# Four more puzzles I've been making.



## Chaincarver Steve (Jul 30, 2011)

Here's some more puzzles I've been making lately. This first one is very simple to make but a challenge to solve. The objective is to get both rings onto the same loop of rope.

I made 44 of this puzzle. The wood is cedar, maple and walnut. There's also one cherry in the batch. The rings are links of chain.









Some being strung:









Here is the starting configuration:









And this one is solved, having both rings together on the same loop:









All 44 together. Most of these are stock for sale. I kept one and my son picked one out for himself as well:


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## Chaincarver Steve (Jul 30, 2011)

Here's two 'packing puzzles' that form cubes when properly assembled. The parts can also be used to create a bunch of other shapes. This picture shows some of the ones I made. The four on the left are known as the "Soma Cube" and is made of poplar. It was created in the 1930's and consists of 7 parts. I actually made 6 of this one.

The lighter colored cube on the right is also poplar. It's a 4-piece cube puzzle. Even with only 4 pieces, it's a challenge to assemble if you don't know the trick. Also, the pieces must be assembled in specific sequential order.

These pictures are before finishing with linseed oil.









Here's the parts that make up the Soma Cube:









And here's the pieces of the 4-Piece Cube:









When I get a chance, I'll take a photo of them after applying BLO. They look cool. Actually, they look a lot like wooden Rubix Cubes, which makes me want to make a wooden Rubix Cube.


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## Chaincarver Steve (Jul 30, 2011)

Finally, here's my rendition of the classic "18 Sticks Puzzle". I've only made one of these so far. I also made a small improvement on the traditional design, concealing the key piece a little better. I may further refine my concealment before I run a batch for sale. But this 'debugging prototype' works beautifully. There's another design improvement (to enhance symmetry) I'm considering making as well.

This one is made of cedar with poplar dowels. I have not applied a finish yet, but it will be treated with linseed oil.

































I'm currently working on a batch of the classic 24 piece "Chuck Puzzle". Hopefully I'll have some working units in the next two days.


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## sawdustfactory (Jan 30, 2011)

Cool stuff Steve. So how do you solve the rope one? We've had one of these at work for several years and no one can figure it out :blink:


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## Chaincarver Steve (Jul 30, 2011)

sawdustfactory said:


> Cool stuff Steve. So how do you solve the rope one? We've had one of these at work for several years and no one can figure it out :blink:


You're in luck; I made a quick solution video, which can be viewed here: 






And, not that it really requires much instruction but... I also made a short build video as well:


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## Smith Brother (Dec 9, 2012)

Very Very NICE, cool stuff, very nice QUALITY. 

Wishing YOU well in your sales of these. 

Dale in Indy


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## tinstar (Mar 5, 2014)

Cool puzzles! I have made a few of the cubes for gifts. Everyone liked them so I made some to sell. My problem was that even though I made several at a time, they seemed so time consuming that I felt I couldn't sell them for enough money to make it worth my time. My favorite one was walnut with the center square on each face white oak. The accent made them a little easier to solve. How much time do you think you have in them?


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## Burb (Nov 30, 2012)

These are very cool. I'd like a set of these someday!! My brother & I have always enjoyed brain teaser type games.


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## Repliconics (Sep 9, 2013)

Very Kool stuff Steve.
Love this type of thing :thumbsup:
I hope you do really well with them!

Rep.


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## Smith Brother (Dec 9, 2012)

Also, YOUR VIDEO is so PROFESSIONAL. 

Nice work/job, FOR SURE!

Introduce US to your HEAD GEAR, Lol.


Dale in Indy


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## Chaincarver Steve (Jul 30, 2011)

tinstar said:


> Cool puzzles! I have made a few of the cubes for gifts. Everyone liked them so I made some to sell. My problem was that even though I made several at a time, they seemed so time consuming that I felt I couldn't sell them for enough money to make it worth my time. My favorite one was walnut with the center square on each face white oak. The accent made them a little easier to solve. How much time do you think you have in them?


I completely understand your issue concerning selling them at a price that makes it worth the time and effort. I figure I'll ask $15 each on the Soma Cubes (the darker ones with 7 pieces). 

I too have considered making some with 2 different colors of wood. The only reason I didn't is because it's been proven that the Soma Cube has exactly 240 unique solutions that will result in a cube. Not to mention the myriad of other shapes you can make with the same pieces. Frankly, I didn't want to bias the user towards any one particular solution. But, instead, I wanted to leave it open to the user.

Of the 7 cubic puzzles I made, I'm keeping one of each and giving my dad one of the Soma Cubes. That leaves me with 5 Somas to sell (or gift in the future, who knows). But if I can sell the 5 for $15 each, that's $75. Not bad for the amount of time I spent on them (especially when I'm getting 2 new pieces for my personal collection and gifting one to my dad).

To answer your question about time invested... Well, I imagine I probably have about 25-30 minutes invested in each. When I make projects in bulk I adopt a true assembly line mentality. I spend a little time making whatever jigs will aide the process then get to work, completing all of one step before moving on to the next.

