Puzzle fun

[Todd D]

Sometimes something will catch your eye and set you off in a different direction, the jigsaw puzzle idea is one of those for me. Heres a first try in Corian I get from a local fabricator from his sink cutout leftovers. First parts are cut with a 1/8 end mill then they are assembled into puzzle and carved with the design. I wanted to try and add some detail so tried a paint and wipe with green latex. I have a larger one cutting now, pretty fun,

[Bobtail Farm]

Splendid. Thanks

[scottp55]

Looks REALLY nice!!
Nice tight fit and always liked that model!
Sounds like you Are having fun with it!!
scott

[scotttarnor]

Very nice !
I have been playing a little with the puzzle generator, still trying to find a good allowance offset for a nice fit but loose enough for the 2 year old Granddaughter.

[Todd D]

These corian pieces have an - offset of -.004, -.003 and -.002, amazing what difference a small amount makes.

[Tailmaker]

That looks great! Quite amazing to see what happened to a software project, originally intended to make puzzle jointed picture frames easier...
I am still exploring myself how to cut thicker 3d jigsaw puzzles after some disappointing jobs with pieces flying and broken bits.
But at least I am making progess with a new improved version that actually includes a user guide
And I need to get that laser attachment finally working.

[Tex_Lawrence]

These corian pieces have an - offset of -.004, -.003 and -.002, amazing what difference a small amount makes.

From the photo, I can't see much/any difference from 0.002 to 0.004. I'm assuming putting them together feels different. Does the 0.004 feel really sloppy in comparison? My wife is a puzzle freak and has complained about "slop" in a puzzle or ten.

[jfederer]

I found that the best relief depended not only on material, but thickness as well. In 3mm BB plywood, -0.1 mm worked well. In 23 mm thick Walnut I had to take it down to -0.05 mm, and even that was a bit sloppy.

The flat puzzle was my wife's Christmas present. The extra pieces above were from the previous try with a looser relief. Needless to say they caused a bit more challenge than usual! (Yes, I included them in the bag!)

[jay pieper]

Todd...
What a fantastic puzzle in 3d. Never gave it much thought but now
that I see it, it would be another degree of challenge with the piece
height. I like the finish you used makes it stand out but yet a natural
look.

[Todd D]

Its fun to see lots of people trying this and thanks to Tailmaker for giving us a leg up,

Tex as far as the slop goes I think it has a lot to do with a persons exact situation, type of material, machine strength and feeds and speeds. In the Green Man puzzle the -.004 was my first try and fit was good no need to adjust, then in the next puzzle where I have made the actual pieces smaller it has more slop than I want and will adjust fo the next one. You can feel the difference more than see it especially in a photo.

I haven't tried wood yet and I'm sure that will provide more challenges in fabrication, Tailmaker's flying pieces come to mind. These parts are held only by the tape and glue method with no tabs as I don't want to clean up 400 or so tabs, I'd lose interest pretty fast.

[Todd Bailey]

Hey Todd!!!

LOVE these puzzles, everyone!!!! This is one of those projects that a lot of users are interested in. Thanks so much for sharing... I bet this will get some creative juices flowing!

Thanks again...

[Todd D]

This is another one in Corian, it also needed some help to highlight the carving, I am going to try one in Maple next, I'm practising to do a big one for my sons birthday in Feb,

[scottp55]

That one came out Great Todd!!
What was the "highlight" you used?
Kind of like an old print on Parchment:)
Liking it!
scott

[Tailmaker]

Todd,
I just published a new version of "Puzzle My Joint" with some minor improvements and bug fixes.
FWIW (not related) a freeware version of my Fingermaker (box joints) program is now available there as well.

[Todd D]

Scott its acrylic artist paint watered down and wiped off some, and then an purple abrasive pad to hit the tops of the carving to highlight it a bit more, it took about as much as you put on a toothbrush to do that puzzle and lots of masking tape, the outer border is just kept white