Assembly of aruki
It’s the start of a new week, but the hot weather has been continuing since the weekend. In western Japan, it seems the rainy season ended about three weeks earlier than usual... Looks like we’re in for a longer summer that might last until around October. Please take good care of yourselves during this hot season.
Today, I’m continuing to work on the square-type Knock Box. The photo shows the natural wood materials I’ll be using for the top panel. I’m planning to create my usual simple striped panel, but this time I’ll be adding four different colors of stripes in part of the design.
The woods I’m using for this panel are: Mizuki, Purpleheart, Nyatoh, Urushi, Rengas, and Walnut. The base of the panel is made with Walnut (and Mizuki). I actually bought just one piece of Walnut for this, but… the color looks different from usual! 😂
The grain looks very similar to Walnut, but maybe the color is just lighter? It’s quite different from the Walnut I normally use for the side panels of my boxes, so I decided not to use it in the usual way. I think this piece might be from the “sapwood” part of the Walnut. Sapwood is the lighter-colored outer part of the tree, close to the bark. Depending on the tree species, this part can often appear white or pale. It’s not commonly used, but the grain is fine and tight, so it might still finish nicely. I decided to try it out this time.
Also, I spent most of today working on assembling the Aruki panels for this Knock Box. It takes more time than putting together a regular puzzle box. I carefully adjusted each part while checking the movement to make sure everything works just right. The movement of the panel that interacts with the hidden magnet inside is especially important. I really hope it works smoothly this time too... I plan to continue working on these tasks tomorrow as well.
Today, I’m continuing to work on the square-type Knock Box. The photo shows the natural wood materials I’ll be using for the top panel. I’m planning to create my usual simple striped panel, but this time I’ll be adding four different colors of stripes in part of the design.
The woods I’m using for this panel are: Mizuki, Purpleheart, Nyatoh, Urushi, Rengas, and Walnut. The base of the panel is made with Walnut (and Mizuki). I actually bought just one piece of Walnut for this, but… the color looks different from usual! 😂
The grain looks very similar to Walnut, but maybe the color is just lighter? It’s quite different from the Walnut I normally use for the side panels of my boxes, so I decided not to use it in the usual way. I think this piece might be from the “sapwood” part of the Walnut. Sapwood is the lighter-colored outer part of the tree, close to the bark. Depending on the tree species, this part can often appear white or pale. It’s not commonly used, but the grain is fine and tight, so it might still finish nicely. I decided to try it out this time.
Also, I spent most of today working on assembling the Aruki panels for this Knock Box. It takes more time than putting together a regular puzzle box. I carefully adjusted each part while checking the movement to make sure everything works just right. The movement of the panel that interacts with the hidden magnet inside is especially important. I really hope it works smoothly this time too... I plan to continue working on these tasks tomorrow as well.