Granted, I did not count the time to "jig up". But making the assembly jig really didn't take much time at all. And the jig is now in my arsenal and ready to serve me even better ad quicker next time (if there is a next time). And the one-time set up of the table saw to cut the cubes didn't take long either. About 5 minutes later and I was cranking out the (almost prefect) cubes.

In summary, the cubic puzzles did, in fact, have me wondering if I'll bother to make any more in the future. Cutting the cubes went rather quickly. assembling the pieces was also a fairly quick process. The only real time was to chamfer all the edges of all of the cubes. THAT was a tedious task, even with a belt sander. I need to build a chamfering jig for one of my sanders and it'll be much less tedious for sure.

So yeah, I feel it was worth my time and effort. But I'm not eager to make more any time soon. If they sell though, I'll most likely renew my stock. I can still refine my process a little. If I have to sell them for less ($10, perhaps) I may not. But that's OK; I've plenty of other items in my lineup.


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## Chaincarver Steve (Jul 30, 2011)

smithbrother said:


> Also, YOUR VIDEO is so PROFESSIONAL.
> 
> Nice work/job, FOR SURE!
> 
> ...



Thank you, Sir! My videos are improving little by little the more I produce. Hopefully I will one day have some really good ones. Until then, maybe the little clips of animation and other goofy quirks (such as the head gear you're referring to) I include will help people enjoy my efforts. :icon_cool:

I guess some people are finding value in them. it looks like I'll be having my 1,000 subscribers prizes giveaway episode before the end of next month, which I'm thrilled about. :thumbsup:


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## Chaincarver Steve (Jul 30, 2011)

*24 pc. Chuck Puzzle*

I'm about to make false the title of this thread. Oh well.

Here's the classic 24-pc. "Chuck Puzzle". This picture is of the puzzle hot off the sander. I still need to apply a finish, which should really make it look nice. This one is walnut (6 long pieces) and mahogany (18 short pieces).

I over sanded on this one so the parts are looser than I wanted. But I have parts cut to make two more at this scale (1" square rods), which I will be more cautious with when sanding. It's funny how quickly a puzzle goes from too tight to too loose. A fairly small amount of sanding has a cumulative effect on the overall snugness of fit.

So, this isn't my finest example. But it is a working puzzle that, if you don't know the secret, will likely have you stumped for a good long time.

































This puzzle may be added to the lineup of stuff I sell. But, if so, I'll likely scale it down to 3/4" stock to make batch production easier/quicker.


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## Chaincarver Steve (Jul 30, 2011)

*The Towers of Hanoi*

Here's another puzzle I plan to keep in my to-sell inventory: The Towers of Hanoi. Sorry for the lousy pictures. I made a batch of 10 of these and have sold 3 so far (at a craft show). They're easy to make, obviously, and provide moderate entertainment. The challenge level is fairly easy if you understand one basic principle.

The objective is simply to get the stack of discs from one end to the other. Pieces are moved one at a time from one post to any other. But discs must always be stacked so that smaller is on top of larger.


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## Smith Brother (Dec 9, 2012)

YOU are the Puzzle KING.

I understand the sanding thing. I have sanded, and sanded, and still to tight, then BANG I went to far, now to loose. Lol

Dale in Indy


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## Art Rafael (Apr 17, 2013)

WOW, Steve. You really are cranking things out. I really enjoy your videos too. Ralph


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## Chaincarver Steve (Jul 30, 2011)

smithbrother said:


> YOU are the Puzzle KING.
> 
> I understand the sanding thing. I have sanded, and sanded, and still to tight, then BANG I went to far, now to loose. Lol
> 
> Dale in Indy


Isn't that annoying as hell? But I have no one to blame but myself. :no:


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## Al B Thayer (Dec 10, 2011)

Okay. Now I'm frustrated. 

Al


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## Mort (Jan 4, 2014)

I always look forward to your videos Steve. I think a lot of your puzzles would sell very well in my wife's 2nd hand shop. Now if only I could get focused and make some...


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## Chaincarver Steve (Jul 30, 2011)

Mort said:


> I always look forward to your videos Steve. I think a lot of your puzzles would sell very well in my wife's 2nd hand shop. Now if only I could get focused and make some...


Thank you, Mort. I wish I could find a local shop to sell some of "shop fruit" (I just made that term up, but it seems fitting). I've always loved wooden puzzles; they're timeless objects. Even a lot of people who don't care at all about puzzles find many ofthem structurally intriguing and athletically pleasing. Many are great as shelf curiosities.


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## Kenbo (Sep 16, 2008)

Once again, very impressive sir.


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## Smith Brother (Dec 9, 2012)

Where have you been Kenbo?

I was beginning to think you didn't love us anymore....

Dale in Indy


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## Chaincarver Steve (Jul 30, 2011)

Kenbo said:


> Once again, very impressive sir.


Thank you, Ken. :thumbsup:


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