Tag Archives: Interlocking

Cyclone Puzzle

The Cyclone puzzle is a fun and very cheap plastic puzzle, made from 30 thin, flexible plastic pieces, which combine together into a tricontrahedron, and is based on the original lamp from Holger Strøm. To find out more about the original have a look at the IQ Light site. I got my copy of the puzzle in Black and Red from Puzzle Master, but there are lots of colour combinations available. This version is produced by The Lagoon Group

Cyclone Puzzle in its box

Cyclone Puzzle in its box

The puzzles comes in a simple plastic box with the instructions “Can you take apart this devilishly difficult Cyclone Puzzle and then Rebuild it? Take our word for it, this is not a quick puzzle to master!” The box is fairly plain, but the silver banks which outline the text really make it stand out, and it seems to set the puzzle off very nicely. The contrast between the Red, Black and Silver really works, giving a very classy look to the whole package.

Cyclone Puzzle

Cyclone Puzzle

Taking it out of the box, it’s clear that the structure is very stable. Despite each of the individual pieces being very thin and flexible, once they are joined in the tricontrahedron shape, they have a lot of strength. Removing the first piece is a challenge, as you don’t know quite how strong the pieces are, and you do need to pull and wiggle the pieces with reasonable force to get the tabs to separate. There really is no need to worry though as the plastic is tough, and will take a fair amount of abuse. Once the first piece is out, removing the rest is much easier. While the structure doesn’t fall apart, there’s less tension in the rest of the pieces, so you’ll find the rest of the tabs come apart with relative ease.

Cyclone Puzzle pieces

Cyclone Puzzle pieces

As I mentioned before, each of the thirty pieces in the puzzle are identical, so with a pile of pieces in front of you, it shouldn’t be too hard to put this back together. Puzzle Master rate this as 8/10 – Demanding, but I didn’t find it overly difficult, as the pattern to assemble repeats as you progress, so it’s a fairly fun puzzle to take apart and solve. The difficult part comes in the initial assembly steps being able to keep the pieces in place. If you are stuck, there’s a solution here. Depending on your preference, you can build it with all similar colours together or in an alternating pattern. Either way you’ll end up with a good looking sculpture. Personally I think I prefer the contrast with the alternating colours.

Cyclone Puzzle looking inside

Cyclone Puzzle looking inside

As you’re rebuilding, the inside looks every bit as good as the outside, with the faces of the tricontrahedron easily identifiable.

When I was invited to my first Puzzle Party at Stan Isaacs house, last year, as part of the tour of his puzzle collection, Stan actually has one of the original lamps hanging in his living room. After seeing it, I had to pick up a copy myself. I may not have the lamp, but this is a really good second place. And to be honest, I’m tempted to get a small LED bulb and put it inside this puzzle. It might not let out much light, but it would be fun.

Oli also reviewed this puzzle a while back, so have a look at his review too.

As a very cheap puzzle, and a fun build, this is a good one to have in your collection. The kids will enjoy playing with it (if they like this sort of thing) and if not, it will look good hanging from your ceiling.

Trigemino

Trigemino is a six piece interlocking puzzle designed by Sonja Heinz which is currently being made by Philos games. There are a number of places to get this puzzle, and I received mine from Puzzle Master.

The first of five solutions proposed for Trigemino

The first of five solutions proposed for Trigemino

The goal of the puzzle is to disassemble and reassemble the geometric shape constructed from the six identical pieces. The puzzle comes shipped in a clear plastic box, already in the configuration shown above, and the box contains the solution for this shape, but also a challenge for four other geometric shapes which can be made from the pieces where no solutions are supplied.

Six identical pieces (if you don't count wood types)

Six identical pieces (if you don't count wood types)

The three pairs of pieces are made from Havea (the light wood), Samena (darker brown wood) and Black Palm which is the wonderful wood with leopard like spots on the end grain and stunning dark light contrast on the face grain. In case you hadn’t guessed I love the look of the Palm woods, and have some sitting at home waiting to be made into a nice puzzle. Anyway, I digress.

