Wood Dowel Puzzle – Advanced Version

Last week I posted a dowel puzzle that contained 8 segments. To my surprise, it turned out to very challenging for my coworkers because there was only a 25% completion/success rate. The typical time before someone asked for a hammer to make the pieces fit was about 5 minutes.

This week, I’ve upped the challenge with a larger, 16 segment version. As you will see, symmetry doesn’t help out this time.

Tools:

• Saw (table, miter, band or hand)
• Sander
• Wood Clamps

Materials:

• Wood - 6.5” x 4” x .5” thick
• Wood - 1.5” x 24" x .5” thick
• Dowel – 1” diameter x 48” Long
• Glue

You will build your puzzle to this drawing.

You will build the box to this drawing.

Cut 1/2" thick wood to 4" x 6.5". Since the dowels are 1" in diameter, you might want to add a small amount to the 4" dimension.

Cut the sides as shown. If you grew the base, grow the 4" dimension on the side as well.

Use glue to attach the sides to the base. Use wood clamps to apply pressure. I filled in a few small gaps with glue & saw dust at this point.

The first 8 segments are cut with a 60 degree angle. Make two for each piece that has a (x2) note. I used a combination of a miter saw and band saw. For safety reasons, I used the band saw for the smaller pieces.

The straight pieces are simple to cut. The green piece with angles on both sides took a little time since you will need to make the cuts parallel. Take your time and this shouldn't be an issue.

OK, it's hard to cut all of these pieces to the exact size. Use a sander to fine tune the fit.

I didn't have that many colors so I took the easy route and stained the puzzle with a cabernet colored stain from Varathane.

Place the segments in the box as shown.

If you plan to build this for someone, you might want to print solution instructions to go with the puzzle.

Hope you enjoyed the project!

Click Here for smaller version.