I saw this puzle in an article by Allan Boardman. If you want make your own puzzle you can read this article and find “inch” plans of this puzzle from here. This is a simple puzzle but looks very funny. I made small changes according to my workshop capabilities and draw my own metric plans. A nice decorative object for my coffee table.
I like Mario game. I don’t remember now that I spend how much hour by hitting this cubes and trying to find some mushrooms or a few coin. I think this cube is a good theme for a take out the coin puzzle.
My firs design “Lost coin” isn’t a real cube. It’s a rectangular box and the slit for taking out is on a side face. I made this one in a perfect cube shape and the slit is at the top of the box. This shape is more confusing for occasional puzzle solvers. My friends try take out the coin by shaking the box in upside down position.
The internal mechanism of this puzzle is same with lost coin puzzle. I made this puzzle from plywood. Some puzzle enthusiasts can hate but plywood is a good material for box making.
If you want to see internal mechanism or make your own puzzle you can preview or download this free PDF file including dimensions, plans and all details from here. (1.2 MB on secure server box.com)
This is another small puzzle design from my workshop. This is a small cube. The aim of this puzzle is extricate the small coin from the horizontal slit located on the front side of the cube. This puzzle isn’t a blind maze for a coin. All external pieces of the cube are fixed. There isn’t any external moving piece or tricky button.
This is a very small cube with 50x50x62 mm ( 2 x2 x 2.5 inch) overall dimensions but inside there is a simple but tricky moving mechanism. After understanding this mechanism you can take out the coin in less than 10 second.
After the design stage, I made this puzzle in my small workshop in 6-7 hour from start to finish. This is a very easy craft project. But I found it funny. May be a gift puzzle for friends with less material and time cost or a pocket puzzle with small dimensions.
If you want to see internal mechanism or make your own puzzle you can preview or download this free PDF file including dimensions, plans and all details from here. (1.2 MB on secure server box.com)
This is my second dexterity puzzle project with a little trick. They sell spice shakers as a couple for salt and pepper and I decided to make this puzzle for the second jar. This time in the jar, there are only a cube and a ball. On the cube there is a hole that the ball can enter inside it. This puzzle has a shorter acrylic pipe. But on the pipe of this puzzle there is a hole shaped like a key hole.
You can guess the solution easily. But require a little dexterity. If you want make your own puzzle you can preview or download this free PDF file from here (0.7 MB on secure server box.com) including dimensions, craft tips and solution.
A small truck, a big car and a stainless steel ball. The aim of this puzzle is taking out the steel ball. As you can guess this is a small dexterity puzzle. For me dexterity puzzles are toys. But I like toys and I make also some toys. For this reason making a small dexterity puzzle is a funny project for me.
For this project I used salt shaker. I removed its cap and I obtained a very small jar. The acrylic pipe used for this puzzle is an old empty pen. The pipe is fixed to the cap. Ball truck and car are only moving pieces of this puzzle.
If you look closely to the photo you can see a small hole on the truck. For taking out the ball you must use this truck and the car. The trick of the puzzle is very simple but require a lot of patience. I am sure you find how to take out the ball.
If you want make your own puzzle you can preview or download this free PDF file from here (0.7 MB on secure server box.com) including dimensions, craft tips and solution.
I am sure you like read about this puzzle but first I like write a small explication about “Steampunk”. “Steampunk” is a new art style became popular after 1980’s. Some books define “Futurustic Victorian Style”. This art style is inspired from the books of Jules Verne and H.G.Wells. I meet first with this style by some Jules Verne movies and famous classic movie “Time machine”. Another movie “ Wild Wild West” is a very good example for this style.
In this style, art works ( drawings, stories, objects etc.) must look like made in steam age but also must look futuristic like a time machine. For this reason this style use mostly wood, brass and copper. Objects designed with this style are like movie decors. They must look realistic but technically may be impossible. With a google image search for “steampunk box”, “steampunk” etc. you can see nice art works and you can find a lot of online resources. If you like this style and read more also there are great books in online book stores.
This is my first attempt for a “Steampunk Puzzle”. This is not a puzzle box. The basic idea is from the book “ Puzzles old and new” by Hoffmann. The small coin on the photo is a pieces of this puzzle. You put this coin inside the brass pipe from the thin slot that you can see on the front side and you try take it out. The mechanism described in the book of Hoffmann is mostly a magic trick. For this reason I changed all mechanism and I designed my own mechanism. I used a brass pipe 50 mm diameter, mahogany and beech. Looks like a real valve but if you make a technical inspection there are a lot of impossible things. You can find also technical mistakes of this valve as another puzzle.
“Steampunk” is a new taste for puzzle enthusiasts. But wood, brass, copper, Victorian style are ingredients that we like. I am sure you will find or create good recipes for your taste from this kitchen. If you want make your own puzzle you can preview or download this free PDF file from here (1.1 MB on secure server box.com) including dimensions and craft tips.
Another small matchbox safe from my workshop. This puzzle box is very similar to my “Cargo boat” puzzle box. I started both of them in same time. But the mechanism of this box is slightly different from other. This box looks like a child toy but I made this box as a matchbox safe. It’s possible also to put inside some small jewelry items like rings or earrings. If you want a bigger box, you can upscale this one.
If you want make your own box you can download from here free PDF file including drawings, plans, photos and craft tips from here. (0.8 MB on secure server box.com)
DIY Puzzles 