a DIY Puzzle Box

Some time back, I purchased a couple of DIY puzzle boxes from BH Pen & Laser Crafts which are kits based on Bruce Viney’s designs.

Bruce makes a large number of puzzle box designs, and supplies plans for you to cut your own pieces. He uses an interesting measuring system based on the thickness of the wood, so you can use any stock you have as long as you mark everything up based on thickness.

Rather than cutting all the pieces myself, I purchased the pre-cut kits to make my life easier. I didn’t really feel like spending days cutting all the parts myself, not to mention that some of the pieces are pretty small, making for some challenging cuts.

The video shows the full process from start to finish, using time-lapse. Overall, it took around 2.5 hours actually working on the kit. Including time for the glue to dry, it was around 5 hours.

Overall, it’s a good kit, despite the small issue I had. Since I’ll be receiving some replacement parts to fix that issue, I really can’t complain. If you’re thinking about getting one of these, I highly recommend the kit as it’s both well made, and Bruce’s instructions are pretty easy to follow. There’s minimal sanding needed, so pretty much anyone should be able to build on of these, and get pretty good results at the end.