The original solution is a nice interlocking shape, which needs you to poke and prod the pieces until you find the one piece which will move, and from there take each piece out until you’re left with a pile of six pieces through a variety of lifts and slides of the pieces. Once the puzzle has been taken apart, there’s a good challenge to get them put back together again.

While it’s not the most difficult of this style of puzzle, rated 4/10 on the instructions, and 6/10 by Puzzle Master (whose scale remember starts at 5) it is a fun puzzle, and is very nicely made. The fit and finish of the pieces is very good, and the pieces are solidly made, so there’s no worry about them falling apart as you play with the puzzle.

Alternate solutions

Alternate solutions

Alternate solutions

Alternate solutions

Alternate solutions

Alternate solutions

Alternate solutions

Alternate solutions

As well as the original shape, the puzzle comes with an instruction sheet offering four more possible geometric shapes for you to make, which really extends the challenge of the puzzle. The alternates range from the Aztec like pattern on the top left which is probably the easiest to find, the double box like solution on the bottom right which is slightly more difficult, but at first look on the diagram seems impossible, and the linked configurations of which the bottom left is interlocking and probably the most challenging to create.

Overall, this is a great puzzle, both in terms of looks and challenge. Well worth picking up if you’re looking for another good wooden puzzle for your collection.

Tubular Burr

The Tubular Burr is a 3D printed puzzle, created by a good friend of mine Derek Bosch. The goal of the puzzle is simple. Remove the two black pieces from the cylinder and put them back. Derek kindly gave me this version when I gave him a copy of the Involute puzzle by Stewart Coffin I made recently.

Tubular Burr by Derek Bosch

Tubular Burr by Derek Bosch

Measuring 1.5″ tall x 1.75″ diameter it’s a good sized puzzle, and as you can see from the photos, having the puzzle dyed with different coloured pieces from the cylinder really makes the puzzle pop. The White Strong and Flexible material really stands up well in the puzzle, and despite the model being hollow, there’s no worry about anything breaking.

Inside the cylinder are a couple of notches, and both pieces are also notched. These notches all interact with one another inside the cylinder to make for a fairly tricky puzzle. Don’t be put off by the fact that this is a 3 piece puzzle. I’ll attest to it not being easy to solve. (See my later comments on that!) It total it takes 14 moves to re-assemble the puzzle so it’s a good challenge.

Tubular Burr Open

Tubular Burr Open

Tubular Burr IPP Entry

Tubular Burr IPP Entry

Derek originally created this for IPP29 in San Francisco as his design puzzle entry, where it was created from sheets of laser cut acrylic which were glued together. He also used it as his Exchange party puzzle that year too. The puzzles for the IPP were created from a clear blue acrylic, however the first time I was able to play with this puzzle was with Derek’s prototype “Darth Vader” version which is made from solid black acrylic. If I’m honest, I love this clear version, and can only imagine that it makes things even more infuriating as you can see everything that’s going on inside the cylinder! Truly an excellent puzzle as nothing is hidden.


Darth Vader Prototype

Darth Vader Prototype

Darth Vader Prototype pieces

Darth Vader Prototype pieces


Derek first gave me this puzzle to play with one morning at work, and I took the pieces apart and placed all three pieces back on his desk. He told me that wasn’t good enough, put it back to the way it was when he handed it to me. When I first played with the puzzle it took me around 5 minutes to take the pieces out of the cylinder, and less than a minute to put the pieces back in. When I handed it back to Derek less than a minute after he’d told me to put it back, he was astonished. I had put it back together far faster than anyone else had, and generally, he notes that it’s much harder to put the pieces back in than it is to remove them.

