Placing Weights on Wood
It was nice and sunny from the morning today, and it even felt a bit warm during the day. I worked on several tasks in the workshop again. First, I continued from yesterday and attached the sliding key panels to the 4-sun boxes. With this, the assembly of the 4-sun boxes is now complete. Tomorrow, I plan to move on to the finishing process and the base coating. Then I worked on the next project, the 3-sun boxes. The work had been paused because the materials for the side panels were not ready, but now I can continue. In the meantime, I had already finished making the core panels and preparing the other materials, so today I started working on the frame. The frame is now complete, and I assembled it. Right now, I am in the middle of attaching the internal parts. This time, it is an 18-step puzzle, and since there are more internal parts than usual, it is taking a bit more time.
When I keep attaching small parts for a long time, my shoulders start to get stiff 🤣, so I took a break and worked on the step shaping for the Aruki sliding panels I plan to make tomorrow.nAs I wrote yesterday, I do this kind of step shaping while the material is still in a long board. After that, I cut the width to match the frame, and then shape the sliding part to fit the grooves in the frame. Today, I left them stored in the state where the steps have been shaped.
This photo shows the Aruki panel during the process. As you can see, it is still in a long board shape. You may notice a large block placed on top. This is used as a weight to prevent the board from warping. The block in the photo is a piece of wood that I am not using, and I use it as a weight. The weight can be anything as long as it is heavy enough, and sometimes I place a thick plywood board on top instead. Even for a short time, I always place a weight on top like this—it has become a habit. This is important in general box making, but it is especially critical for puzzle boxes. Even a slight warp can change the shape of the box or affect how it moves, so I think it’s important to be very careful with this. It seems that many skilled craftsmen in the past also paid close attention to this point. Even after the material is cut into smaller Aruki panels, I still place weights on them—not only when I leave the workshop, but even during short breaks, like when I go for lunch.
When I keep attaching small parts for a long time, my shoulders start to get stiff 🤣, so I took a break and worked on the step shaping for the Aruki sliding panels I plan to make tomorrow.nAs I wrote yesterday, I do this kind of step shaping while the material is still in a long board. After that, I cut the width to match the frame, and then shape the sliding part to fit the grooves in the frame. Today, I left them stored in the state where the steps have been shaped.
This photo shows the Aruki panel during the process. As you can see, it is still in a long board shape. You may notice a large block placed on top. This is used as a weight to prevent the board from warping. The block in the photo is a piece of wood that I am not using, and I use it as a weight. The weight can be anything as long as it is heavy enough, and sometimes I place a thick plywood board on top instead. Even for a short time, I always place a weight on top like this—it has become a habit. This is important in general box making, but it is especially critical for puzzle boxes. Even a slight warp can change the shape of the box or affect how it moves, so I think it’s important to be very careful with this. It seems that many skilled craftsmen in the past also paid close attention to this point. Even after the material is cut into smaller Aruki panels, I still place weights on them—not only when I leave the workshop, but even during short breaks, like when I go for lunch.