I found this sliding puzzle from the famous book “Sliding Piece Puzzles” by Edward Hordern. A rare book. But used copies still available at amazon book store.
This puzzle hasn’t a name. Patented in 1901 by Frank E.Moss. Patent number is US 668386. You can see and download free PDF patent file from here. Thanks to designer.
Why this puzzle is interesting for me? The book say “This is the first puzzle design to include square and rectangular pieces with full movement of all pieces” and also there are another note that say “was it ever produced”. I don’t see before a physical copy of this puzzle and I decided to make one for my self. Now, this puzzle is produced at least one copy. I made this puzzle from 4 mm acrylic with laser cut. Colored spots are pushpin heads I drilled holes and glued inside of holes pushpin heads. Two color spots are made by gluing two half pushpin head. You can make also this puzzle from wood or plywood and instead of using color spots, you can paint wood. An easy to make puzzle with a scroll saw.
In the photo you can see the start position. Pieces should be on the opposite side of the tray to their respective colours. In final position all colors on tiles must match with edge colors. The solution is 70 (76) move.
If you make one, you will be one of the few players of this puzzle in the world.
DIY Puzzles 