Showing posts with label puzzle. Show all posts
Showing posts with label puzzle. Show all posts

Puzzle box and Christmas ornaments

Posted by chun | 0 comments | 9:38 PM
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Puzzle boxHave any of you ever made any puzzle boxes? They always just fascinate me and one of these days I want to get around to designing something. Ryan Umber sent over pictures of one he made out of walnut and bodark. Its very clever. If youd like to see details, heres his SketchUp file. Thanks Ryan!
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Christmas is right around the corner!
Heres a crazy thought: Christmas is now within sight. Its a good time to start in on any gifts youve been thinking about making. Karl Taylor over at Scroll Saw Video is already in the Christmas spirit. Heres a free PDF download for us Mere Mortals containing seven of his original ornament patterns. Thanks Karl! Let me know if any of you make any of these.
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Wood chain
Heres a preview of tomorrows video. Yup, its a wood chain. No idea what to do with it, but its pretty easy to make. 
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Make a jigsaw puzzle Christmas card

Posted by chun | 0 comments | 11:48 AM
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Last week I posted a jigsaw puzzle that Stephen Dickinson made. I think its a really great project and an easy one to make for Christmas. Stephen sent over a complete how-to of the process. Thanks man! This looks like a fun project that anyone would love to receive.*****
I cut out some 1/8” Baltic birch plywood that will leave at least a quarter inch border around the card.  It is best to cut them a little large because you will need to even up the edges as one of the last steps.  Give them a good sanding with some fine paper and a coat or two of lacquer but no spray on the sides that will be glued together.
I cut the card in half, apply glue to the back of the front of the card and apply it to the plywood I have chosen for the puzzle. 
After the glue dries I put a tiny entrance hole for the scroll saw blade.   I use puzzle blades I buy from Mike at http://www.mikesworkshop.com/.  There are other suppliers but that is the one I use. 
I cut out the puzzle area with a couple of tabs to lock it to the frame.  These tabs also give the person putting the puzzle some Idea of the orientation of the puzzle to the frame.
Making sure the frame is right side up, I glue it to the backer.  In this case I use another piece of 1/8” bb plywood.  I have used thin masonite before and that works well too.   Trial and lots of error has taught me to make sure there is plenty of wood under the frame and to have the frame right side up.  It isn’t fun when you discover the glued up puzzle back is only going to end up with 1/16” border on one corner.  
 
Cut the puzzle and try to have a lock at each side that faces another piece.  In this case I didn’t do that.  I wanted the balls to be loose in these cards.  It’s your puzzle, cut it the way you want.  There are no lines to follow unless you want to.  It may not come out the way you had had it planned but the recipient won’t know that.  They will probably be pleased with a cool Christmas card.
After the frame part has the glue cured I use my 1” belt sander to even up the edges.  Don’t go too fast grinding off the wood.  It will come of real fast and you may find the border is getting real thin.  I’m not a perfectionist but I don’t like making mistakes.  I have to keep reminding myself that these can look home made.  They are.
Next I give the frame a couple coats of spray on lacquer front back and sides.
The backs of the pieces may have a little fuzz from the scroll saw so give them a little rubbing on some sand paper.  I glued a piece of 120 to some masonite and rub the back of the pieces across that in a circular pattern.
You need to assemble the puzzle in the frame to make sure you haven’t misplaced any of the pieces.
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Woodworking helped solve my crossword puzzle

Posted by chun | 0 comments | 3:09 AM
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Gee, woodworking knowledge can come in handy in the least expected places. I solve the NY Times crossword puzzle every morning. Its a good way to get my brain working. Well that, and a pot of coffee.
You remember my Fibonacci Gauge a couple of months ago? Let me show you todays crossword. It Fibonacci themed!
14 Across was Leonardo of __ (mathematician who wrote about 33 Across) (PISA)
Right through the middle of the grid: FIBONACCI SERIES.
And four places where it can be found: 
ARTICHOKE
NAUTILUS
INNER EAR
SUNFLOWER
But the coolest part is the series of circled letters that spells out GOLDEN RATIO. Draw a line through them, and you get a golden spiral! 
See, I told you that Fibonacci gauge would come in handy.
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Puzzle box

Posted by chun | 0 comments | 6:12 PM
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Hey guys, Ive been out for a few days and am now pondering something to make this weekend. Hmmm...Ill let you know when I come up with something.
In the mean time, heres a great little puzzle box someone recently send over to look at. I love this sort of thing!

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The puzzle all fancy like

Posted by chun | 0 comments | 7:06 AM
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Laney made the puzzle from last week, but with three different woods. Cool stuff. And yep, still drove everyone nuts trying to assemble it!
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And even more on the 3 piece wood puzzle!

Posted by chun | 0 comments | 4:43 AM
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You will recall a couple months ago when Tim made this cool little puzzle:
And then I made one.
And then Tim supplied a measured drawing.
And then someone had a question about a certain dimension, so Tim added it and supplied the PDF.
And then world was a happy place and we all made puzzles and rejoiced.
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Ludovic Lemarinel wasnt content to leave well enough alone, so he designed the puzzle in SketchUp! This version is especially handy for you Europeans, because it is in metric, which frankly seems easier to use on very small projects. He calls it the CGO puzzle because, well the pieces spell out CGO when you stand them on end. I think COG would be a better acronym, though. Or maybe OGC, which in the case of my recent projects would stand for "Oh God, Crap".
Heres a picture of his plan if you are not SketchUp-minded. So Ludovic: thanks man! Soon, every household will have a CGO.
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