Hexagonal boxes with a natural wood design
It suddenly got very cold since yesterday. While it’s not too bad during the day, mornings and evenings have become chilly enough to need the heater. The real cold usually comes after the New Year, so it’s not too serious yet, but I bought one container of kerosene just in case. When it gets cold, my workshop is hard to heat with electric or air conditioners, so I use a kerosene heater. I don’t use the type with a stove with visible flames because that would be dangerous in a woodworking studio 😅 Mine burns kerosene and blows out warm air. I plan to start using it when it gets colder. Around this time of year, you often see people buying kerosene at gas stations. In Japan, people usually buy it in 18-liter plastic containers, and now it costs about 2,300 yen for one.
Today, I first finished making the Aruki moving panels for the 3-sun cube 18-steps puzzle boxes that I had started yesterday. I plan to attach them later this evening. Like the previous 14-steps boxes, this 18-steps version also uses 9 mm wide "bocch" (small inner wooden parts). Since the box is tall, the sliding keys are made wider to match. At the same time, I also prepared the top and bottom panels for these boxes. Along with the checkered yosegi (ichimatsu) design, I’m making a limited version this time, and I decided to use natural wood not only for the side panels but also for the top and bottom ones. Today, I gathered the materials, glued them together, and made solid blocks. Tomorrow, I’ll slice them thin to create several panels and let them dry for a while. For the surface wood of these natural panels, I used camphor wood (Kusunoki). Its scent filled the workshop today. The fragrance of camphor wood is something people either like or don’t, but I personally love it. I think its presence expresses a sense of Japanese beauty—even though the wood originally didn’t come from Japan, it now grows widely across the country.
Since the top and bottom panels for the boxes aren’t ready to use yet, I started preparing for the next project. The next one will be hexagonal boxes. I received an order from the Japanese market recently, so I’ll be making those. At the same time, I also plan to make a few natural wood versions. Altogether, I’ll make about 50 boxes. The ones for the Japanese market will use traditional yosegi as requested, but the ones I make for my own stock will have a design similar to one I made before. The top and bottom panels will have three colored lines, and the side panels will have borders on the top and bottom edges. Previously, I used magnolia wood for these borders, but this time I’ll use white dogwood (mizuki).The photo shows the block for the top and bottom panels. I’ll cut it into several pieces and finish each one to a thickness of 6 mm.
For both the inside and outside of the main body, I’ll mainly use Agathis wood. Using other types of wood would make the boxes heavier, and I want to keep them a little lighter. When I used walnut before, it felt a bit off—perhaps because this box relies entirely on sliding mechanisms, and the Aruki panels move diagonally across the wood grain. That might be why it felt unusual. Through this production, I’d like to test and see how much of a difference the choice of wood really makes 🧐
Today, I first finished making the Aruki moving panels for the 3-sun cube 18-steps puzzle boxes that I had started yesterday. I plan to attach them later this evening. Like the previous 14-steps boxes, this 18-steps version also uses 9 mm wide "bocch" (small inner wooden parts). Since the box is tall, the sliding keys are made wider to match. At the same time, I also prepared the top and bottom panels for these boxes. Along with the checkered yosegi (ichimatsu) design, I’m making a limited version this time, and I decided to use natural wood not only for the side panels but also for the top and bottom ones. Today, I gathered the materials, glued them together, and made solid blocks. Tomorrow, I’ll slice them thin to create several panels and let them dry for a while. For the surface wood of these natural panels, I used camphor wood (Kusunoki). Its scent filled the workshop today. The fragrance of camphor wood is something people either like or don’t, but I personally love it. I think its presence expresses a sense of Japanese beauty—even though the wood originally didn’t come from Japan, it now grows widely across the country.
Since the top and bottom panels for the boxes aren’t ready to use yet, I started preparing for the next project. The next one will be hexagonal boxes. I received an order from the Japanese market recently, so I’ll be making those. At the same time, I also plan to make a few natural wood versions. Altogether, I’ll make about 50 boxes. The ones for the Japanese market will use traditional yosegi as requested, but the ones I make for my own stock will have a design similar to one I made before. The top and bottom panels will have three colored lines, and the side panels will have borders on the top and bottom edges. Previously, I used magnolia wood for these borders, but this time I’ll use white dogwood (mizuki).The photo shows the block for the top and bottom panels. I’ll cut it into several pieces and finish each one to a thickness of 6 mm.
For both the inside and outside of the main body, I’ll mainly use Agathis wood. Using other types of wood would make the boxes heavier, and I want to keep them a little lighter. When I used walnut before, it felt a bit off—perhaps because this box relies entirely on sliding mechanisms, and the Aruki panels move diagonally across the wood grain. That might be why it felt unusual. Through this production, I’d like to test and see how much of a difference the choice of wood really makes 🧐