Smallest 12-step
Today is Showa Day, a national holiday in Japan. It’s still morning right now, but I plan to head to the workshop a little later than usual today. Showa Day is a day to honor the birthday of Emperor Showa. "Showa" is the name of an era in Japan, which lasted from 1926 to 1989. In Japan, besides using the Western calendar, we also have a unique system of naming eras called gengō. The current era is called "Reiwa". Each time a new emperor takes the throne, the era name also changes.
Today, I will work on packing the 2.5-sun and 3-sun boxes that I finished yesterday, and prepare them for shipping to an overseas store. If I have enough time, I would also like to work on attaching yosegi sheets to the boards I have already prepared.
These days, partly because of my age..haha😂, the number of puzzle boxes I produce has decreased compared to before. In this situation, I’ve been thinking that it might be a good idea to focus more on creating unique boxes — ones that other craftsmen have not made. One of the ideas I have in mind is the "smallest 12-step box." While I am still working on various types of boxes, I think it would be good to reduce the number of simpler designs (the ones that are commonly made by others) and instead add more special, distinctive pieces like this.
I have made this box a few times before, around the year 2010. It is a very small puzzle box, and its special feature is that, even though it is about the same size as a Mame himitsu-bako, it has a Kannuki (sliding key) mechanism. The length and height are the same as the Mame puzzle box, but the width is a few millimeters longer. I made it slightly wider to fit a small wooden piece called a "bocchi" inside, which is needed for the sliding key mechanism. When I make it again, I might adjust the size a little, but at the time, I believed this was probably the smallest possible size for a box that includes a sliding key. As I have mentioned before in this blog, if I were only making one or two small boxes, it might be possible to make them even smaller. However, since we have to produce many boxes, and they are handled and opened many times by customers, the boxes must be strong and durable. That’s why I believe this size is the best for now.
When I made this box before, I created several different designs. There were traditional yosegi types, various natural wood types, and even a combination type using both natural wood and traditional yosegi. Of course, the traditional yosegi design was very popular, but I also remember that the natural wood types, using different kinds of wood in such a small size, turned out very cute and were also well-received. In the second photo, you can see that I used rengas wood for the side panels — quite a bold choice! It really makes me feel my "youth" at that time!🤣 Rengas wood is a beautiful red color, but it’s also very hard and tends to chip easily. Thinking about it now, I would probably hesitate a little before using it for side panels.
Since all the parts are very small and require intricate processing, using katsura or agathis wood would make them prone to chipping. That’s why I use magnolia wood (Hoo) for the internal structure. Magnolia wood has a finer, denser texture. Because of this, even though the box is small, it has a nice, solid feel to it.
When the time comes to make them again, I’ll be sure to let you know!
Today, I will work on packing the 2.5-sun and 3-sun boxes that I finished yesterday, and prepare them for shipping to an overseas store. If I have enough time, I would also like to work on attaching yosegi sheets to the boards I have already prepared.
These days, partly because of my age..haha😂, the number of puzzle boxes I produce has decreased compared to before. In this situation, I’ve been thinking that it might be a good idea to focus more on creating unique boxes — ones that other craftsmen have not made. One of the ideas I have in mind is the "smallest 12-step box." While I am still working on various types of boxes, I think it would be good to reduce the number of simpler designs (the ones that are commonly made by others) and instead add more special, distinctive pieces like this.
I have made this box a few times before, around the year 2010. It is a very small puzzle box, and its special feature is that, even though it is about the same size as a Mame himitsu-bako, it has a Kannuki (sliding key) mechanism. The length and height are the same as the Mame puzzle box, but the width is a few millimeters longer. I made it slightly wider to fit a small wooden piece called a "bocchi" inside, which is needed for the sliding key mechanism. When I make it again, I might adjust the size a little, but at the time, I believed this was probably the smallest possible size for a box that includes a sliding key. As I have mentioned before in this blog, if I were only making one or two small boxes, it might be possible to make them even smaller. However, since we have to produce many boxes, and they are handled and opened many times by customers, the boxes must be strong and durable. That’s why I believe this size is the best for now.
When I made this box before, I created several different designs. There were traditional yosegi types, various natural wood types, and even a combination type using both natural wood and traditional yosegi. Of course, the traditional yosegi design was very popular, but I also remember that the natural wood types, using different kinds of wood in such a small size, turned out very cute and were also well-received. In the second photo, you can see that I used rengas wood for the side panels — quite a bold choice! It really makes me feel my "youth" at that time!🤣 Rengas wood is a beautiful red color, but it’s also very hard and tends to chip easily. Thinking about it now, I would probably hesitate a little before using it for side panels.
Since all the parts are very small and require intricate processing, using katsura or agathis wood would make them prone to chipping. That’s why I use magnolia wood (Hoo) for the internal structure. Magnolia wood has a finer, denser texture. Because of this, even though the box is small, it has a nice, solid feel to it.
When the time comes to make them again, I’ll be sure to let you know!
