Puzzle T-16

What kind of puzzles do you like?
I like three-dimensional puzzles, but sometimes I feel like challenging flat puzzles, like pentominoes.

I used to play with pentominoes when I was small, and honestly, I got tired of it a little. So, I had been looking for something else. Then, a good opportunity came. Juno gave me some timber that couldn't be used for normal sized puzzles.

It was the time for making mini-puzzles!

I wanted to make something that had not ever been made. What I decided to make was T-16 designed by Juno in 1990. As you can guess from the name, T-16 has 16 T shaped pieces and each piece has a different length. Here is a picture of T-16's pieces. You see, there are odd shaped T pieces.

At first, I was going to make flat pieces, but Juno said that T-16 can be played for two level packing. If so, it seems to be a nice idea to have a box for packing T-16. I thought that I could make it because I have made a flat box for the puzzle "Holey Rectangle" before.
However, it was difficult to make a box with no gaps.
Just in case I made mistakes, I made five boxes for four pairs of T-16s. The results were, luckily, I could make five boxes well.

Well, what I mean "well" is based on my standard, you know? These are boxes I made. I think they are not bad. What do you think?

The boxes I made are for the packing of 8 x 8 for the lower level and 6 x 6 for the upper level. This is a little awkward shaped isn't it? I haven't played with it yet, but I'm sure it's not as easy as it looks.

What? Why did I make four pairs of T16?
One day you'll understand.

 

My First Automaton "Jumping Kangaroo"

My dream finally came true!
The dream I have been having is making automata.

I couldn't make automata when I was in Japan because I didn't have enough tools and a workplace. Now, there is a workplace for puzzles and it's a very convenient environment to make automata.

The first automaton I have decided to make was a very simple design. There are only two cams. I thought a simple structure would be good for the first challenge. 

Ta-dah! 
This is the first automaton I made. It's a jumping kangaroo.

The body of the kangaroo is connected to the stick underneath the box and it's touched one of the cams. Unfortunately, the shape of this cam wasn't good. I drew straight lines where I should have drawn curvy lines, that was the big mistake. Therefore, the movement of this cam is not perfect, but looks not bad.

As you can see, the kangaroo's front feet and ears don't move. I wanted to move those parts, but you know, this was the first challenge and I didn't think I could do it. After I took those pictures, I have noticed that I forgot to make eyes. I'll add the eyes later.

This time, I didn't draw a detailed design in advance. I made a box roughly. So, I'm going to draw a detailed plan using 3D software next time. I haven't decided what will be next. At the least, I want to use gears.

Please look forward to the next automaton!

Holey Rectangle

Today, I would like to show you a puzzle I made. I mean it's not my design, of course. This is "Holey Rectangle" designed by Juno a long time ago. This is the puzzle that makes 16 holes with packing all the pieces into a 6 x 8 rectangle.

It seems like there are more people who love 3D puzzles rather than 2D puzzles. I usually like 3D puzzles, but it's nice to play with flat puzzles like this sometimes.
I don't know how difficult this is. Honestly, I haven't succeeded to solve it yet. If you are my blog reader, you may know that I have two unsolved puzzles; Half Cut and Tricky Dick. Maybe, I have added one more unsolved puzzle to the collection.

Talking about woodworking, it was my first experience of making a proper box.
I think I could make it well. What do you think?

I was going to make more extra "Holey Rectangles", but I couldn't get enough timber. If I could make another copy of this puzzle, I thought I can put it on eBay auction as I have done before. Maybe next time.

Have a nice puzzling day!

Juno's World: Holey Rectangle
http://www.polyhedra.jp/puzzle/holey-rectangle01-e.html

Fun Videos: Chris Ramsay

Hi puzzle lovers! Juno and I've been having busy days. 
We have been making four different puzzles at the same time. No wonder it has been busy.

Today, I'm going to write about the famous YouTuber, Chris Ramsay.
Honestly, I didn't know him until I heard about him from Brian (Mr Puzzles). Lotus sequential discovery puzzle designed by Wil Strijbos was introduced by Chris Ramsay and it seems that it had an outburst of popularity. I haven't seen this yet, but before seeing it I can tell that I am not able to solve it. It's a very difficult puzzle.

Chris Ramsey is a magician who loves puzzles. He introduces lots of puzzles on YouTube and also, of course, he performs magic sometimes before challenging to solve a puzzle. I like him showing that kind of magic. It's not a large-scale performance yet it's lots of fun.

His way of explaining puzzles is, if I can explain it briefly, entertainment. His talking is fantastic and in addition the camera work and video editing are great. I wonder if he does all the work by himself?

In case you haven't seen his videos, I think I should tell you this. He explains each puzzle's solution, so if you don't want to see a solution, don't watch until it ends, but if you have already solved it, it's worth watching until it ends because it's quite fun.

I am looking forward to him updating his next video.

Chris Ramsey: http://www.chris-ramsay.com/

YouTube: Chris Ramsay - Magic - Puzzles - Vlogs : 

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrPUg54jUy1T_wII9jgdRbg