Volunteers and art for contemporary arts center

General
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Unfortunately, they were not puzzle boxes in the sense you might have been thinking of, but an electronic puzzle in the form of a wooden cube with various sensors hidden under/in the faces. It was one of the 70 puzzles in a weekend long treasure hunt done by teams of puzzle experts.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/mkanoap/sets/72157632906104915/

I was thinking of bringing the one I have by to sit on a table for people to look at, but I only have the one at the moment. The others all went to the guy who commissioned them for a treasure hunt. I’d be happy to cut more, BUT, I don’t have the electronics to finish them. And without the electronics, they are just a mysterious wooden cube with cryptograms on them. Sorry!

I had stopped paying attention to this thread since I knew I wouldn’t be available on the 3rd, and only noticed yesterday from the facebook page that there was another event. What time is it taking place?

Have you guys given any thought to doing the “learn to solder” thing during this event? Depending on the time, I could come by and help with that as well if we want to/can do it.

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Marcus, I’d say try to get one of the boxes burned anyway! It’s still a good example of what’s capable with laser cutting and etching. Just because the puzzle doesn’t work doesn’t mean it’s not neat to see the box on its own.

Also, I sent Tiffany and Mike home with one of my laser cut 6-packs this weekend, so it’ll be present at the show. Here’s all three of us at the Bloatarian Brewing League July meeting.

Ian

23

Like I said, I have a working box, I just can’t produce more of them on short notice.

The wood I used was http://www.homedepot.com/p/1-4-in-x-4-ft-x-8-ft-Moisture-Resistant-Plywood-Underlayment-431178/203183010#.UdGhHayhjU0, cut into 24 12X16 sections. I could only get them cut to 24X16 at home depot, so I just cut them in half with the table saw that was at the hive. Each made 2 boxes, the boxes being 3x3x3 inches. The quality of this wood varied. It’s the “moisture resistant” glue that allegedly makes them better for lasering, but resin in the wood does sometimes cause problems. It took about 15 minutes per cube, but there was a bunch of engraving on them. Maybe 8 minutes of side cutting?

That puzzle box on the thingverse link requires 1/8 and 1/4 inch wood, so the wood I had (several panels of which are in my locker at the hive) would be the wrong width. When doing those tab edges, it’s important to match the size of the tabs to the width of the wood, so switching widths is problematic.

If you just want to make cubes, I would just make a new design, possibly smaller so it will cut further. There is a tool installed on the inkscape on the laser cutter control computer that can make them lickity split. If you made 2x2 cubes they would be 24 square inches each, and you could maybe fit 7-8 per panel.

Or design them without a flat top and shorter (like 2x2x1) so they are little display boxes, and you could get 15-16 per panel. A thinner wood might be better at that size (which would also cut down on laser time). Since all this frugality is turning them in to boring little boxes, maybe something should be burned into them to make them more interesting.

Jordan (my son, not any of the other hive Jordans) made a dice tower that last I saw was sitting on the shelf in the kitchen where the games are. That would be a good thing to bring if you just want to show things made with a laser cutter. I have a couple of boxes (with hinged lids) that I made to practice making boxes.

dice tower: https://www.flickr.com/photos/mkanoap/sets/72157639334174823/

hinged box: https://www.flickr.com/photos/mkanoap/8576102554/in/photolist-e4QLFo-e4QLv9-e4Keag

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