18-step aruki panels
It was rainy again this morning, but in our area, it didn’t rain as heavily as the forecast said yesterday. They were expecting a big storm, but luckily it wasn’t so bad. Still, with two rainy days in a row, the workshop is now full of humidity!😭
So today, I started by working on the parts for 3-sun 18-steps puzzle boxes I began yesterday. But that task didn’t take very long, so I waited for the humidity to go down a little when the air conditioner started working better, and then moved on to making some Aruki panels (moving panels).
Honestly, I don’t really like making Aruki panels on days like this, but I decided just to make the panels today and wait until the weather is better before attaching them. It’s much better to do that attaching work on a sunny day.
Right now, there's also the 4-sun 18-steps puzzle boxes sitting in its case, waiting for me to continue. It has my original yosegi design on it. The mechanism is basically the same as the 3-sun box—the only difference is the width of the box. I could change the parts for each size, but I like to keep them the same to make production more efficient. The only thing that’s different is the inside width, like the size of the bocchi (small wooden parts). The Aruki thickness is also the same—6.5 mm.
It’s possible to make a 3-sun box with more than 18 steps, but I don’t think it’s very useful. The inside space becomes very small!😅
Rainy days like this are actually great for making or gluing yosegi. Puzzle boxes don’t like humidity, but yosegi marquetry loves it. Especially yosegi sheets—if the air is too dry, they can dry out and fall apart.
The forecast says it’ll keep raining until tomorrow morning, so I’m planning to finally finish gluing the checkerboard yosegi I started earlier. After the rain stops, the humidity usually goes even higher, probably because so much water is still in the ground.
By the way, if you’ve been reading this blog for a while, you probably already know this—but yosegi marquetry and Japanese puzzle boxes (himitsu-bako) are actually two different things. (Maybe that’s obvious?)
Still, many foreign visitors who come to Hakone seem to think that yosegi itself is the himitsu-bako. I guess that’s because a lot of Himitsu-bako sold here have traditional yosegi patterns on them.
But yosegi is used for many other things too, like regular boxes, trays, cups, and keychains. Not just puzzle boxes!😄
So today, I started by working on the parts for 3-sun 18-steps puzzle boxes I began yesterday. But that task didn’t take very long, so I waited for the humidity to go down a little when the air conditioner started working better, and then moved on to making some Aruki panels (moving panels).
Honestly, I don’t really like making Aruki panels on days like this, but I decided just to make the panels today and wait until the weather is better before attaching them. It’s much better to do that attaching work on a sunny day.
Right now, there's also the 4-sun 18-steps puzzle boxes sitting in its case, waiting for me to continue. It has my original yosegi design on it. The mechanism is basically the same as the 3-sun box—the only difference is the width of the box. I could change the parts for each size, but I like to keep them the same to make production more efficient. The only thing that’s different is the inside width, like the size of the bocchi (small wooden parts). The Aruki thickness is also the same—6.5 mm.
It’s possible to make a 3-sun box with more than 18 steps, but I don’t think it’s very useful. The inside space becomes very small!😅
Rainy days like this are actually great for making or gluing yosegi. Puzzle boxes don’t like humidity, but yosegi marquetry loves it. Especially yosegi sheets—if the air is too dry, they can dry out and fall apart.
The forecast says it’ll keep raining until tomorrow morning, so I’m planning to finally finish gluing the checkerboard yosegi I started earlier. After the rain stops, the humidity usually goes even higher, probably because so much water is still in the ground.
By the way, if you’ve been reading this blog for a while, you probably already know this—but yosegi marquetry and Japanese puzzle boxes (himitsu-bako) are actually two different things. (Maybe that’s obvious?)
Still, many foreign visitors who come to Hakone seem to think that yosegi itself is the himitsu-bako. I guess that’s because a lot of Himitsu-bako sold here have traditional yosegi patterns on them.
But yosegi is used for many other things too, like regular boxes, trays, cups, and keychains. Not just puzzle boxes!😄
