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Free Plans
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Plans and Solutions
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Glass Maze“I hate this thing: it’s driving me nuts.”
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!
The Flanger
“My son made this quite easy. I don’t know how he does it. He’s four.”
The central box is 1” square, 4” long. The two vertical flanges cannot move until you move the two horizontal flanges side-to-side. Just as you think you’ve done it, there is a little extra at the end!
Easy to make, all ¼” plywood. Easy to solve.
Double Bolt PuzzleSupplied by Jon from Sweden
“Another metal puzzle?
I’ll have arms like Popeye.”
Another nut and bolt puzzle, this time 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...
But of course, it will, if you know how to do it.
All you need to make this is a hacksaw, and a drill.
Nuts and Bolt
“My arms are aching.
No more metal puzzles, please.”
No more metal puzzles, please.”
A steel bolt, about 1-1/2” long, with a 1/2” thread, holding two nuts and two washers. The nuts will go on, but they won’t seem to come off!
But of course, they will if you know how!
This puzzle you can buy in any joke-puzzle shop, so it isn’t shown with the nuts off, because that would give it away.
All you need to make this is a hacksaw, a file and a great deal of patience....
This puzzle you can buy in any joke-
The Bolt PuzzleSupplied by Bobj
from Router Forums
“Didn’t I say,
no more metal puzzles?”
“Exercise is good for you,
laziness is not...”
no more metal puzzles?”
“Exercise is good for you,
laziness is not...”
A steel bolt, about 2” long, with a 1/2” thread, 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?
As Bobj admits, this is more of a “mind game” than a puzzle, but well worth making.
All you need to make this is a hacksaw, a file and a welder to weld the nut on!
As Bobj admits, this is more of a “mind game” than a puzzle, but well worth making.
All you need to make this is a hacksaw, a file and a welder to weld the nut on!
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.
The Trinket Box“My daughter loves this.
I don’t.”
A rather nice little box, 4 x 2-1/2” x 2”, where the lid pattern is actually a “secret lock”. There are no parts that can be seen or stick out, so you could keep trinkets in the box. You could even keep, gasp, cigarettes in it!
Help your friends to stop smoking-give them one of these boxes.
Easy to make with 1/8” and 1/4” plywood. Easy to open.
Six Piece Burr“My brain is starting to hurt...”
Flatpack
“Sounds like a DIY wardrobe.”
“You’d have more fun putting that up,
than trying to solve this.”
Not my design: I found this on the internet, and thought it should be quite easy to make. So I put this together in a couple of hours. 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!
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!
The Weird Puzzle“I’m a maths genius.
I know how it’s done.”
“Sod off.”
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.
Simple Burr“Too easy. Give me something harder.”
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.
This one measures 40mm each way.
Still quite hard to solve.
Not my design, I cannot remember where it came from.
This one measures 40mm each way.
Still quite hard to solve.