Today was completely different from yesterday. It was sunny and warm. It even felt a little hot. The recent talk about global warming came to my mind, and I started to wonder if this year will also become very hot. Of course, heavy snow can make daily life difficult, and that is hard in its own way. But enduring extreme heat is also very tough, isn’t it? I cannot help but wonder if it will be the same again this year…😅
Today I waited for the humidity to go down before working on the 4-sun 14-steps puzzle boxes. It became sunny and dry sooner than I expected, so I was able to do this work in the morning. This time I made only 20 boxes, so I could finish the process a little faster.
First, I made the sliding key panels. Then I prepared the boxes for attaching them, and glued them in the early afternoon. Just to be safe, I started with the first panel that has the larger bonding area. This first panel is the one that moves at the beginning when opening the box. In this 14-steps puzzle box, it covers up to the sixth move. On this side, the inside Aruki panel has a larger surface area. Actually, this time I used a two-color ichimatsu pattern for the side panels. It may look like the same two-color ichimatsu that I used for the 4-sun 18-steps puzzle boxes last year or the 4-sun striped puzzle boxes from last month, but this one has a slightly larger pattern. This was the first two-color ichimatsu pattern I made last year. After I made it for the knock box, I felt that the pattern squares were a little large. So after that, I started making a slightly smaller version. Some of the first type remained, and I am using it this time. There is still a little left, so I would like to use it again for a small production run in the future.
Before starting the 4-sun work, the humidity was still high in the morning, so I worked on the next project, the Mame (tiny 1-sun) puzzle boxes with 10 steps, and glued the yosegi sheets onto the boards. I had already prepared the boards yesterday. I planned to glue them yesterday, but because of the rain I was in a relaxed mood and decided not to do it in the end 🤣 It has been a while since I made the 10-steps type. I will make about 100 of them for a request from the Hakone market. This Mame puzzle box uses traditional yosegi on all sides, so I glued yosegi sheets for every surface. In the photo, you can see the boards and the yosegi sheets. If you look closely, the slightly thicker board at the top of the photo, about 4 mm thick, will become the long side of the box. The thinner board at the bottom of the photo, about 2 mm thick, will become the top and bottom panels and the short side panels, which are the side Aruki panel surfaces. When I glue the yosegi sheets, the boards bend a lot, especially the 2 mm boards. They absorb moisture from the glue and curve strongly. To calm them down, they need enough drying time, stacked flat and left to rest. These boards will probably take some time to dry, so while I wait, I may start another project.
