Monthly Archives: June 2013

Triskele

It’s been a while since I managed to sit down and write anything new. Not that I don’t have lots to write about, just seems that with a wedding coming up, and things being rather busy with the day job, I’ve not had much time. Anyway, that said, here’s a nice Karakuri box to give you something to read about.
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The Triskele is a puzzle box designed by Hideaki Kawashima. It’s a beautiful looking puzzle, as you’d expect from the Karakuri group, and it hides it’s secrets well. I spent quite a bit of time fiddling with this one, and seeming to make absolutely no progress on it.

Triskele by Kawashima

Triskele by Kawashima

Only 25 of these were made for an exhibition that Kawashima was taking part in, so I believe from the Karakuri site, that these are reasonably rare. Kawashima notes that the mechanism is not his design, and he’s not made this style of puzzle until now. So what is this you may ask?

Well it’s a cube, measuring 2.8″ x 2.8″ x 2.8″ made from Birch, Magnolia, Wenge and Oak. As you can see from the image above the panels have been selected carefully to give a stunning external appearance, and the fit is so precise that it gives no hint as to how it will open.

Sadly for me, on finding out how the box opens, it’s a simple Expanding box, using the same design as Stewart Coffin’s Expanding Box puzzle. It’s a beautifully made copy, don’t get me wrong, but from a puzzling aspect, it’s certainly not a new idea. The particular copy I have been playing with is incredibly stiff, and the humidity changes, have caused it to become very challenging to open, which if you didn’t know how it opened would make it near impossible to solve.

It’s a good looking box, but sadly it’s not new, and unless you want a very good looking but costly copy of an expanding box puzzle, I’d say leave this one alone. Go have a look at some of Vinco’s versions if you’re just interested in the puzzle itself.

Cube KW2

I’ve written in the past about the Karakuri Cube boxes, and the small box series. This latest addition to the Cube boxes comes from Hideaki Kawashima who’s one of my favorite designers currently. He describes the box as a deluxe edition of the Cube series, and having enlarged the dimensions, adding a completely new mechanism, it’s a box I was looking forward to playing with.

Cube KW2

Cube KW2

As with the rest of the Cube series, the outer design should look very familiar, however each box has it’s own opening mechanism, and for me is one of the charms. It’s interesting to see just how many different ways to design a mechanism with the same outer structure.

The box itself is made from Cherry, Purpleheart, and Cucumber Tree. Yes, apparently you can get enough wood from a cucumber to make into a puzzle. Ok, so it’s not the plant we get the green salad vegetable from, and if you want to know more, read on.

Measuring in at 2.75″ x 2.75″ x 2.75″, it is a reasonable amount larger than the other Cube boxes, but is still a good size without being too big. Interestingly, I’d have expected the Cherry to be the outer wood along with the Purpleheart, however Cherry is used for the inside mechanism, and is only visible once the box is open. The wonderful light white wood on the outside is the Cucumber Tree. I think I’ll have to keep a look out for some of this wood myself, since it’s a USA native.

As a puzzle, you’ll not be surprised to know that this isn’t overly challenging. There’s only a small number of moves to get to each of the two compartments, and while the sequence isn’t massively different for each compartment, the difference is small enough that once you’ve opened one, you’ll have no issue with the other.

Cube KW2 Opened

Cube KW2 Opened

Kawashima’s mark is found on the inside of the box once opened, and it’s nice to see that the designer thought about how to arrange the two internal spaces. I’ve seen a number of boxes with this style of solution, where the second internal space is ‘upside down’ when opened, meaning anything inside would fall out, or the contents of the first space need to me removed, less you tip the contents on the floor trying to get to the second space.

Overall this is a great little box, and a good simple introduction to puzzle boxes with a sensible price tag.