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 THREE
WAY SLIDER
Original selling
price started at AUD350.00
NOTE: Original
selling price in USD was 271.00. In June 2008 one of these puzzles
sold at Baxterweb Puzzle Auctions, Featuring the Ron Zezima Collection
for USD 315.00.
People often
ask where do you get the idea for a puzzle from?
The concept for this puzzle goes back many years. The first time
I met Bill Cutler he said to me that "I figure that anything
that can be done to the 6 piece burr has just about been done".
I stored that away in the back of my brain; then years later
at IPP23 in Chicago I saw some pieces from Bill's collection.
His version of the Snowflake from W.M.Wyatt's 'Wonders in Wood'
made me think, 'well, maybe everything has not been done to the
6 piece burr yet'.
It seemed like
a bit of a challenge; maybe the 6 piece burr is not dead yet.
I chose three
known high level burrs and married two of each together on opposite
sides of this puzzle. Some of the pieces in these burrs have
been mirror reversed to add to the already high degree of difficulty
of this puzzle. I created a completely new six piece burr which
I designed specifically to join each set of twins together. The
burr has to slide in three directions to allow the multiple moves
necessary for each of the end burrs to work. To disassemble,
all the burrs must be used simultaneously.
I did not use
a computer to design the puzzle but after having a working prototype
I did use a computer to test for the number of possible solutions.
I ended up testing each set of twins independently because the
program I used to test the whole puzzle said at first that it
would take some thousands of days to solve. So, I thought maybe
it was confused and it would settle if I let it run for a while.....
next morning the time went up and now it's saying 252588 days....
maybe I need a new computer!
I spent about
5 or 6 days just working on the design to get to prototype stage
but I'm sure if someone out there wanted to spend more time (and
with the help of a computer....) there's a lot more that could
even be done with this concept.
Woods used:
The six centre pieces are made from Victorian Ash. A member of
the Eucalyptus family (not the Ash family) this timber is also
known as Mountain Ash and is Australia's tallest tree, generally
growing to between 55-75m but often up to 100m (over 300 feet)
at altitudes over 900m in Victoria.
The 24 smaller
pieces are made from Queensland Blackbean (also commonly know
as Moreton Bay Chestnut) which can be seen growing in rainforests
throughout Queensland and northern NSW. Click here if you're
interested to read more about this tree and see some photos.
Size: 180mm
x 180mm x 180mm (each piece being 20mm x 20mm)
Solutions are
not generally provided with Limited Edition puzzles because of
the small numbers produced but we'll do everything we can to
assist if you get stuck.
 HELIX THE BURR
Original selling
price started at AUD310.00
NOTE: Original
selling price in USD was 240.00. In June 2008 one of these puzzles
sold at Baxterweb Puzzle Auctions, Featuring the Ron Zezima Collection
for USD 1650.00.
The name of
this burr comes from the spiral structure that is created by
the 8 pieces surrounding the central 5 piece core.
This burr features
what Bill Cutler considers to be the most interesting disassembly
sequence he has ever created. From the time I’ve spent ‘playing’
with the puzzle during manufacture I have to agree. It’s
very different and quite an enjoyable challenge.
A true collector's
item. There were originally just 20 puzzles made by Jerry McFarland
and sold from 1990-1992. Bill himself had earlier made and sold
a smaller number of puzzles and to this day regrets that he even
sold his last production model in 1994. So you can see this puzzle
is very rare, and after this 30 we will never make it again either.
Because of
the way this puzzle works it has been necessary to work to extremely
fine tolerances when machining the pieces. Like all the puzzles
we make, this puzzle has been lacquered inside and out to help
maintain this precision. Each individual piece of our Limited
Edition puzzles is buffed and waxed as well.
This puzzle
made under license to Bill Cutler.
General Information
from Bill Cutler's official publication of 1983
This information reproduced with the kind permission of Bill
Cutler.
The name comes
from the spiral nature of the main pieces.
The basic design was thought up in the summer of 1982 and was
originally intended to become the Wausau '82 puzzle, however,
the design quickly became too complex. The puzzle was formally
introduced at the Sixth Annual International Puzzle Party at
Jerry Slocum's house on April 2, 1983.
The first solution was received from Edward Hordern.
The puzzle has many notches which are 1/3 and 1/4 the width of
the rods, so that problems of tolerance and humidity changes
are magnified. In addition, the very nature of the way the puzzle
was intended to disassemble makes these problems worse still,
and the likelihood of having incorrect methods of disassembly
increases.
To top this off Stan Isaacs discovered a way to disassemble the
original puzzle which was clearly a 'bug' (error). The bug was
corrected by minor changes to two pieces.
Wood used:
Tasmanian Oak. Not a member of the oak family at all but rather
a eucalypt. The name Tasmanian Oak was originally used by early
European timber workers who believed the eucalypts showed the
same strength as English Oak.
Size: 150mm
x 150mm x 150mm (13 pieces, each 30mm x 30mm)
 THE HIDDEN SECRETS OF HEP
Original selling
price started at AUD440.00
NOTE: Original
selling price in USD was 342.00. On 26th September 2008 one of
these puzzles was sold at Baxterweb Puzzle Auctions, Featuring
the Ron Zezima Collection for USD 1617.00.
This puzzle started with the concept of wanting to hide the solution
for one puzzle inside another puzzle. If you’re looking
to cheat (let’s just call a spade, a spade here…) we
wanted to make you work for it. So, to get the solution you’re
looking for you have to solve another puzzle.
The puzzle
we’re providing the solution for is Hep. This puzzle was
designed more than 5 years ago by John Kirkman. John is a retired
school teacher who lives not more than one hour drive from me
in Brisbane, Australia who I’ve have known for some years
as a fellow puzzle collector. I knew I was looking for a special
Checkerboard Puzzle to use with my hidden solution concept so
I went to Les Barton for advice. Amazingly it was a conversation
with him, in Mongolia, that lead me to the designer who lived
in my own area.
Hep is a double
sided unique solution Checkerboard Board with 10 different shaped
pieces. It also makes a unique solution checker pattern cube
as well as having 5 other cube solutions without the checker
pattern.
To find the
solution for all of these puzzles you will have to open the puzzle
box provided as a base for the Checkerboard. Even though the
opening mechanism is completely new and reasonably complex the
solution is an elegant one, meaning it will only work by using
the correct procedure. There are only definite movements involved
and it is extremely unlikely that the puzzle box will open accidentally.
You do not need to hit the puzzle against or with any other object,
nor do you need to use anything not supplied with the puzzle
(this includes sharp objects, kitchen cutlery, tools from the
shed….) nothing else is needed to open it.
Maybe it will
be easier to find all the solutions to Hep than opening the puzzle
box….
This puzzle
made with the kind permission of John Kirkman.
Wood used:
The puzzle box is made from Papua New Guinean Rosewood. Found
in tropical areas of New Guinea, less than 100klms off Australia’s
northern tip.
The inlay border and the dark cubes are made from Cooktown Ironwood.
This timber is grown only on Cape York Peninsula and is not commonly
milled. Because it’s so dense and difficult to work with,
I asked my timber supplier what else people used this timber
for and his reply was “Shade!”.
The light cubes are made from Queensland Silver Ash. This rainforest
timber is grown throughout my state of Queensland and is one
of my favourites because of it’s creamy white colouring
and it’s open straight grain.
Size:
Puzzle box – 210mm x 210mm x 60mm
Individual cubes – 20mm x 20mm x 20mm |
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