Making Solid-wood panels
Today it was sunny from the morning, and it became warm during the day. But the mornings and evenings are still quite cold, especially in the morning when it goes down to around 0°C. The other day, there was frost on the riverbank in front of my workshop. This morning I started the finishing work on the 4-sun puzzle boxes. This time the side panels use checkered yosegi (ichimatsu) sheets, so I shape them round just like a normal traditional puzzle box. Usually, after this, I carefully remove any bumps on the side panels by hand using sandpaper.
However, because the bottom panel is solid wood this time, I need to sand it more strongly than by hand. So in the next step, I sand the bottom surface with a sanding machine. This allows me to sand it more thoroughly than by hand and also remove small knife marks. After that, I shape only the edges of that surface again to make them round, and then I finish by sanding the yosegi surface by hand. The reason I round the bottom surface again is that the sanding machine slightly flattens the round shape I made earlier. By lightly shaping it one more time, I can make a clean and smooth round finish. It may sound like doing the same work twice, but this method is more reliable because it prevents problems later, such as remaining marks or uneven surfaces.
After that, I moved on to the painting process today. Now I feel safe about the 4-sun boxes. The dryness these days is really terrible, and there have been several wildfires in different areas. One even happened in my own prefecture yesterday. Extreme dryness can affect the condition of the boxes, so I have to be very careful.
This afternoon I also worked on the next project, the square 14-steps puzzle boxes. On the board with the checkered yosegi sheet that I glued yesterday, I attached the boards that will become the side panels, which are the structural parts of the box. I will keep them pressed overnight in the vise. I also made the shaft panels, and those are now finished. It feels like it has been a long time since I last made shaft panels for a 14-steps mechanism. Recently I have been making 18-steps and 27-steps boxes, where even the bottom side moves.
And finally, I also prepared the solid-wood panels that will become the bottom panels of the square puzzle boxes (photo). The bottom panels of the 4-sun boxes I made this time have the same design. I tried this design and liked it, so I decided to use the same one for the square boxes too. Since the side panels also use vertical and horizontal checkered yosegi, they look like brother boxes 😊 To make these panels, I first make a block of wood and then cut it into thin slices to create flat boards. From one block, I can get six boards. The block is 35 mm thick, so cutting it into six pieces makes each board about 5.8 mm thick. The panels need to be around 3 mm thick, so that is too thick at first. But when cutting, the saw blade is about 1.2 mm thick, so the actual boards become around 4.6 mm. And right after cutting, the boards have rough saw marks on the surface. I use a machine to shave the surface clean, and for that, I need to remove about 1.5 mm. If everything goes well, the finished board becomes a clean 3 mm sheet. But even though I use a machine, it is still a hand-fed machine where I push the wood in myself, so it does not always go perfectly 🤣 Sometimes I need to make it even thinner to get a clean, smooth surface.
However, because the bottom panel is solid wood this time, I need to sand it more strongly than by hand. So in the next step, I sand the bottom surface with a sanding machine. This allows me to sand it more thoroughly than by hand and also remove small knife marks. After that, I shape only the edges of that surface again to make them round, and then I finish by sanding the yosegi surface by hand. The reason I round the bottom surface again is that the sanding machine slightly flattens the round shape I made earlier. By lightly shaping it one more time, I can make a clean and smooth round finish. It may sound like doing the same work twice, but this method is more reliable because it prevents problems later, such as remaining marks or uneven surfaces.
After that, I moved on to the painting process today. Now I feel safe about the 4-sun boxes. The dryness these days is really terrible, and there have been several wildfires in different areas. One even happened in my own prefecture yesterday. Extreme dryness can affect the condition of the boxes, so I have to be very careful.
This afternoon I also worked on the next project, the square 14-steps puzzle boxes. On the board with the checkered yosegi sheet that I glued yesterday, I attached the boards that will become the side panels, which are the structural parts of the box. I will keep them pressed overnight in the vise. I also made the shaft panels, and those are now finished. It feels like it has been a long time since I last made shaft panels for a 14-steps mechanism. Recently I have been making 18-steps and 27-steps boxes, where even the bottom side moves.
And finally, I also prepared the solid-wood panels that will become the bottom panels of the square puzzle boxes (photo). The bottom panels of the 4-sun boxes I made this time have the same design. I tried this design and liked it, so I decided to use the same one for the square boxes too. Since the side panels also use vertical and horizontal checkered yosegi, they look like brother boxes 😊 To make these panels, I first make a block of wood and then cut it into thin slices to create flat boards. From one block, I can get six boards. The block is 35 mm thick, so cutting it into six pieces makes each board about 5.8 mm thick. The panels need to be around 3 mm thick, so that is too thick at first. But when cutting, the saw blade is about 1.2 mm thick, so the actual boards become around 4.6 mm. And right after cutting, the boards have rough saw marks on the surface. I use a machine to shave the surface clean, and for that, I need to remove about 1.5 mm. If everything goes well, the finished board becomes a clean 3 mm sheet. But even though I use a machine, it is still a hand-fed machine where I push the wood in myself, so it does not always go perfectly 🤣 Sometimes I need to make it even thinner to get a clean, smooth surface.