It was warm from the morning today, so it was much easier to wake up. That really helped me. In the afternoon I had a small errand and needed to go out, so I decided not to do any work that would take a long time. My main task today was the final coating work for the 4-sun 27-steps puzzle boxes. Once this process is finished, I can complete the final check. For the 4-sun 14-steps puzzle boxes, I decided to leave the random grain panels I made yesterday for one more day so they can become more stable. Because of that, I did not glue the top and bottom panels today, which is the next step in the process. However, since it looks like it will rain tomorrow and the humidity will probably be high, I did only the cutting work before going out. I cut the panels with very delicate and precise measurements, so when the humidity is high, I worry that the width of the boards will expand. And when the weather clears, the boards shrink again. That small change makes a big difference in this kind of work.
And today I was able to finish all the coating work for the 4-sun 27-steps puzzle boxes. From tomorrow, I will begin the final check. For these 27-steps puzzle boxes, compared to the 14-steps puzzle boxes, I try to make the mechanisms just a little bit looser. Only a little. The reason is that boxes with more steps have a shorter moving distance for each mechanism. Each movement is very small and delicate. For example, the up and down movement of a 14-steps box is about 2.5 millimeters, but for a 27-steps box it is about 2.2 millimeters. It is only a small difference, but the feeling when you move the mechanism is quite different. Because of this very fine movement, it is better if the action feels slightly softer. That way, the user can clearly feel each small step. As a side note, even though they have many steps, the Mame puzzle boxes, which are very small 1-sun boxes, are similar. The movement of each mechanism is only about 1.3 millimeters. So in that case as well, it is better for the mechanisms to be a little loose. Just to be clear, I do not mean that I make the mechanisms of the 14-steps puzzle boxes tight.
With this kind of Japanese puzzle boxes, there is only a very small line between a mechanism that feels slightly loose and one that feels a little shaky. Sometimes, a few boxes become just a bit too loose. This time as well, because of the weather and the fine adjustments, two or three boxes turned out that way. When that happens, what should I do? Of course, I cannot throw them away just because of that. The mechanisms still move correctly. The only difference is that the feeling when sliding them is a little softer than I intended. I believe that having the skill to bring them back to the right condition is also very important. A legendary puzzle box craftsman who has already passed away once said something like this. When someone asked him, “People say a master craftsman never fails. Is that true?” he answered, “No, we do fail. But real skill is making it so that no one can notice the mistake.” I always remember these words and try to practice them in my work. Puzzle boxes have many very delicate processes, and they are easily affected by the weather. Even if my skill improves, sometimes things do not go perfectly. So I keep trying different ways and making careful adjustments to develop the skill to correct those small problems.
