How to make a puzzle/interlocking pieces

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ARDesign
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Joined: Sat Feb 07, 2015 5:28 pm
Model of CNC Machine: CamMaster Stinger IV

How to make a puzzle/interlocking pieces

Post by ARDesign »

Hi! I'm new to the world of CNC and am looking for some advice on how to make interlocking puzzle pieces or tessellations... I have done some research and played on my machine, but haven't found a good tutorial or group of suggestions just yet. I have caught on to the fact that one method is to "cheat" the machining some and specify a slightly smaller tool diameter than what you're using, but that's about it....

Does anyone have any good tips, suggestions, or links to one can best make a tight tessellating pattern without voids?

Thanks in advance!!!

AR

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Ms Wolffie
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Re: How to make a puzzle/interlocking pieces

Post by Ms Wolffie »

Have a look here.
There is only 1 answer to the post but I believe it answers your question
http://forum.vectric.com/viewtopic.php? ... le#p148029
Cheers
Wolffie

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glenninvb
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Re: How to make a puzzle/interlocking pieces

Post by glenninvb »

You can use the "solid" preview to verify the tool fits your vector

graffix11
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Re: How to make a puzzle/interlocking pieces

Post by graffix11 »

Heres a alphabet puzzle snake I put together for my kids. I put together the original design then sort of exploded the design with a bunch of node editing and separating the pieces. All the lines were just drawn on and smoothed out in Aspire. Then used a bit small enough to get in all the areas.
Attachments
alpha snake 2.JPG
alpha snake.JPG

ckurak
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Re: How to make a puzzle/interlocking pieces

Post by ckurak »

AR,

Try a search on this forum for "puzzle joint" and you will find a few things that may be helpful. It might be worth a try.

You might also try the same search over at the ShopBot forum talkshopbot (dot) com
Charles
http://ckurak.com
ShopBot PRT12060, PartWorks, PartWorks3D

garylmast
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Re: How to make a puzzle/interlocking pieces

Post by garylmast »

One way of doing it would be first take a photo of the puzzle into Photoshop and invert it. Create your file in Aspire why holding down Cntl-Shift to get the maximum resolution, then bring the photo in. Go to the Chicken Icon to create vectors around the white portion only. Once the vectors are made, turn off the bitmap layer and then nest them. The whole process should only take a couple of minutes. The space between vectors should be about .010 to .015th's which still should be a tight fit. The higher resolution of the photo when you bring it into Photoshop will produce crisper edges.
Attachments
Capture2.JPG
Capture.JPG
Capture3.JPG

graffix11
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Re: How to make a puzzle/interlocking pieces

Post by graffix11 »

That's a crude way of doing it and netting some sloppy looking joints. Not to be mean or anything. Just sayn

garylmast
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Re: How to make a puzzle/interlocking pieces

Post by garylmast »

That's a crude way of doing it and netting some sloppy looking joints. Not to be mean or anything. Just sayn
The photo I used was a capture from the internet, which was very low quality, I used for illustration only. As I mentioned, using a high resolution photo will yield better results. If using a CNC to cutout the parts, it should be a very tight fit. In the future graffix, I'll spend more time finding a better photo to use, that way I won't fluster you as much.

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RoutnAbout
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Re: How to make a puzzle/interlocking pieces

Post by RoutnAbout »

ARDesign,
I made an 8 piece puzzle several years back. The best advice I can give you is...
Take the time to node edit each puzzle piece and remove all jagged edges.
Make sure that you have a cutter/mill that is smaller than the smallest radius of your puzzle pieces. You can check this by creating a circle the size of the tool you'll use and then drag that circle along the edge of the puzzle.
After you've got one edge done you could copy and paste that edge into the next adjoining piece.
puzzle clip.PNG
Here is another puzzle thread.
Here is a old video of the puzzle.
A red ribbon was threaded through the slots to keep from lossing the pieces and to hang it on the tree.
After threading the ribbon and creating the bow, I took the puzzle pieces apart (leaving the ribbon still threaded) and stuff them into envelopes for Christmas Card/Ornament several years back and let the figure it out when the opened it.
Attached below is the original file
Hope this helps.
Attachments
8 Piece Puzzle.eps
(12.19 KiB) Downloaded 519 times
Roll of Honor <-- Never Forget
________
Don

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Ms Wolffie
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Re: How to make a puzzle/interlocking pieces

Post by Ms Wolffie »

garylmast wrote:
That's a crude way of doing it and netting some sloppy looking joints. Not to be mean or anything. Just sayn
The photo I used was a capture from the internet, which was very low quality, I used for illustration only. As I mentioned, using a high resolution photo will yield better results. If using a CNC to cutout the parts, it should be a very tight fit. In the future graffix, I'll spend more time finding a better photo to use, that way I won't fluster you as much.
Image
Cheers
Wolffie

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