Portfolio
Here is a collection of pieces Designed and fabricated by Justin Seow, the founder of Knowing Hand.
Justin Seow
The original House of Opportunity, the beginnings of the design started at Anderson Ranch, and the final box was completed back in my Massachusetts studio space at the time. The walls are 3 ply laminated hardwood, and the inner box is dovetailed with hand routed maze channels.
The original House of Opportunity, the beginnings of the design started at Anderson Ranch, and the final box was completed back in my Massachusetts studio space at the time. The walls are 3 ply laminated hardwood, and the inner box is dovetailed with hand routed maze channels.
The House of Opportunity (2019)
A puzzle box in the shape of a building with 4 doors. The doors must be opened in the correct sequence to raise the inner box and reveal the inner container.
Multiple jigs were made to speed up production on these designs. The door portal was made with a flip jig, the maze with another sliding jig I made. Made in white oak with wood burned door indicators.
The inner box can be seen with its maxes cleanly routed into the sides. This version differs from the original in many ways, one being that the box slides out the bottom, instead of raising out the top.
Multiple jigs were made to speed up production on these designs. The door portal was made with a flip jig, the maze with another sliding jig I made. Made in white oak with wood burned door indicators.
The H.o.O Production Prototype
The re-design of the original House of Opportunity, using jigs and tooling to make the batch production more repeatable and accurate.
The box in the image is in its open configuration, with all panels slid out to their final positions.
The box in the image is in its open configuration, with all panels slid out to their final positions.
Slider Puzzle Box (2018)
A simple, 4 step sliding panel puzzle box made at a course at Anderson Ranch taught by Kagen Sound.
A mysterious little box that is a test of dexterity and perception. On attempting to pick the lock, one will find that it has no tumblers, or pins but something is pulling the steel picks into the hole. This box is to securely lock away precious items. Without being told its secret, it is doubtful anyone can open it without the help of an axe or saw.
The box is held shut by a centrifugal lock design. Swiveling tabs on the lid hold onto grooves cut into the box. Riveted steel bits are drawn to a magnet behind the brass plate. When that magnet is pulled far enough away, the tabs are allowed to spin freely. The tabs' center of mass is positioned over its rotating point so that when one pin unlocks, another re-locks due to the gravitational pull that would unlock them. The only way to guarantee its opening is to spin the box fast enough to open
Visible in the box is the groove where the locking tabs slide in and out of.
A mysterious little box that is a test of dexterity and perception. On attempting to pick the lock, one will find that it has no tumblers, or pins but something is pulling the steel picks into the hole. This box is to securely lock away precious items. Without being told its secret, it is doubtful anyone can open it without the help of an axe or saw.
Eye of the Beholder (2018)
A puzzle box that is closer to a trick lock box. Made with Padauk wood, Brass, steel and magnets.
A carved demon head on a board and batten door. Originally designed so that the door latch is inside the demon's mouth. One must risk their hand, putting it in its mouth and lifting a mechanism to open the door.
The demon head of the door seen beside viewers for scale.
A carved demon head on a board and batten door. Originally designed so that the door latch is inside the demon's mouth. One must risk their hand, putting it in its mouth and lifting a mechanism to open the door.
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Dimensions (LxWxH): 9 in. x 19 in. x 19 in. A labyrinth based puzzle cabinet. The center drawer is locked inside of the carcass until the maze has been solved. All the information one needs to open the cabinet is integrated into the details of the CNC'd drawer faces. The maze solutions indicate the distances to pull out the drawers.
After rearranging the drawers and pulling them out to the proper distances, the locked drawer is primed. When pressed on its brass center, the drawer unlocks and jumps forward. No longer flush, the unlocked drawer can be opened. Specific drawer sides have been split and imbedded with magnets that activate the locking pins when the correct drawers are pulled out to the proper distances. When all drawers are in the correct position, 8 spring loaded pins are removed from the locked center drawer.
Dimensions (LxWxH): 9 in. x 19 in. x 19 in. A labyrinth based puzzle cabinet. The center drawer is locked inside of the carcass until the maze has been solved. All the information one needs to open the cabinet is integrated into the details of the CNC'd drawer faces. The maze solutions indicate the distances to pull out the drawers.
Daedalus Cabinet (2017)
A cabinet of 9 Drawers with the middle most drawer locked and inset into the cabinet frame. The only way to get in is to solve the labyrinth.
Dimensions (LxWxH): 22 in. x 18 in. x 33 in. A chair with a gravity locked secret compartment. A drawer disguised as the apron is held shut by a gravity lock I designed. Sliding bars with puzzle notches chiseled into them shift as the chair is tilted in different directions. Only when the chair is tilted in those directions in a specific order will the drawer be freed.
The secret to the chair is a sort of dance. The chair is meant to create a new tradition: a piece of knowledge that must be passed on. A secret that must navigate being known and being lost. The interaction with this chair is as much about the physical object as it is about the way a secret lives and dies. The secret itself must be shared or the chair may stay locked forever, joining all things forgotten. If too many people know its secret, what was hidden may burn in the light of day.
Dimensions (LxWxH): 22 in. x 18 in. x 33 in. A chair with a gravity locked secret compartment. A drawer disguised as the apron is held shut by a gravity lock I designed. Sliding bars with puzzle notches chiseled into them shift as the chair is tilted in different directions. Only when the chair is tilted in those directions in a specific order will the drawer be freed.
Contract Chair (2017)
A puzzle furniture chair. To open the hidden drawer, one must complete a dance with the chair.
Justin took a course on Japanese woodworking at Suikoushya in Kyoto. There, Justin learned to set up a Kanna Dai (Japanese Hand Plane body), Sharpen and tap out the blade, and set up a Chisel.
At one of the many Yosegi craft stores in Hatajuku VIlalge, This photo was taken of a band of Yosegi blocks exhibiting the many different patterns that Yosegi craftspeople can accomplish.
Justin took a course on Japanese woodworking at Suikoushya in Kyoto. There, Justin learned to set up a Kanna Dai (Japanese Hand Plane body), Sharpen and tap out the blade, and set up a Chisel.
Justin's 2018 Fellowship Trip to Japan
A collection of some images of the experience