Rising Material Costs and Their Impact
Today was another very hot and humid day. It seems that thunderstorms occurred in many places during the afternoon. I also went out for a short time, and although it was not raining around my workshop, I encountered a thunderstorm a little farther away. It seems that some areas also had very heavy rain yesterday.
Today, I continued attaching the sliding key panels to the 3-sun 12-step puzzle boxes with traditional yosegi and Walnut designs. The sliding key panels had already been made, so today I machined the box bodies and attached the panels. Since there were many boxes, I thought I might not finish them all today, but I finished attaching the panels to one side by the evening. While attaching them, I noticed again that the position of the sliding key is difficult to see when Walnut is used. In other words, it hides the mechanism well. Production of the natural wood top panel type will end, but I would like to continue using Walnut for the side panels. I plan to attach the panels to the other side tomorrow or later.
Recently, materials needed for production have often been in short supply. I do not mean only at my workshop, but across the market as a whole. Of course, these shortages also affect my workshop, but since I work alone, I do not need a large amount of materials, and I have enough for now. Wood has been in short supply and has become more expensive since the pandemic, but recently, shortages of glue and paint seem to have become especially serious. Looking at the market, both glue and paint have risen greatly in price, and it is now common to see them selling for about twice last year’s price. I bought some yesterday as well, and it was certainly much more expensive. Even finding them for sale is fortunate. In some cases, retail stores still have stock, but the manufacturers no longer have any products available to ship. If this continues for a long time, it will have a serious effect on companies that use large amounts of these materials. Also, once prices rise, they are unlikely to return easily to their previous levels. The reason is, of course, the situation in the Middle East. Different countries have their own interests and opinions, but I hope for an early and peaceful solution.
Have a good weekend!
Today, I continued attaching the sliding key panels to the 3-sun 12-step puzzle boxes with traditional yosegi and Walnut designs. The sliding key panels had already been made, so today I machined the box bodies and attached the panels. Since there were many boxes, I thought I might not finish them all today, but I finished attaching the panels to one side by the evening. While attaching them, I noticed again that the position of the sliding key is difficult to see when Walnut is used. In other words, it hides the mechanism well. Production of the natural wood top panel type will end, but I would like to continue using Walnut for the side panels. I plan to attach the panels to the other side tomorrow or later.
Recently, materials needed for production have often been in short supply. I do not mean only at my workshop, but across the market as a whole. Of course, these shortages also affect my workshop, but since I work alone, I do not need a large amount of materials, and I have enough for now. Wood has been in short supply and has become more expensive since the pandemic, but recently, shortages of glue and paint seem to have become especially serious. Looking at the market, both glue and paint have risen greatly in price, and it is now common to see them selling for about twice last year’s price. I bought some yesterday as well, and it was certainly much more expensive. Even finding them for sale is fortunate. In some cases, retail stores still have stock, but the manufacturers no longer have any products available to ship. If this continues for a long time, it will have a serious effect on companies that use large amounts of these materials. Also, once prices rise, they are unlikely to return easily to their previous levels. The reason is, of course, the situation in the Middle East. Different countries have their own interests and opinions, but I hope for an early and peaceful solution.
Have a good weekend!