I can confirm that having played around with the copy Derek gave me, I’ve not repeated this incredibly fast re-assembly, and in fact the second attempt took me a good 20 minutes to put the pieces back in! (going back to the Involute I gave him, he’s still not taken it apart in over 2 months, so I think on average I’m still up – or rather Stewart Coffin is!)

Going back and resolving it several times now, it still takes me on average 5-10 minutes to put it back together, so perhaps my first attempt was beginners luck! I am getting quicker as I remember the solution but I get the feeling that leave this for a few months and come back to it and you’ll still find it a challenge every time.

This is a great little puzzle, and is well worth picking up a copy if you weren’t lucky enough to be part of the IPP exchange. Visit Derek’s Shapeways Shop to pick one up, or one of his Maze Cubes. They’re offered both dyed and undyed, and while frustrating me that I didn’t solve it as quickly the second time, it proves that it’s not a simple puzzle, and well worth owning.

Sputnik

It’s time for another Vinco puzzle review, and this time we have another puzzle that’s not a co-ordinate motion puzzle. Yes Vinco does make them, and he has a fairly good range available. Sputnik is a beautifully shaped six piece puzzle where the object is to take the pieces apart, then re-assemble them into the space faring shape. Thanks to Puzzle Master for sending me this puzzle to review.

Vinco's Sputnik

Vinco's Sputnik

It almost goes without saying that this is another beautifully made and finished puzzle from Vinco. There really are few other people out there making puzzles at this quality for this price. The woods used have been waxed so the natural colour and grain is preserved, making for a great looking puzzle which will stand out, especially given the unique shape of this puzzle.

One thing I will note in this puzzle is that in order for the pieces to come together the way they are intended, there is a small gap between a couple of the blocks in each of the six puzzle pieces, and while it doesn’t detract from the puzzle at all, and you’ll not notice it in the solution shape, it does make solving the puzzle slightly easier, as you can use the gaps to tell where the pieces are joined into halves, before combining the halves into the final shape.

One of the two halves of the puzzle

One of the two halves of the puzzle

One of the challenges with this puzzle is that the way each of the six pieces are combined is not intuitive. Given that all six pieces are identical, it’s hard to see how you join the pieces to create a shape that will interlock into the UFO like solution.

Six identical pieces

Six identical pieces

This is another excellent puzzle from Vinco, and I highly recommend it. If you’re not a fan of co-ordinate motion puzzles, this will give you a good challenge, and no need to worry about growing a third hand to hold the pieces in place as you assemble it.

Coffin Involute

My first home built Puzzle

After the successes with creating both Square Sticks and Cubes, I had to go do something with them; and see if I could create a puzzle. I decided to make some of Stewart Coffin’s designs, and having been in touch with him, he very graciously gave me permission to try to recreate any of his designs, and encouraged me to do so. With that endorsement, I was off and running. Well, almost!

I had to work out which puzzle I was going to create. There’s so many to choose from that it’s not an easy decision. In the end, I decided to create something that I didn’t already own, so I’d be adding to my collection if it turned out to be any good. So I settled on a copy of STC #214, the Involute puzzle. The Involute is the third in a series of puzzles from Stewart Coffin, each an improvement over the predecessor.

My first attempt - Involute by Stewart Coffin

My first attempt - Involute by Stewart Coffin

The first was Convolution, a 4×4 interlocking cube which requires a rotation in the solution. Due to the rotation, some material needs to be removed from one of the cubes in the solution (if you have a tight fit) to allow the rotation to happen. You can read my review here. Stewart Coffin notes that given the rotation, and the nature of cubes (which don’t like to be rotated when hard against one another), that this design could be improved. In his book “The Puzzling World of Polyhedral Dissections”, he leaves it to the reader to see if they can find a solution to this problem.

At the same time, Stewart Coffin had already solved the problem, and created STC #198, Involution. Again a 4×4 cube with a rotation required in the solution, but this time because of the design of the dissection, no material needs to be removed from the pieces to allow the rotation. I’ll not give away how this is done, as it would spoil the puzzle, but I will say it’s a simple and clever solution! I was able to play with one of Scott Peterson’s copies that he had made on my recent visit to see Scott, so I can say I’ve solved both the Convolution and Involution puzzles at this point.

