I attended my first IPP earlier this month and had a terrific time. First and foremost, the people are just fantastic: generous, imaginative, super smart, just great people. The huge support and welcome I received as a newbie just floored me with outright puzzle gifts, advice on how to get the most out of the event, suggestions on who to talk to for help on my puzzle ideas, encouragement to participate in the Puzzle Exchange […]
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Model #808 is Done!
Surf’s up! Dinner is served! Lift-off! Well, the day has finally arrived and Model #808 is now available for purchase. There are only 106 of them – that’s all I made – so if you’re interested please head over to my Etsy store. And here it is: I have to say, everything about this process took longer than I expected so it’s a great relief to have at last reached the finish line. I never […]
MoreFirst Batch of Puzzle #808
Since my last post on Model #808, I have learned a lot about machining and manufacturing. For one, I realized I needed a professional mechanical engineer to do the tolerancing of my design and prepare proper design drawings. I had previously tried to get by with the .STL files generated by my 3D design tools. For another, I learned that cost is not the only factor to consider when choosing a machine shop. I am […]
MoreThe Partridge Puzzle
I recently stumbled across the Partridge Puzzle invented by mathematician Robert T. Wainwright. Consider a collection of square tiles, the smallest of which is 1 unit by 1 unit in size (and there is one of them) and the largest of which is N units by N units in size (and there are N of them). The total area of all the tiles would be 1x(1×1) + 2x(2×2) + … + Nx(NxN). That sum of cubes […]
MoreConstant Negative Curvature
One of my favorite events is the local annual Celebration of Mind gathering inspired by Martin Gardner’s immense contribution to recreational mathematics. I went to one last night in Brookline, MA sponsored by Eureka Puzzles and gave a short presentation on my interest in what I’m calling (probably incorrectly) a “unit hyperbola”. My talk was called “Horsing Around With Z=X*Y” and if this kind of thing interests you, you can download the PDF of it here. Basically, […]
MorePuzzle Collection Extravaganza
I was recently asked how many puzzles I had in my collection and I realized I had no idea. So I figured if I was going to go to the trouble of taking them all out of their boxes and actually count them, I might as well take some pictures too. Here’s my kitchen table over-run by puzzles: As you can see, there are some old classics in there, like an original 1980 Ernő Rubik cube and an IMP puzzle (now known […]
MoreProgress on Model #808
Model #808 continues to make steady (if slow) progress. I had some prototypes machined from aluminum by a fantastic machine shop, Cantabrigian Mechanics. They are gorgeous, if I may say so myself. Take a look: The prototype at the top of the picture was bead-blasted, then anodized in black. The one at the bottom of the picture was anodized in black and engraved with lettering, which I then infilled with red. Actually, only the top piece in the bottom prototype was […]
MoreMore Prototypes
Though I haven’t blogged in about a year, at least I have been making progress on my puzzles. Pictured here are Model #808 (the rectangular one with two holes), Model #518 (the multi-colored cube), Model #921 (the circular one), and Model #360 (the thicker rectangular one with the red logo). The internal design of Model #808 (formerly known as Model #873) continues to evolve and I’m hoping to get a prototype today that will confirm the reliability […]
MoreOn the Asymptote to Perfection!
I just received my latest prototype back from the 3-D print service I use (i.materialise – whom I recommend highly) and I’m very happy with this latest revision (the sixth I think!) The puzzle has two major pieces, the top and bottom, and the biggest design challenge I’ve had so far has been to keep the two pieces aligned while the puzzle solver is manipulating the puzzle. If the pieces move out of alignment, it can put the puzzle into […]
MorePuzzle Prototyping with 3D Printing
The summer was way too busy but I nonetheless was able to design and prototype my first mechanical puzzle. It even works! Building a working prototype turned out to be much easier than I expected now that 3D printing has become so affordable and so widespread. All I had to do was create .STL files (I used OpenSCAD) and take them to a local outfit called Einstein’s Workshop whose fantastically helpful staff (thank you Katy and Matt!) printed […]
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