Category Archives: Technical

Double-sided Pocket Watch (part 2)

Second Challenge – reducing or preventing tear-out roughness on the backside Once the alignment issue was resolved, next was to reduce the amount of tear out on the backside of the puzzle. At first, I attempted to do this by … Continue reading

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Double-sided Pocket Watch Puzzle (part 1)

I have wanted to create a double-sided puzzle for a number of years. The first one I ever encountered personally was from the 2012 Puzzle Parley. It was created by Fools Gold Puzzles and has a reverse image on it … Continue reading

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Mounting the image to the wood

I am going to walk through the steps I use to mount an image to the wood. This is my next project to cut. The customer emailed me with a digital file she wants cut into a puzzle. It is … Continue reading

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Dry Mount Press Issues and Maintenance

In this post, I will discuss some issues I have encountered with my dry mount press. I will also review the manufacturer recommended maintenance on these. My particular press is a Seal Masterpiece 210M. This unit was designed for mounting … Continue reading

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The Boxes I Use for My Puzzles

There have been numerous postings about boxes on several puzzle related Facebook groups. Some people insist that custom puzzles deserve a wooden box, others detest wooden boxes. One fellow indicated that if the puzzle comes in a wooden box, he … Continue reading

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Puzzle Material – First set of results

This is a continuation of my last blog post. This project is taking longer than expected. I have cut seven of the different wood samples. I will post my findings of these seven, as I am not sure how long … Continue reading

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Puzzle Material (part 2)

Boulter sample pack The catalyst for this puzzle board comparison was the announced availability of sampler packs from Boulter Plywood with five 8″ x 8″ samples of different varieties of plywood. Dee Rogers on her Facebook group page explained that … Continue reading

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Puzzle Material

There are many possible materials to use for a good jigsaw puzzle. It is not always a form of wood, either. There are numerous examples of puzzles made from materials such as acrylic, thin metal, etc. Someone has recently made … Continue reading

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Scroll Saws – (Part 4 – blade movement – I only thought I was done)

Well, I thought I was done writing about scroll saws. I really had nothing else to say, unless I was presented with an opportunity to use someone else’s saw to cut a similar puzzle. However, I received a couple of … Continue reading

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Scroll Saws (Part 3 – Cutting Comparison)

This last installment will be a discussion of my observations as I cut three very similar Dragon Tail puzzles, one with each of the three saws I have discussed before. For all three puzzles, I started with a 9″ x … Continue reading

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