The third in the series is STC #214, Involute. This is the final puzzle in the series, and is again an improvement over the Involution and Convolution. Again there is a rotation required in the puzzle, and again, no material needs to be removed for the rotation to take place. There’s an extra trick in this puzzle, that I’ll get to in a bit which makes it just that bit more devious.

All three puzzles in the series look identical from the outside, each having the same cross pattern on all six faces, so without knowing which puzzle you have in your hand, it could easily be any one of the three. Have I mentioned that this Coffin is a devious bloke?

Thanks to Allard and Kevin who both reviewed their copies of the Involute puzzle, I was able to model the pieces in burr tools, and from that create myself a parts list and a gluing diagram to be able to build the puzzle.

My piece and gluing diagrams for the Involute.

My piece and gluing diagrams for the Involute.

Given that it took several hours to create the diagrams, including the time to create the model in burr tools and so on, I’m not going to give you the whole thing. Not to mention it would spoil how to solve the puzzle (or would it – I’ll come back to that thought). But the image above gives you an idea of what I created.

All the pieces needed to build the Involute

All the pieces needed to build the Involute

With the design in hand, I went off to the saw, and using the crosscut sled and my stops, I cut all the necessary cubes to make the puzzle. There’s quite an array of pieces there when you see them all sitting together. Also in the picture is one jig I hadn’t talked about previously. This is my cube gluing jig. It’s not overly complicated, just three pieces of MDF cut and glued together to hold a 4×4 cube cut to my 3/4″ stick size which has all edges at 90 degrees, and has been waxed to prevent any glue from sticking to it. I also have three ‘end panels’ which will distribute the clamping pressure evenly across all the blocks so as not to twist the blocks while the glue dries.

At this point I made something of a realisation. Sitting looking at this array of blocks, and my gluing diagram, gluing up one of these puzzles is hugely complicated. You’re working in three dimensions gluing any number of pieces together, all of which needs to be accurate, and with no glue squeeze-out. If you thought Ikea furniture plans were Convoluted, then this is much more challenging!

Dry fit in the gluing jig  - bottom layer.

Dry fit in the gluing jig - bottom layer.

Dry fit in the gluing jig - three layers.

Dry fit in the gluing jig - three layers.

Dry fit in the gluing jig - full puzzle.

Dry fit in the gluing jig - full puzzle.

Dry fit in the gluing jig with clamp blocks.

Dry fit in the gluing jig with clamp blocks.

Next up I placed all the pieces into the gluing jig, to match my plans. This serves a couple of purposes. Initially, it shows me how good the fit is, and also verified that my plans were correct (at least in as much that I had the correct number of pieces). The other benefit to the dry fit is that it allows me to select which pieces I want to put where in the puzzle. Looking at the grain in the wood, I can select the ‘nicest’ grain to be on the outside of the puzzle, or look at creating grain patterns by selecting pieces carefully from the pile. Given that this was a first ever attempt, I wasn’t too concerned with the grain pattern, but I didn’t entirely ignore it either.

Since this was the first glueup I’d be doing, I decided to go with gluing up two layers at a time. This meant that I didn’t have to work quite as quickly to get the clamps on the jig to ensure that tight fit I was going for. Fortunately, the way the pieces go together, there is a flat surface after every second layer, which was ideal as a stopping point. I also have a smaller glue bottle, where I’ve decanted some of the glue from my big bottle. This small bottle has a fine nose, and is much easier to work with that the full sized bottle. Given the small amount of glue I’d need for each piece, this is the only way to work.

Involute in layers ready for the glueup

Involute in layers ready for the glueup

With all the pieces separated into layers, I was as ready as I was ever going to be to start putting this together into a puzzle. Fingers crossed!

