inspection on the 3-sun 12-steps boxes that I had finished painting the other day. Since the painting is already complete, the puzzle mechanisms are stuck and don’t move at all. I carefully separate the parts and adjust the movement of the mechanism.When separating the parts, I apply a slight impact, but the position where I apply this impact depends on the part of the box I want to move. Over the course of 20 to 30 years, through trial and error, I’ve discovered the most effective spots for this process. However, this is still something I continue to improve. In fact, just a few years ago, I found a new method for applying impact to boxes when the side Aruki panels (moving panels) are stuck due to the paint. It’s a spot that works well for loosening the stuck parts without causing any damage.
After that, I worked on assembling the drawers for the 2-sun cube boxes, which is also the main theme of today. I had already finished making the parts yesterday, so today was the assembly work. Since I’m only making a small number of boxes this time, the number of drawers is also small. If I end up with any extras, I’ll keep them for the next production run. As of now, there are no plans to change the box size, so the drawers can still be used as they are. These small drawers are made from 4 mm MDF board, but the front panel is made from natural wood. For this batch, I used Nyatoh wood for the drawer fronts.
I’ll continue working on these tomorrow, but I’m also starting to think about moving on to “the knock box” soon. In fact, I already made a bit of progress on it today. Right now, I’m at the stage of assembling the Aruki panels.
