5-sun drawer box
A new week starts today. Since the weekend, the weather has been very warm, and I heard that yesterday’s temperature was similar to what we usually have in June. In Japan, the hottest season is from July to September. Today was also quite a warm day. I’m currently working on two types of puzzle boxes, and starting today, I’ve added one more — the 5-sun 10-step with drawer box. This is a custom order, but I decided to begin making it a bit earlier. This time, I will only make a small number of them, so it shouldn't take too long. The design will be just one type: the traditional Yosegi-style.
Today, I quickly prepared the materials and started making and assembling the frame parts. Since I’m only making a few, the work is progressing faster than usual. This drawer-type puzzle box has a slightly special structure for each part, but the mechanism itself is not too difficult, so in that sense, it’s relatively easy to make. Besides the main box, I also have to make the drawer, so there are a few more steps compared to a regular box. A divider board is placed inside the box, which makes it very sturdy. This box is one of the designs I’ve been making since my early days, so I’m very familiar with it. As I mentioned before, the very first puzzle box I used as a reference was also the 5-sun 10-step box with drawer. That box was very old one, and is still occasionally reproduced today other craftsman—it was a “sound” type, meaning it made a sound when opened. The surface of the drawer lid had a wooden inlay of a bird, and when you pulled out the drawer, it made a sound like a bird’s chirping.
Today, I also prepared the materials for the drawer part. My drawer doesn’t include the sound feature, but instead, I’ve made it slightly larger in size (though I haven’t really compared it with others). In the early days, I made the drawer so that it couldn’t be removed, but now I make it as a fully detachable type—you can take the drawer out completely. Thanks to this change, I was also able to make the drawer deeper.
To summarize my current work, I’m working on three projects: the knock box, the 3-sun 12-steps puzzle box, and this 5-sun 10-steps with drawer box. Today, I focused only on the 5-sun box so I could make good progress on it. I plan to continue working on these projects tomorrow as well.
Today, I quickly prepared the materials and started making and assembling the frame parts. Since I’m only making a few, the work is progressing faster than usual. This drawer-type puzzle box has a slightly special structure for each part, but the mechanism itself is not too difficult, so in that sense, it’s relatively easy to make. Besides the main box, I also have to make the drawer, so there are a few more steps compared to a regular box. A divider board is placed inside the box, which makes it very sturdy. This box is one of the designs I’ve been making since my early days, so I’m very familiar with it. As I mentioned before, the very first puzzle box I used as a reference was also the 5-sun 10-step box with drawer. That box was very old one, and is still occasionally reproduced today other craftsman—it was a “sound” type, meaning it made a sound when opened. The surface of the drawer lid had a wooden inlay of a bird, and when you pulled out the drawer, it made a sound like a bird’s chirping.
Today, I also prepared the materials for the drawer part. My drawer doesn’t include the sound feature, but instead, I’ve made it slightly larger in size (though I haven’t really compared it with others). In the early days, I made the drawer so that it couldn’t be removed, but now I make it as a fully detachable type—you can take the drawer out completely. Thanks to this change, I was also able to make the drawer deeper.
To summarize my current work, I’m working on three projects: the knock box, the 3-sun 12-steps puzzle box, and this 5-sun 10-steps with drawer box. Today, I focused only on the 5-sun box so I could make good progress on it. I plan to continue working on these projects tomorrow as well.
