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Burr Puzzles
Six Piece Burr
Simple Burr
Six Piece Burr: Most six piece burrs have one piece which locks the whole thing together. This one is different. Three pieces fit together, then the other three fit together, then both groups fit together. From the book “Puzzle Craft” by Stewart T. Coffin. Easy to make, extremely difficult to solve.
Simple Burr: Another six piece burr, this one has a single piece which locks the whole thing together.
Not my design, I cannot remember where it came from. Still quite hard to solve.
Simple Burr: Another six piece burr, this one has a single piece which locks the whole thing together.
Not my design, I cannot remember where it came from. Still quite hard to solve.
Glass Maze“I hate this thing: it’s driving me nuts.”
This puzzle was featured in “Scrollsaw Wordworking and Crafts”
Fall Issue 2009
Fall Issue 2009
Not really glass of course, but made from the transparent parts of old CD cases. The cube is about 2½” on each side; made up of six pieces on the outside, and six pieces on the inside, making 27 little boxes inside. Each little box has a hole in each side.
The steel ball bearing is 9.5 mm in diameter, and some of the holes inside will allow this to pass through-others holes are smaller, and will not allow the ball through.
The idea is to put the ball in the blue-ringed hole, and get it out the other side, through a red-ringed hole. There are a couple of “dead ends” in the route through the maze, to make it harder....
In case you’re wondering, there are 108 holes in this thing. If you decide to make this, you’ll spend a lot of time drilling holes...
Glued together with plastic model making cement, or super glue.
The steel ball bearing is 9.5 mm in diameter, and some of the holes inside will allow this to pass through-
Glued together with plastic model making cement, or super glue.
Ball in Cage
“I left this out in the rain, now the ball’s
gone rusty. How do I get it out?”
gone rusty. How do I get it out?”
A solid wooden cube, with a steel ball bearing inside. The holes are obviously too small for the ball to get out. The wood has not been cut and re-
How did I get it in?
Not my design: I got this free from the web.
You will kick yourself when you find how to do this simple puzzle!
Nuts and Bolts Puzzles
On the left, a bolt holding two nuts and two washers. The nuts will go on, but they won’t seem to come off!
In the middle, a bolt holding a nut and a lock washer. The nut has been welded onto the bolt, so it obviously won’t come off. The lock washer has been bent slightly open, and the bolt head has slots cut in it. The puzzle is to get the washer off the bolt. It looks like it should come off through the slots in the bolt head. But does it? This one sent in by Bobj, from Router Forums.
On the right, another nut and bolt puzzle, sent in by Jon from Sweden. The puzzle is to get the nut off the bolt. Which means getting the smaller bolt out first. Which is a bit of a problem, because it doesn’t want to come out...
In the middle, a bolt holding a nut and a lock washer. The nut has been welded onto the bolt, so it obviously won’t come off. The lock washer has been bent slightly open, and the bolt head has slots cut in it. The puzzle is to get the washer off the bolt. It looks like it should come off through the slots in the bolt head. But does it? This one sent in by Bobj, from Router Forums.
On the right, another nut and bolt puzzle, sent in by Jon from Sweden. The puzzle is to get the nut off the bolt. Which means getting the smaller bolt out first. Which is a bit of a problem, because it doesn’t want to come out...
The Diamond Cubemade by
Bill Anderson
"We meet again,
Mr. Anderson."
"Oh no. Agent Smith."
Mr. Anderson."
"Oh no. Agent Smith."
This puzzle was sold years ago, and there can't be many people who haven't bought one. I did, and I've just found it again! Bill decided to make one (having lost the original), and managed to find a picture of the cube and the seperate parts. With that, and his memories of it, he's made another Diamond Cube. He's also kindly sent the plans he made.
Take Me Apart
Actually two puzzles in one-the smaller box is really inside the bigger box. Simple idea, just remove the sides, to reveal the inner box, then take that apart as well. Easy. Now just put them back together. Do the same with the smaller box. But it’s not so easy when they are in bits, when the edge of one piece can fit eight different ways to the edge of another piece, which can also go eight different ways!
Very easy to make, using ½” and ¼” MDF or plywood. No special tools needed. Fairly hard to solve.
Brown Slidey
“You should charge for the solutions.
You’d make a fortune.”
There are four sliding blocks within a box, two above and two below.
The top layer of the bottom blocks slide into the bottom layer of the top blocks. By moving all the blocks around, they can eventually be removed. Difficult to get the blocks out. A lot harder to put them back in.
The Solution (and you’ll need it) is included.
The size of the box is 2-1/2” by 2-1/2” by 2-1/4” if made from 1/4” wood, but the plans are now T-Plans, allowing you to make this at any size.
The top layer of the bottom blocks slide into the bottom layer of the top blocks. By moving all the blocks around, they can eventually be removed. Difficult to get the blocks out. A lot harder to put them back in.
The Solution (and you’ll need it) is included.
The size of the box is 2-
Put Me Together“Made by the hundreds. Solved by no one.”
Twenty-
by Stewart T. Coffin.
Very easy to make-
Green Slidey“I made this quite easily.
I wish I hadn’t now.”
The green box is 2½” square and 1½” deep. There are four blue blocks, each is 1” x ½” x 2½”. These blocks slide in and out of the green box. The idea is to remove them all, and they are interlocked with pins and grooves. But they can be removed!
Fairly easy to make, all ¼” plywood. Difficult to get the blocks out. A lot harder to put them back in.
Fairly easy to make, all ¼” plywood. Difficult to get the blocks out. A lot harder to put them back in.
Flat Puzzles
Weird Puzzle
Flatpack
Weird Puzzle: Five pieces of wood in a tray. The big triangle never moves. Two L-shaped pieces are taken out, the two smaller triangles are swapped. When the first two L pieces are put back, there’s a hole! Where does the hole come from? Take the L pieces back out, move the two smaller triangles again, and put back the first two pieces. The hole has gone!!! What happened to the hole???
You could make this puzzle in about an hour, using either cardboard or plywood. Not my design: I found this on a Youtube video by Tomlan.
Thanks, Tom, for permission to use this.
You could make this puzzle in about an hour, using either cardboard or plywood. Not my design: I found this on a Youtube video by Tomlan.
Thanks, Tom, for permission to use this.
Flatpack: Four “L” shaped pieces and a square piece are contained in a frame. The four L pieces form a hole in the middle, and the square piece is positioned outside the four. The object of the puzzle is to get the square piece inside the middle hole, surrounded by the L pieces.
You’re not allowed to remove the pieces, only slide them around. The five pieces are made from 3/16” ply: the case and lid are made from 1/8” ply.
Solution supplied by Wayne Winders, who made this puzzle, and worked out a solution!