Customer Reviews

Crafting Wood Logic Puzzles: 18 Three-dimensional Games for the Hands and Mind

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is a really great book. It has plans for a couple of sleds for the table saw and 18 puzzles. It has materials lists, easy to use instructions with solutions to all puzzles and lots of helpful tips. Highly Recommended.

This book has proved to provide both interesting and in some cases challenging wood working exercises.

The resulting puzzles are a big hit with friends and family - the hints for presents are mounting.

Its also a great way to use up all those scraps of wood I've been hording but haven't been able to use.

I've made three puzzles so far. Making them is a bit of a puzzle in itself, as you can imagine. All were done using a bandsaw. They all worked. I did'nt have to redue anything, so the plans were acurate. I made the twenty minute puzzle first and passed a few to freinds and family. I was surprized with the response. They could'nt leave them alone. So far, this book has been well worth it.

An excellent book of puzzles ;whether you want to make your own,or just like puzzles.
This would be an excellent choice for someone who would like to start making their own puzzles.It is reasonably priced,well constructed,the paper,printing and color photographs and detailed illustrations are top notch.The first 33 pages of the book cover tools,materials,techniques,and information on woods,finishing,jigs,,and other workshop hints.The next 82 pages give extremely well illustrated instructions on how to go about making 18, more or less classic wood puzzles.All the puzzles are all made of wood except for the first three which encompass cords and/or metal rings.The last 9 pages give excellent instructions along with detailed photographs for solving each puzzle.Dimensions are given in inches,but a conversion chart for metric is included.
The book is intended for people who want to construct these puzzles in their workshops and who are woodworkers.However even if one is not;most of these puzzles can be made with rudimentary tools and skills.A common element in several of the puzzles is a simple cube.These can be made simply,purchased from craft stores,etc.I ,for instance, made several Soma Cubes using die sold in a package of 12 in the Dollar store,some glue,and clamps.
The trays and/or boxes for other puzzles are likewise very basic and simple.The "Burr" puzzles are much more complicated and require more skills.
Overall, this book is a great place to start.The only thing I would suggest about this book is that it should have had a page or so Bibliography for other books on making puzzles;of which there are many others.Just to help someone who wants to pursue puzzle making further;I would suggest;

"Puzzles Old & New How To Make And Solve Them" by Jerry Slocum and Jack
Botermans (see my Review Nov.4,2006

"New Book Of Puzzles" by Slocum & Botermans--101 Classic and Modern Puzzles to
Make and Solve See my Review December 2,2003

"Creative Puzzles Of The World" by Peter van Delft and Jack Botermans "(See my
Review

"Geometric Puzzle Design" by Stewart Coffin (More Advanced)

There are many other more advanced books on Puzzle BoXes,Puzzle Locks,etc.
For those who are interested,wood puzzles ,boxes,locks can be very intricate,and challenging.They can be very beautiful works of art,collector items,and even sold as limited editions costing hundreds of dollars.

I found this book at my local library but had to eventually purchase it. Lots of variety in construction and difficulty. Some of the puzzles in this book can be made in a few hours, some take several evenings. Similarly, some take a few minutes to solve and some several days without instructions.

Easy to follow instructions, good photos, an all-around fun book and great intro to wood logic puzzles.

This turned out to be a great gift for my father, he loves his scroll saw and the intricate details he can craft with it. He saws this book is great.

I have made 5 of the 18 puzzles out of this book, but have found 3 mistakes in the book. So you need to be smarter then the author of the book to figure out the mistakes. I enjoyed the book and like the puzzles. The book just needs to be updated and mistakes fixed.