Small cube boxes
It was mostly cloudy from the morning today. A typhoon seems to be approaching, and it’s expected to rain from tonight. Before that, I worked on making and attaching the Kannuki (slide key) panels for the 4-sun 18-steps puzzle box.
For this original yosegi puzzle box, I used the usual ichimatsu (checkered) side panels. However, I didn’t have quite enough of them this time, so for five of the boxes, I used plain wood panels instead. Now I’ve run out of ichimatsu yosegi panels, so I’ll need to make some more.
I had already prepared the materials a long time ago and cut them to size. All that’s left is to join them together… but I haven’t done it yet. Making yosegi patterns takes a lot of patience, so it’s hard to get motivated sometimes 😅 Since I’ve run out of ichimatsu sheets, I think it’s about time to start working on it.
Depending on the weather tomorrow, I might delay attaching the second side panel. If the humidity is too high, this work becomes difficult. The panels may warp later, so I have to be careful. This afternoon, the humidity dropped quite a bit, so I glued the more delicate side, which is more likely to warp.
Now, I’m also working on another project —small cube puzzle boxes. I hope this box will help more people, especially children, get to know the craft of puzzle boxes. I'm preparing to launch a new website, where I plan to sell these boxes. I’d also like to try selling them directly at local markets. It may take time, but I’m moving forward step by step.
Puzzle boxes and karakuri boxes are very popular these days, but many of the customers are from outside Japan.
In Japan, fewer people know about these boxes now. One reason is the high price. Since these are not daily items, many Japanese people don’t buy them.
There will be a national election in Japan soon, and many candidates are talking about how to deal with the economic downturn. So, this time, I tried to make the boxes more affordable by keeping the production cost low.
Since this is my first attempt, I made it a 4-step box. I'm enjoying the process and taking my time 😄
For this original yosegi puzzle box, I used the usual ichimatsu (checkered) side panels. However, I didn’t have quite enough of them this time, so for five of the boxes, I used plain wood panels instead. Now I’ve run out of ichimatsu yosegi panels, so I’ll need to make some more.
I had already prepared the materials a long time ago and cut them to size. All that’s left is to join them together… but I haven’t done it yet. Making yosegi patterns takes a lot of patience, so it’s hard to get motivated sometimes 😅 Since I’ve run out of ichimatsu sheets, I think it’s about time to start working on it.
Depending on the weather tomorrow, I might delay attaching the second side panel. If the humidity is too high, this work becomes difficult. The panels may warp later, so I have to be careful. This afternoon, the humidity dropped quite a bit, so I glued the more delicate side, which is more likely to warp.
Now, I’m also working on another project —small cube puzzle boxes. I hope this box will help more people, especially children, get to know the craft of puzzle boxes. I'm preparing to launch a new website, where I plan to sell these boxes. I’d also like to try selling them directly at local markets. It may take time, but I’m moving forward step by step.
Puzzle boxes and karakuri boxes are very popular these days, but many of the customers are from outside Japan.
In Japan, fewer people know about these boxes now. One reason is the high price. Since these are not daily items, many Japanese people don’t buy them.
There will be a national election in Japan soon, and many candidates are talking about how to deal with the economic downturn. So, this time, I tried to make the boxes more affordable by keeping the production cost low.
Since this is my first attempt, I made it a 4-step box. I'm enjoying the process and taking my time 😄
