After Woodworking in America, I hitched a ride to Phoenix with Paul-Marcel. In his shop, I built a puzzle box with a mechanical lock.
In this video, I demonstrate the operation of the box while talking about wooden jigsaw puzzles and the design and construction of the box. (Duration – 10:04)
Read about another of my wooden jigsaw puzzles, Diamond Challenge, and watch a video of the assembly HERE.
The first post, Christmas Recap, Part I, covered the woodwork that was exchanged during our brief stay in Naramata.
After spending Christmas Eve and Christmas morning in Naramata, we drove back to the Lower Mainland for another family Christmas Dinner at my aunt and uncle’s house. We were tired when we got home so we went straight to bed and slept-in the next morning.
When we finally woke up Boxing Day (December 26), we exchanged gifts among our immediate family. For my mother, I had scrolled a 3-D jigsaw puzzle. I used restraint and made it considerably more simple than Diamond Challenge, which I had made the previous year. She appreciated being able to solve the puzzle in under two hours.
Cherry 3-D Jigsaw Puzzle
For my brother, Brad, I had built a small table. Why? I thought that functional art would be perfect for someone who didn’t seem to need anything. (I did a “tweet-along” where I documented the progress of the table on Twitter. I’ll post that soon.)
I really don’t know what to say about this project, other than it’s the most complex scroll saw puzzle I have made to date. It’s made up of 65 pieces of Douglas fir, which I’ll admit was ambitious. There are some really cool pieces that still blow my mind. One of the most challenging parts about this puzzle is that the cuts are angled so some pieces can only be slid together from one direction.
The first time I solved the puzzle, it took me over two hours. I’ve assembled it over a dozen times and have now learned to solve it in less than 40 minutes. I’ve also watched other avid puzzlers struggle with it for upwards of 4 hours.
After cutting the diamond blank to shape, I just walked to the scroll saw and started cutting puzzle pieces. The design was completely off the top of my head and it took over two hours of solid scrolling to cut all 65 pieces.
This video was made showing yours truly taking apart and assembling the puzzle. Note that it took me two minutes just to take it apart and another 38 to assemble. I sped up the video to make my 40-minutes of agony seem like a completely tolerable 5:21.
