John K Jordan
07-01-2018, 7:30 AM
When reading the thread "An old puzzle box" I pulled my books on puzzles off the shelf.
https://sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?266024-An-old-puzzle-box&p=2826555#post2826555
After looking through them again I'm inspired to make some wooden puzzles!
These are the books I have plus a little about each:
New Wood Puzzle Designs
"A guide to the construction of both new and historical puzzles"
James W. Follette, 2001
https://www.amazon.com/New-Wood-Puzzle-Designs-Construction/dp/0941936570
This book has 12 puzzle projects from cubelets, disks, rings, and puzzles that open.
He has a good section on wood and wood movement, so important for puzzles that have to fit together!
The book as good illustrations and instructions. You can browse through some of the pages on Amazon.
Crafting Wood Logic Puzzles
Charlie Self and Tom Lensch, 2006
"18 three-dimensional games for the hand and mind"
https://www.amazon.com/Crafting-Wood-Logic-Puzzles-Three-dimensional/dp/158923247X
The preview on Amazon has the table of contents and intro plus some pages at the end of the book.
These puzzle designs are mostly made from rectangular wooden pieces that fit together, some with complex shapes. Included are a few string puzzles and other puzzles.
There is a very good section on wood, tools, gluing, and finishing. The first project in this book is very useful to a woodworker - building a small table saw sled to cut small puzzle pieces accurately and safely. Good book!
Puzzles Old and New
"How to make and solve them"
Jerry Slocum and Jack Botermans, 1986
https://www.amazon.com/Puzzles-Old-New-Make-Solve/dp/0295965797
Perhaps of interested to some: the forward is by Martin Gardner.
(This book has the same name as a MUCH older book by Hoffmann)
This book is fantastic, probably my favorite on puzzles. Fortunately it has been reprinted after being out of print for some time.
There are illustrations of 100s of puzzles, some designed by "modern" mathematicians and puzzle makers, some from the time of ancient Greece and the Phoenicians. A lot of them are from the 1800s. Although not specifically a woodworker's puzzle book, there are plenty that include drawings and instructions. Others could be made easily just by looking at the illustrations and photos.
To give some idea of the depth, this is a list of how the puzzles are classified in the book:
- Put-together puzzles
- Take apart puzzles
- interlocking solid puzzles
- Disentanglement puzzles
- Sequential movement puzzles
- Puzzle vessels
- Dexterity puzzles
- Vanish puzzles
- Impossible object puzzles
- Folding puzzles.
The one on folding puzzles has instructions for a hexaflexanon - I still have one I made in the '80s.
I think this book is well worth having on the shelf, even if just for browsing.
Not specifically puzzle books:
Making Toys that Teach by Les Neufeld
Has a few wooden puzzle projects that would be good for young children: a Shape Puzzle Box and a Stacking Pyramid.
Very easy to make, would be great for gifts or to have around when the young grandkids visit.
Richard Raffan also has a stacker in his Turning Toys book.
I thought I had another puzzle book but I must have loaned it to someone...
Please list puzzle books you may have and what you think of them!
JKJ
https://sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?266024-An-old-puzzle-box&p=2826555#post2826555
After looking through them again I'm inspired to make some wooden puzzles!
These are the books I have plus a little about each:
New Wood Puzzle Designs
"A guide to the construction of both new and historical puzzles"
James W. Follette, 2001
https://www.amazon.com/New-Wood-Puzzle-Designs-Construction/dp/0941936570
This book has 12 puzzle projects from cubelets, disks, rings, and puzzles that open.
He has a good section on wood and wood movement, so important for puzzles that have to fit together!
The book as good illustrations and instructions. You can browse through some of the pages on Amazon.
Crafting Wood Logic Puzzles
Charlie Self and Tom Lensch, 2006
"18 three-dimensional games for the hand and mind"
https://www.amazon.com/Crafting-Wood-Logic-Puzzles-Three-dimensional/dp/158923247X
The preview on Amazon has the table of contents and intro plus some pages at the end of the book.
These puzzle designs are mostly made from rectangular wooden pieces that fit together, some with complex shapes. Included are a few string puzzles and other puzzles.
There is a very good section on wood, tools, gluing, and finishing. The first project in this book is very useful to a woodworker - building a small table saw sled to cut small puzzle pieces accurately and safely. Good book!
Puzzles Old and New
"How to make and solve them"
Jerry Slocum and Jack Botermans, 1986
https://www.amazon.com/Puzzles-Old-New-Make-Solve/dp/0295965797
Perhaps of interested to some: the forward is by Martin Gardner.
(This book has the same name as a MUCH older book by Hoffmann)
This book is fantastic, probably my favorite on puzzles. Fortunately it has been reprinted after being out of print for some time.
There are illustrations of 100s of puzzles, some designed by "modern" mathematicians and puzzle makers, some from the time of ancient Greece and the Phoenicians. A lot of them are from the 1800s. Although not specifically a woodworker's puzzle book, there are plenty that include drawings and instructions. Others could be made easily just by looking at the illustrations and photos.
To give some idea of the depth, this is a list of how the puzzles are classified in the book:
- Put-together puzzles
- Take apart puzzles
- interlocking solid puzzles
- Disentanglement puzzles
- Sequential movement puzzles
- Puzzle vessels
- Dexterity puzzles
- Vanish puzzles
- Impossible object puzzles
- Folding puzzles.
The one on folding puzzles has instructions for a hexaflexanon - I still have one I made in the '80s.
I think this book is well worth having on the shelf, even if just for browsing.
Not specifically puzzle books:
Making Toys that Teach by Les Neufeld
Has a few wooden puzzle projects that would be good for young children: a Shape Puzzle Box and a Stacking Pyramid.
Very easy to make, would be great for gifts or to have around when the young grandkids visit.
Richard Raffan also has a stacker in his Turning Toys book.
I thought I had another puzzle book but I must have loaned it to someone...
Please list puzzle books you may have and what you think of them!
JKJ