First layer glued in place.

First layer glued in place.

Two layers glued up and clamped.

Two layers glued up and clamped.

Working reasonably quickly, I glued up the first two layers, and thanks to tips from Scott Peterson, I managed to do so with little to no glue squeeze-out. That’s pretty important since any glue squeeze-out will glue blocks together that shouldn’t be, making the puzzle unsolvable. You’ll notice the fairly large block of wood on the top of the gluing jig in the photo on the right. That’s because I only have two layers build at this point, so the puzzle is half way inside the side plates. I needed to add some height to be able to clamp the puzzle effectively.

Glueup completed, clamped and waiting nervously.

Glueup completed, clamped and waiting nervously.

After the glue had set, I came back and added the remaining two layers, building on the two I already had. This time, you can see that the puzzle fills all the space, and there are no extra spacers required. I then had to wait a few hours for the glue to dry properly before I could take the clamps off, and see whether I had created a puzzle or a paperweight.

They may have a been a few of the longest hours I have experienced in a long time. My fiancée was about ready to kill me, as I wanted to go take the clamps off and see what I had, she kept telling me to leave it alone. I was like a kid on Christmas morning waiting to see what presents I had. I could barely sit still! When things had been left for long enough, I was finally allowed to go take the clamps off and see what I had.

I should note at this point, that I have never solved an Involute puzzle prior to making this one. Given that rotations are required in the solution, Burr Tools can show that there is a solution, but it can’t animate the assembly for you (or in my case the dissassembly), so I have no idea how to take the puzzle apart. I’m now in new territory, and given that I don’t know how to take things apart, or whether the pieces are glued together correctly, and not glued to one another I know this is going to be interesting!

Since I know where the key piece is, I can remove that fairly easily, but then spend the next ten minutes pushing and pulling on various pieces hoping that something else will move in the puzzle. I can see that there is movement in the pieces, so at least it’s not all glued together, but I am having real problems in finding the second move. The pictures that follow were taken by my fiancée, so are unedited as I make progress. That grin on my face is real!

The moment where I figure out move 2.

The moment where I figure out move 2.

Now what?

Now what?

Seeing the individual pieces of the Involute for the first time.

Seeing the individual pieces of the Involute for the first time.

As I mentioned, I’ve never solved the Involute before, so I had no idea how the puzzle was supposed to come apart. The key piece in the puzzle is really well hidden, and without knowing where it was I would have struggled to start, especially not knowing if the puzzle was entirely glued together at this stage. The second move is also very clever. One thing that Stewart Coffin regularly has in his designs is pieces which are created so that the average person will hold the puzzle in such a way that you will be holding the piece you need to move, effectively pushing the puzzle closed and preventing it from being opened. The Involute is no different, and has this very same trick to allow move two. The look on my face when what looked like half of the puzzle slid to the side perfectly must have been quite the picture. I think for me not only was I solving a puzzle for the first time, which always brings a smile to my face, but also it was a puzzle I had built, and seeing it work the way it is supposed to is an ever bigger achievement.

I took the puzzle fully apart, and was left with the eight individual pieces sitting on my sofa, with a huge grin on my face. I then realised that I had absolutely no idea how to put the whole thing back together! In my excitement of taking the puzzle apart, I wasn’t paying any attention to how the pieces were coming apart! I then spent the next 15 minutes with my gluing diagram trying to put the puzzle back together. Remember I mentioned that having the full diagram may not help that much! I did get there, and the smile on my face seeing the puzzle back together was truly from ear to ear.

