How to slice a yosegi block
Today the rain from yesterday stopped, and it was sunny from the morning. I did the finishing work on the 5-sun 36-steps box that I had been making a little quickly. Next, it will move on to the coating stage.
And I was also working a bit fast on this, but I finished the ichimatsu yosegi for the side panels of the 6-sun box up to the point where I can slice it tomorrow. If possible, I plan to slice only the pieces I need tomorrow and attach them to the panels I prepared today. The weather has been a little dry recently, so I’m a bit worried about whether I can slice the yosegi smoothly, but I want to give it a try.
I have often posted photos of the sliced yosegi on Instagram and other places, but actually there are two ways to slice yosegi sheets. Some people say there is really only one correct way, but I use the other method, which is not the main one in this region. There are others who use this method too, and when I used to slice yosegi together with one of them, we always used this way. You could call the two methods “wet” and “dry.” In other words, the difference is whether you wet the yosegi block with water before slicing, or keep it dry. In the workshops that mainly produce yosegi, the traditional method is, of course, the wet method. This is probably the original, proper way. When I worked at a yosegi workshop in the past, we also sliced it using water. But there are also quite a few craftsmen who slice without wetting the block. So, what is the difference between these two methods…?
Before explaining the two methods, I want to mention one important point: nowadays, yosegi sheets are sliced using a machine. Even though it’s a machine, it’s not fully automatic. Inside, a belt moves, and when you feed the wood into the machine, it sends the wood to the plane blade, which shaves a thin layer off the surface. You still have to feed the wood by hand, and the adjustment of the blade is also done by hand. For example, if you want to slice 100 sheets, you have to feed the wood 100 times. It’s something like “semi-automatic"...haha😂 In the old days, this type of machine didn’t exist, so everything was done by hand with a plane. The demonstrations you sometimes see today show the old traditional method. But now, because a large number of yosegi products and puzzle boxes are produced, it would be impossible to make them without using machines like these.
When you wet the yosegi block and feed it into the machine, it gets sliced and comes out as a sheet. The reason for wetting it is that the sliced sheet is very fragile, and wetting prevents it from falling apart. And since it is wood, the sheet would normally curl up tightly, but when it’s wet, it doesn’t curl. So why do some people slice without wetting the yosegi block? The simple reason is that I don’t want the machine to get wet 🤣 (There are a few other important reasons for other craftsmen) The machine is made of iron, so if it gets wet, it will rust. That’s why the workshops that use the wet method always wipe the machine very carefully afterward and polish it with oil. It takes a lot of time and effort. For simple patterns like mine (such as the ichimatsu pattern), the dry method works fine. But for traditional yosegi patterns that are complex and use many different types of wood, the reality is that you cannot slice them properly without the wet method. So most workshops use the wet method.
I’d like to explain a little more, but this has become long, so I will write the rest another time.
And I was also working a bit fast on this, but I finished the ichimatsu yosegi for the side panels of the 6-sun box up to the point where I can slice it tomorrow. If possible, I plan to slice only the pieces I need tomorrow and attach them to the panels I prepared today. The weather has been a little dry recently, so I’m a bit worried about whether I can slice the yosegi smoothly, but I want to give it a try.
I have often posted photos of the sliced yosegi on Instagram and other places, but actually there are two ways to slice yosegi sheets. Some people say there is really only one correct way, but I use the other method, which is not the main one in this region. There are others who use this method too, and when I used to slice yosegi together with one of them, we always used this way. You could call the two methods “wet” and “dry.” In other words, the difference is whether you wet the yosegi block with water before slicing, or keep it dry. In the workshops that mainly produce yosegi, the traditional method is, of course, the wet method. This is probably the original, proper way. When I worked at a yosegi workshop in the past, we also sliced it using water. But there are also quite a few craftsmen who slice without wetting the block. So, what is the difference between these two methods…?
Before explaining the two methods, I want to mention one important point: nowadays, yosegi sheets are sliced using a machine. Even though it’s a machine, it’s not fully automatic. Inside, a belt moves, and when you feed the wood into the machine, it sends the wood to the plane blade, which shaves a thin layer off the surface. You still have to feed the wood by hand, and the adjustment of the blade is also done by hand. For example, if you want to slice 100 sheets, you have to feed the wood 100 times. It’s something like “semi-automatic"...haha😂 In the old days, this type of machine didn’t exist, so everything was done by hand with a plane. The demonstrations you sometimes see today show the old traditional method. But now, because a large number of yosegi products and puzzle boxes are produced, it would be impossible to make them without using machines like these.
When you wet the yosegi block and feed it into the machine, it gets sliced and comes out as a sheet. The reason for wetting it is that the sliced sheet is very fragile, and wetting prevents it from falling apart. And since it is wood, the sheet would normally curl up tightly, but when it’s wet, it doesn’t curl. So why do some people slice without wetting the yosegi block? The simple reason is that I don’t want the machine to get wet 🤣 (There are a few other important reasons for other craftsmen) The machine is made of iron, so if it gets wet, it will rust. That’s why the workshops that use the wet method always wipe the machine very carefully afterward and polish it with oil. It takes a lot of time and effort. For simple patterns like mine (such as the ichimatsu pattern), the dry method works fine. But for traditional yosegi patterns that are complex and use many different types of wood, the reality is that you cannot slice them properly without the wet method. So most workshops use the wet method.
I’d like to explain a little more, but this has become long, so I will write the rest another time.