First images.
Wood, specifically pine in a select grade. Nice knot free stock. This section is starting with two 3/8” thick x 5-1/2” wide (basically 10mm x 14cm) boards. They are clamped down to the worktable in the first picture by the two wider boards (2×4’s) to the right. The narrower board is a guide strip held perpendicular to the wood stock.

I cut three spacer strips to allow easy routing of the grooves to be cut with the router. The bit is a 1/4” (6.35mm) carbide straight/end cut bit.

One set of grooves completed, all grooves spaced 2-7/8” (about 73mm) apart.

Then I switched the boards about and cut more grooves at a spacing of 1-1/4” (about 32mm). The very observant may notice an extra groove… I made an error in groove spacing in the image above. I recut the boards and made these wider spaced grooves all over again, but did not photograph that step. The extra groove at the right end here will be chopped off and become kindling.

Each set of grooves was then trimmed to length using the mitre saw. The cuts were made very close to the side of the last groove, close enough to leave a small extra amount of wood that will be later sanded to precise length once things are fitted together.

Next strips were rip sawn off the grooved lengths. Done on a table saw.

I only need 16 of each but cut extras, just in case.

That’s all for now. Each strip needs to be fitted and sanded with fine, 220 grit, sandpaper. Back later, maybe even tonight.

Not a jenga, but that would be cool.

Sanded the strip sides. Sandpaper sheet held down with miter guide and a couple of clamps. Complete with an action shot…. those are hard to do when you only have 2 hands and no helper.

ToyKeeper wrote:

That awkward moment when a grown man posts a picture of himself vigorously rubbing his wood.

LOL

The ‘sticks’ are called kumiko, in Japanese woodworking. These fit together to make a grid. I have played a little fast and loose with these as the do not have the interlocking that is traditional, but the end result is more or less the same. Traditional Japanese woodworking relies on precise fit and parts that fit together in a manner where one piece holds another in place. Very little glue and no mechanical fasteners like nails and screws.

I am gluing some of the joints around the perimeter. I am using liquid hide glue, a modern development of traditional hide glue. Traditional hide glue has to be heated to make it flow for use. This version stays liquid in the bottle, can be used at room temperature. Hide glue was the glue traditionally used for furniture. It can be removed by steaming or soaking parts in water. Hence, this project cannot receive an IP rating as immersion in water with soften the glue and it might fall apart. Hide glue also has a longer open or worktime than the popular and good yellow glues.

There is a saying in woodworking that one can never have too many clamps.

One down, three more to go. In a few hours I’ll do another frame and so on.

The design is known as shoji (Japanese). Those who have been around here for a while may remember the shoji bookshelf doors from about a year ago…. link to a sidestep in a flashlight project topic, and a photo of the finished unit.

That’s not the best photo.

Four sides to the light…

I’ll be using a laminated paper made for shoji screens. The lamination makes it much more resistant to finger punctures and staining. Leftover material from the bookshelving doors.

shirnask wrote:

Big ring on top?

TBD

FYI, the laminated paper is this one….

…and to affix the paper to the frame I’ll be using this tape.… Genuine Japanese product, not a word of english on the package

Agro wrote:

What’s the transmissivity of the paper? Do you know even rough numbers?

Not a clue off hand. However, I will keep the question in mind and will measure the difference when I get to the stage of mounting the material on the grid frames.