Closeup of the fit between pieces

Closeup of the fit between pieces

The rotation in the puzzle works perfectly, and I haven’t removed any material from the rotational piece to make that move easier. The fit of the pieces is superb. It’s difficult to tell individual pieces apart as you can see from the closeup above. This makes finding how the pieces come apart even more difficult that if the pieces fitted loosely together as there is no movement between the pieces. In case you’re wondering, that tiny gap that looks like there’s a chunk taken out of one of the pieces isn’t tear-out as a result of a poor cut, but was some natural holes in the walnut. It’s also worth noting here that there is no sanding done on any of the pieces, these are all straight off the saw. Many people in the puzzle community have noted that sanding reduces the accuracy of the pieces, and that a good clean cut can have every bit as good a finish as a sanded piece, perhaps better, since sanding is effectively scratching the surface.

Yes, I made a second to prove it wasn't a fluke!

Yes, I made a second to prove it wasn't a fluke!

To prove that it wasn’t just a fluke and this was a one-off, I went off and created a second copy of the Involute. So what you’re seeing here isn’t some clever photography, but the two copies side by side.

Taking one of the cubes apart

Taking one of the cubes apart

And just to show that it works, there’s a partially assembled version next to the fully solved cube.

I was really happy with the results. Over the weekend I produced two copies of the involute puzzle, and both have a very snug fit, and I’d be happy to add these to my collection. In case you’re wondering, they’re made from walnut with redwood corners. And not to sound like an American advert trying to get you to place an order for something you didn’t want …

But that’s not all!

There’s another of Stewart Coffin’s designs that I’ve wanted to play with for a while. That’s his “Half Hour Puzzle”, STC #29. So I drew up the diagram for that, and made one of those too! The brilliant thing about the half hour puzzle is that even though Stewart coffin designed it to only have the cube solution, there are hundreds of possible solution shapes that can be made with the pieces. I’ve created a burr tools file with many of the solution shapes, so if you’re interested in a copy of the file, just let me know.

STC #29 - Half Hour Puzzle

STC #29 - Half Hour Puzzle

Three Coffin's

Three Coffin's

So there you have it. Three puzzles in one weekend, all which I am very proud of, and is the start of hopefully great things. As Allard has put it, “One day there’ll be a couple of us around who can say that we had one of the very puzzles created by someone the whole puzzling community now knows as the Juggler-guy! :-)” Maybe … one day.

Oskar’s Blocks

Oskar’s Blocks, also known as Oskar’s Cubes is another design by Oskar Van Deventer, can be found in both wood and metal versions. This version is made by Bits and Pieces from chrome plated metal and is available from Puzzle Master. Thanks to Puzzle Master for sending me this puzzle to review.

Oskar's Blocks

Oskar's Blocks

As you can see, this is a good looking puzzle from the well known and prolific designer Oskar Van Deventer. It’s a fairly small puzzle, with each of the three cubes measuring 15/16″ in size, to give a fully assembled size of just under 1.5″. Given that the puzzle is metal, it has a good weight for its size, and while the pieces aren’t a tight fit, they do hold themselves together well enough to not fall apart when you place it on a single cube.

Oskar's Blocks

Oskar's Blocks

With only three pieces, you might be forgiven for thinking this is an easy puzzle. Puzzle Master ranks it as Level 7 – Challenging (out of 10), and I have to say it’s spot on. This isn’t the most challenging puzzle you’ll come across but take the pieces apart, roll them across the floor, come back in half an hour, and you’ll find it a challenge to put back together unless you’ve memorised the slots on each piece.

Oskar's Blocks Pieces

Oskar's Blocks Pieces

With each of the pieces being dissimilar, it does add to the challenge of this puzzle. Given the number of ways that each of the pieces can interact with each other, getting the first two pieces in place to allow the third to slide in and lock the puzzle together is a good challenge. I spent around 15 minutes after having scrambled the pieces, and left them for a while to put it back together. The more times you solve it, the easier it becomes, but I think that is true of many puzzles out there. The puzzle comes simply packaged from Bits and Pieces in a white cardboard box, with a solution included if you’re really stuck.

Overall, this is an excellent puzzle. It’s well made, solid and nicely finished. With a price tag under $15, this is well worth picking up. Despite being pocket sized, I’d advise against keeping it there given the sharp corners.