| | |  |  |  |  |  | | | |  | | | | | | If
you haven’t seen the March 2008 issue of WOOD Magazine, take a look at page
32. INCRA’s own “Puzzled Guy”, Perry McDaniel is featured in a
6 page article that highlights his interest in puzzle box making. The article
includes plenty of information on making two of Perry’s sliding dovetail
puzzle boxes using the INCRA Fence System. Here’s what Perry has to say about
his favorite box project.
“Puzzle
box making all started for me in 1994, when fellow puzzle enthusiasts and designers
Robert and Norman Sandfield, approached me with a commission to produce a traditional
sliding dovetail puzzle box with a catch. The box included a simple but devious
pin and magnet lock. Of course my INCRA
Fence System made the precise placement of the sliding dovetails easy to reproduce
and given that the commission was for 100 boxes, INCRA’s contribution was
a must.”
The “Sandfield Joint Puzzle” as shown in
the WOOD Magazine article, set the hook for what has become a feverish fascination
for producing ever more complex and devious boxes. While most of the 4500 + boxes
Perry has made over the last 13 years represent about 20 Sandfield/McDaniel collaborative
designs executed in 200 piece limited edition production runs, Perry has designed
another 19 unique boxes produced in smaller quantities.
“I enjoy
the challenge of producing machine shop tolerances in small box making. Mechanics
in wood can be a very satisfying endeavor. You just need a relatively stable wood,
a good design, a little technique and some quality tools. The writer for WOOD
Magazine asked me if I could make one of my boxes without an INCRA
Fence System and
I responded that while anything is possible with the right collection of jigs
and fixtures, the INCRA System is really the only practical way to make piston-fit
sliding dovetails without any special fixtures.” | | |  | | | True
to form, many of the puzzles Perry has made over the years use a sliding dovetail
to hold the main components together. A simple lock mechanism inside the box keeps
the parts from sliding. Well, sometimes the locks
are simple. The “Marbled Walnut Sheet Cake”
has a 7 step opening sequence to finally get to the marble that is hidden
inside. His “Cherry Surprise Cake” uses
a centrifugal force mechanism. See photos below: | | | | | |  | | | One
of Perry’s favorite boxes is the “Elbow Dovetail”.
This small two-piece puzzle features an “L” shape with dovetails holding
the top and bottom together. When you pick one up Perry will tell you that the
dovetails are connected, but looking at the design, it would appear that the dovetail
would have to turn 90 degrees. That’s impossible! That is until you solve
the lock. The two pieces are held together with a curved sliding dovetail. We’re
told it is made with the INCRA
Fence System,
though we’re still not sure how he did it. | |
| | | | | | | Not
all of Perry’s designs feature a sliding dovetail.
“Sixty”
was commissioned for a friend’s 60th birthday. “All of the angles used
were of course 60 degree angles and the interior held 6 bags of tea (Six Teas).
While the assembly was difficult, cutting the pieces accurately was made easy
with The INCRA Miter
Express and my INCRA
Miter1000SE. This box really didn’t need much of
a lock, because just about everywhere you put your hands when casually picking
up the box would prevent the box from opening. The trick is to use a special “three
finger” grip in holding the box as the two pieces are pulled apart." |
| | | | | | Perry’s
Christmas Puzzle for 2007 was the “Lemon Box”
on the right. In producing this box made of yellow heart, wenge, walnut and
poplar I followed in the footsteps of some of the Master puzzle designers of Japan.
Puzzle makers like Akio Kamei are famous for their exquisite designs featuring
layer upon layer of intricately cut and precisely fit
pieces. The solutions
often revolve around a clue given in the shape or the name of the puzzle. In the
Lemon Box, extracting the solution requires “squeezing” the sides of
the box just as you would squeeze a lemon to extract the juice. These types of
puzzle boxes challenge the maker’s skills, his tool’s accuracy and the
solver’s patience.” | |
| | | | | | For
more information about puzzle genres and puzzle making Perry recommends any of
the books written by Jerry Slocum. While most of his writings are focused on the
history of puzzles in general, his clear writing style and beautiful pictures
will certainly inspire and he always includes a few wooden puzzle designs with
dimensions. For geometric puzzle designs take a look at any of Stewart Coffin’s
available works especially, The Puzzling
World of Polyhedral Dissections. If
you want to see a variety of puzzles on the Web check out www.johnrausch.com.
It’s a virtual maze of puzzles; with links to many
of the best puzzle designers, makers and sellers from around the globe. To view
some of the incredible works coming out of Japan visit the Karakuri Group’s
website at: www.karakuri.gr.jp/creation/.
If
you are already making puzzles for fun, or have a unique puzzle box idea you can't
wait to try out, you might want to take a look at the First Annual Stewart Coffin
Puzzle Craft Contest sponsored by INCRA and CubicDissection.com.
Cash prizes and some nifty Incra tools are offered for the winners. You can learn
more about the contest rules at http://www.cubicdissection.com/contest/contest.html. |
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