07-Apr-2025
It’s the beginning of a new week again. In Japan, a new school year starts this week for many schools. Most entrance ceremonies are held over the next couple of days. Today, I saw some new students walking through town with their parents. In Japan, it’s common for parents to attend the entrance ceremony with their child, especially in elementary school. First graders in Japan are usually six years old.
Today, I started by attaching the side panels to the 2-sun cube drawer boxes. This time, I’m making 23 boxes. It’s a small batch, just enough to fill current orders and make a few for stock. All of the side panels for this batch are made from walnut wood. I shaved the panels down to about 3.5 mm thick and cut them to size to match the boxes. However, at this stage, I don’t cut them to the exact dimensions of the box sides. Instead, I leave a little extra on all four edges. After the panels are fully glued and the glue has dried, I trim off the excess to make them fit perfectly.This is because if the panel shifts even a little while gluing, it can’t be corrected afterward. I use a vise to apply strong pressure when attaching the panels, and sometimes the panels can move slightly under that pressure. That’s why I use this method.The photo shows the boxes being pressed with a vise. I will keep them like this until tomorrow.
After that, I worked on making and attaching the Kannuki panels (slide keys) for the 3-sun 18-steps puzzle boxes. Although these boxes have 18 steps, the panels are the same size as the ones used for the 12-step boxes I made the other day. When the box size is the same, I often use panels of the same dimensions. I prepared a few checkered pattern panels and some walnut Kannuki panels. Today, I started by attaching them to one side of the boxes.For these boxes as well, I’m using mostly walnut panels this time. When using walnut for the panels, it’s important to trim the side panels down to their final size before attaching the Kannuki panels. As I mentioned in the 2-sun cube box section, the side panels are initially cut slightly larger and attached that way. Normally, I trim them to the exact size after gluing. However, when using walnut panels, I need to finish the side panels to the final dimensions at this stage. This is because the Kannuki panels I’m attaching now are also cut slightly larger, and it’s very difficult to trim both the side and Kannuki panels together later. The reason is that walnut wood is very hard. In contrast, when I use parquet sheets on Agathis wood, I can trim everything at once, since Agathis is a much softer material.
I’ll likely continue with these steps tomorrow as well.
