Very happy to have acquired this puzzle from a fellow collector in a trade, I don’t actively collect Stephan’s work but couldn’t pass up on this beautiful piece!
This is a very nicely crafted 20 piece puzzle by Stephan that features a difficult 38.3.2.1.1.1.1.1.3 level move count.
Those first 38 moves will certainly keep you guessing for a while as Stephan’s designs tend to stump even the most avid burr puzzle solvers!
Stephan usually posts his work via his Facebook page at Puzzleisure
I was recently asked if I could make a box to hold a couple of 27 unit cube puzzles with one of the puzzles being Yasuhiro’s wonderful design.
I happened to have some 1/2” Lacewood cubes so thought I’d make a personal copy for sizing purposes and also made a box for the pieces as well.
This puzzle with only three pieces is surprisingly difficult to assemble in a cube shape. As you can see by the pics I’ve added the six lone cubes to my copy to pack inside the box.
Boxes and Lids are made from Roasted Bird’s Eye Maple with Roasted Ash Sleeves with Wenge Slipfeathers. Bottom is Mahogany and Top is Walnut.
I recently acquired this puzzle directly from Yavuz, Eric crafted and used it as his exchange at the exchange in 2015 so it’s not been lacquered, I would normally put a finish on this puzzle but now that I have it in hand, I’m probably going to leave it as is..rest in peace Eric.
Here’s Eric’s original description from Cubicdissection:
“This puzzle was my exchange gift at IPP this year. Designed by Yavuz, it's a simple but fun interlocking distraction, with a level 6.3.3.3 solution. Please note that this puzzle is not laquered, but has a natural wood finish.
The construction of this puzzle is very good, with a reinforced frame and a snug fit. It may be a bit tight in very high humidity situations.
25 copies made for sale, each signed and dated.”
I recently acquired this awesome puzzle directly from Yavuz and here’s a wonderful blog about it from Allard from almost a decade ago:
“Yavuz Demirhan’s Konstrukt is a burr for non-burristas (like me!).
It’s a combination of a simple three board burr in the centre with an interlocking cage surrounding it. The cage is made up of twelve identical pieces (albeit in three colours to make it look pretty - really pretty!) that rely on the internal board burr to actually stay together.
My copy came direct from Jakub at the New Pelikan Workshop after I spotted a pic of it online and then saw a copy in the flesh – it looks brilliant – especially given the colours of the woods that Jakub and the guys have used.
As a take-apart puzzle it’s pretty straight-forward – there’s only one or two things you can move initially … make some space and you can take the first piece out, then the rest follow in pretty quick succession – leaving you with the internal board burr that comes apart in the usual manner.
Reassembly is only really slightly trickier. You start with the board burr and then work out how the cage pieces need to lie against the boards in order to achieve the target shape and not interfere with one another (now there’s a thought for you to conjure with!).
Once you’ve got the basics sorted in your mind, it’s just a case of starting somewhere sensible and building it up from there … although, there is one little thing that might catch you out, as it caught me out, if you aren’t thinking far enough ahead…
A fun assembly for neophytes that ends up looking reasonably impressive.”
I received this very nice set of tray puzzles designed by Lixy and nicely made by Asobidea.
I recently picked up this set in Paradise from ‘Puzzlotus’.
Description and goals are listed below for each.
Cards of Diamonds:
The goal for this one requires packing all the pieces into the tray to make 1 to 8 of diamonds. The pieces can be rotated or flipped over.
Cards of Spades:
The goal for this one requires packing all the pieces into the tray to make 1 to 7 of spades. The pieces can be rotated or flipped over.
Four of Clubs:
The goal for this one requires packing all the pieces into the tray to make 4 of clubs. Pieces can be only be rotated but not turned over.
There are 12 challenges.
Three of Hearts:
The goal for this one requires packing all the pieces into the tray to make 3 of hearts. Pieces can be only be rotated but not turned over.
There are 12 challenges.
I recently won Juno’s Prototype version in Pine that was auctioned.
I was particularly pleased to have got this puzzle as it was the very first design Juno offered at his fledgling website Pluredro back in 2016.
Here’s Juno’s description of the sale copies that he crafted using Queensland Silver Ash and American Walnut:
“A polyhedral shape interlocking puzzle designed and made by Junichi Yananose in 2016.
The shape of the puzzle is based on a compound of cube and octahedron.
The inner octahedron itself is not self-standing. Once the outer cube is assembled containing the inner octahedron, the entire burr puzzle becomes stable and self-standing.
10 types of the pieces are used for both to the cube and octahedron to make the puzzle tricky and difficult enough even to serious puzzle enthusiasts.
The puzzle is named after Prof. Reza Sarhangi who made great contributions to math-art community.”
I was fortunate to have won this Prototype copy in Juno’s recent auction.
Here’s Juno’s details of this copy:
“The size is larger than the product version.
Two blocks were glued to form L-shaped pieces.
The box material is probably Queensland Maple” (its’s actually Fijian Mahogany).
Here’s Juno’s description of the sale copies from Pluredro:
“This is a puzzle where you take six pieces shaped like the L tetromino out of a box and then put them back in. It may sound easy, but it takes 23 moves using only linear motions to remove the first piece from the state where all the pieces are in the box. It can be done in about 20 moves by using rotational movements along the way, but it is not easy. There is only one spatial arrangement in which the six L-shaped pieces that make up this puzzle can be fitted inside the box. With patient examination of how the pieces can move, it is possible to fit them inside the box even when they are taken apart.
In recent years, puzzles that involve fitting pieces through small openings or removing them from inside small openings have become increasingly popular. Juno, however, found that it was difficult to handle the pieces when the openings were small, and so decided to design puzzles with larger openings. This was achieved by creating grooves and pins on the pieces, and grooves on the inside of the box to hold the pieces. In the actual product, grooves that penetrate the boards of the box are added to make the grooves visible from the outside. By doing this, it has become easier to understand how the grooves in the box restrict the movement of the pieces catching their pins.
The puzzle pieces are made of Fijian Mahogany with bamboo pins. The box is made with American Rock Maple for the sides and bamboo plywood for the bottom. Both the pieces and the box are finished to have a smooth surface, allowing the pieces to be moved by tilting the box and utilizing gravity. The four holes in the bottom of the box also help to manipulate the pieces.
Like many of our puzzle products, we utilized two CNC routers in the manufacturing process. Although the manufacturing process was time consuming, we believe we were able to achieve a comfortable level of precision to play with the puzzle.”
I recently picked up this pair of cool tray puzzles in Paradise from ‘Puzzlotus’, here’s the description from Asobidea.
They’re not too difficult but a lot of fun, especially for non-puzzle friends.
The Netherlands or France Flags:
“Pack all the pieces into the frame to make the flag of the Netherlands or France. Any piece can only be rotated but not flipped over.”
Japanese Flag:
“Pack all the pieces into the frame to make the Japanese flag. Any piece can only be rotated but not flipped over.”
