Kagen Sound

This class is open to students who have taken the basic puzzle box workshop and want to go further, dreaming up their own mechanism for a unique box. Students work with precut milled woods and have access to a variety of specific hardware like springs, magnets, and ball bearings to prototype a more thematic puzzle concept. Time is spent testing and making a puzzle mechanism work before moving towards building a box that is locked with a puzzle mechanism.

This unique and dynamic woodworking class explores the Japanese art of making secret opening boxes in three stages. Students begin by creating a box infrastructure, then cut plates of wood, which slide in a sequence and stay attached to the framework. Finally, the box is assembled and a finish is applied. After each student completes an initial warm-up puzzle box, they explore a number of other wooden mechanisms and decorative inlays meant to disguise and hide moving parts. Students are encouraged to design and build their own custom puzzle box variation, focusing primarily on hand tool use with the aid of miniature router table set-ups that assist in cutting notches for moving parts and joinery.

Students make their own unique puzzle boxes using hand tools based on the traditional methods of Japanese Himitsu-Bako. Students learn how to use a high precision miter box, pull saw, and a hand plane to make secret sliding dovetail mechanisms. The workshop challenges the student to do precise work with hand tools in a process that is both meditative and satisfying. The workshop includes a detailed demonstration of making traditional Japanese parquetry veneer called "Yosegi Zaiku.”

*NEW SECTION* This class explores the Japanese art of making secret opening boxes in three stages. First, students create a box infrastructure. Next, they cut plates of wood, which slide in a sequence and stay attached to the framework. Finally, it is assembled and a finish is applied. After each student completes an initial warm-up puzzle box, Kagen will reveal a number of other wooden mechanisms and decorative inlays meant to disguise and hide moving parts. Students are then encouraged to design and build their own custom puzzle box variation. The class focuses primarily on hand tool use with the aid of a few miniature router table set-ups that assist in cutting notches for moving parts and joinery.

This class explores the Japanese art of making secret opening boxes in three stages. First, students create a box infrastructure. Next, they cut plates of wood, which slide in a sequence and stay attached to the framework. Finally, it is assembled and a finish is applied. After each student completes an initial warm-up puzzle box, Kagen will reveal a number of other wooden mechanisms and decorative inlays meant to disguise and hide moving parts. Students are then encouraged to design and build their own custom puzzle box variation. The class focuses primarily on hand tool use with the aid of a few miniature router table set-ups that assist in cutting notches for moving parts and joinery.   Interested in taking this class? A new section has been added. Click here to learn more.