The Situation of making Gift boxes
Today the weather was clear again, and it was very dry. This is good for making puzzle boxes, but I have to be careful that the mechanism does not become too loose because of the dryness. I continued working on the 4-sun and 6-sun puzzle boxes today, just like yesterday. Each one is at a different stage, but I am working on the process of attaching the sliding key panels. In the end, the 6-sun boxes became traditional yosegi boxes like in the photo. I decided not to use the original solid-wood design this time, and I will try it again next time. However, I do not plan to make 6-sun boxes for a while, so in a way these are also limited boxes.
The reason I made only sixteen 6-sun boxes this time is that I still had sixteen gift boxes left. These are the paper presentation boxes for the puzzle boxes. You might think, “Is that really the reason?”, but sometimes this happens. I do not order gift boxes one by one; I have them ordered in a large batch, such as 200 or 300 at a time. The gift boxes that were made before had sixteen left. But four of them were made by a different craftsman, and their size was a little different—slightly smaller. So this time, I made the puzzle boxes to fit the smaller size. The difference is only about 5 mm, but the gift boxes are made to fit exactly, so if the puzzle box is even a little larger, it won’t fit. It would be wasteful not to use them, so I decided to use those four small gift boxes too.
Things like this happen often. Sometimes I decide to make square-shaped boxes because many square gift boxes are left. When it is a common size (like 4-sun or 5-sun), it is fine, but if many remain in a size that I seldom make it becomes a problem. I could order only the number I need, but gift-box makers also need a certain quantity to make their work worthwhile, so they do not prefer orders of just ten or twenty pieces. I think this kind of consideration is important for both sides to continue working together. Now that I have used up all the 6-sun gift boxes, I do not plan to make 6-sun puzzle boxes for a while. But if something gives me a good reason again, I may make them.
Today I also started preparing for my next work. Next, I plan to make about forty square puzzle boxes. Just like the 4-sun boxes this time, the top panel will be traditional yosegi, and the bottom panel will be solid wood, at least for now. And as with the 4-sun boxes, the side panels will use two-color checkered yosegi panels. I will use the checkered panels that I made earlier this year for a different size of square boxes. Today I glued the checkered yosegi sheets onto the wood boards. Tomorrow, I plan to continue with the finishing work of the 4-sun boxes.
The reason I made only sixteen 6-sun boxes this time is that I still had sixteen gift boxes left. These are the paper presentation boxes for the puzzle boxes. You might think, “Is that really the reason?”, but sometimes this happens. I do not order gift boxes one by one; I have them ordered in a large batch, such as 200 or 300 at a time. The gift boxes that were made before had sixteen left. But four of them were made by a different craftsman, and their size was a little different—slightly smaller. So this time, I made the puzzle boxes to fit the smaller size. The difference is only about 5 mm, but the gift boxes are made to fit exactly, so if the puzzle box is even a little larger, it won’t fit. It would be wasteful not to use them, so I decided to use those four small gift boxes too.
Things like this happen often. Sometimes I decide to make square-shaped boxes because many square gift boxes are left. When it is a common size (like 4-sun or 5-sun), it is fine, but if many remain in a size that I seldom make it becomes a problem. I could order only the number I need, but gift-box makers also need a certain quantity to make their work worthwhile, so they do not prefer orders of just ten or twenty pieces. I think this kind of consideration is important for both sides to continue working together. Now that I have used up all the 6-sun gift boxes, I do not plan to make 6-sun puzzle boxes for a while. But if something gives me a good reason again, I may make them.
Today I also started preparing for my next work. Next, I plan to make about forty square puzzle boxes. Just like the 4-sun boxes this time, the top panel will be traditional yosegi, and the bottom panel will be solid wood, at least for now. And as with the 4-sun boxes, the side panels will use two-color checkered yosegi panels. I will use the checkered panels that I made earlier this year for a different size of square boxes. Today I glued the checkered yosegi sheets onto the wood boards. Tomorrow, I plan to continue with the finishing work of the 4-sun boxes.