Relationship Between The 18 and 21-step Parts
This morning, the rain from yesterday was still continuing, but it stopped by the afternoon, and unlike the past few days, the weather became cool enough to almost feel a little chilly. The humidity was still a bit high while the rain remained, but I started making the Aruki sliding panels for the 4-sun 21-step puzzle boxes from the morning. At this stage, I intentionally make the movement a little tight, so I thought it would be fine as long as I attached the panels after the rain stopped and the humidity dropped. The photo shows the Aruki panels for those 21-step boxes. This time I was not making a very large number of them, so the work was finished by the morning. If the humidity had stayed high, I would have stored them in a humidity-controlled case, but by now the humidity has completely dropped and returned to normal, so it seems fine to leave them out as they are. After the rain stopped, the wind became quite strong, and it seems that it blew away the moisture in the air.
The thickness of the Aruki panels is the same as on the 18-step puzzle boxes, and the size and number of the stepped cuts carved into the panels are also the same. So in fact, these panels could also be used to make an 18-step puzzle box. The 18-step puzzle boxes are based on the parts used for the 14-step boxes, and one of their features is that they include two “Kaeshi (return)” movements, where the sliding key moves back. However, by using the parts for the 21-step puzzle boxes, removing those “return” movements, and starting from the opposite side compared to the 21-step boxes, the mechanism becomes an 18-step puzzle box. The reason I make them this way is because I originally started by making 18-step puzzle boxes, and for a very long time I did not make the 21-step version at all. I only started making the 21-step puzzle boxes a few years ago.
So when I started making the 21-step puzzle boxes, I needed to create completely new parts for them, while the 18-step puzzle boxes continued to use the traditional parts I had always used. The parts for the 18-step boxes cannot be used to make a 21-step mechanism.But if I continue making 21-step puzzle boxes in the future, I started thinking that it might be better to let the 18-step boxes share the same parts as the 21-step version. It’s a bit complicated to explain lol 😆 Of course, if I do that, the 18-step boxes would lose the “return” movements, so there would be a little less variation in the sliding key movement. Still, I think it may be worth considering positively.
In the afternoon, I worked on the final coating for the 5-sun drawer puzzle boxes, and it finished successfully. At last, the main box section is now complete. I also finished the drawer lid panels with a thin coating at the same time. Once I make the drawer lids to fit the drawer bodies, the final step will be checking the movement of the mechanism.
Have a great weekend! 😊
The thickness of the Aruki panels is the same as on the 18-step puzzle boxes, and the size and number of the stepped cuts carved into the panels are also the same. So in fact, these panels could also be used to make an 18-step puzzle box. The 18-step puzzle boxes are based on the parts used for the 14-step boxes, and one of their features is that they include two “Kaeshi (return)” movements, where the sliding key moves back. However, by using the parts for the 21-step puzzle boxes, removing those “return” movements, and starting from the opposite side compared to the 21-step boxes, the mechanism becomes an 18-step puzzle box. The reason I make them this way is because I originally started by making 18-step puzzle boxes, and for a very long time I did not make the 21-step version at all. I only started making the 21-step puzzle boxes a few years ago.
So when I started making the 21-step puzzle boxes, I needed to create completely new parts for them, while the 18-step puzzle boxes continued to use the traditional parts I had always used. The parts for the 18-step boxes cannot be used to make a 21-step mechanism.But if I continue making 21-step puzzle boxes in the future, I started thinking that it might be better to let the 18-step boxes share the same parts as the 21-step version. It’s a bit complicated to explain lol 😆 Of course, if I do that, the 18-step boxes would lose the “return” movements, so there would be a little less variation in the sliding key movement. Still, I think it may be worth considering positively.
In the afternoon, I worked on the final coating for the 5-sun drawer puzzle boxes, and it finished successfully. At last, the main box section is now complete. I also finished the drawer lid panels with a thin coating at the same time. Once I make the drawer lids to fit the drawer bodies, the final step will be checking the movement of the mechanism.
Have a great weekend! 😊