# Recent attempts



## StevieB (25 Jan 2007)

I managed to grab a few hours in the workshop over the christmas break and came out with the following

The first is a puzzle cut from an old calender, just to give myself some practice at freehand puzzle cutting. I think the pieces are a little too loopy, but I tried to incorporate both internal straight lines and no corners into the pattern. The picture is not ideal for a jigsaw since there is no line cutting with this type of image but it was the only calender I could cannabalise!












The second thing is a dragon from a Fantasy and Legends pattern book. This one I cut from 6mm baltic birch ply and overlaid a hand drawn puzzle template (sorry Carter!) to make a 92 piece puzzle. Again I was playing with my cutting so had not really though it through - if I had I would have stained it first then cut it :roll: This time I have incorporated non-locking tabs internally (it is fully interlocked when complete) and half tabs (two tabs per socket) to try and make it more difficult. It has just taken me an hour and a half to put it together for the photo - approx a piece a minute!
















The only other thing I managed was a free standing penguin of approx 9 pieces in 15mm maple. No photo of that though.

Cheers,

Steve.


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## PowerTool (25 Jan 2007)

Very nice,Steve - the dragon is particularly impressive  

Andrew


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## Gill (25 Jan 2007)

Hey, those are good, especially for someone who claims to be inexperienced. I'm not sure I can believe that :wink: .

We really need Carter to cast an expert eye over them, but what I really like about your freehand puzzle is the way that the pieces are consistent sizes and you've managed some rather tight turns.

More, more!



Gil


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## chrispuzzle (26 Jan 2007)

Great puzzles, Steve!

What did you mean by the pieces in the first puzzle being "too loopy"? They look good to me...

Chris


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## StevieB (26 Jan 2007)

Thanks for the comments! You flatter me Gill, I certainly need more practice before I am anywhere near your standard!

Chris - by too loopy I guess I mean the pieces are not clear tab and socket pieces in the traditional sense but rather each piece seems to me to be almost a finger joint in places, and rely on curves to hold them rather than tabs. The whole thing is fully interlocking but I need to refine the style somewhat. A look at this page 

http://www.mgcpuzzles.com/mgcpuzzles/childrenspuzzles.html

gives a nice indication of 6 different styles (click the links at the top of the page) - I dont seem to be consistently any of them  Mind you, since he charges up to $8000 dollars for some of his larger puzzles I am tempted to try and learn :lol: :lol: 

Not really sure if there is a market for this type of stuff, I simply like doing traditional jigsaws so have extended that into woodworking. 

Cheers,

Steve.


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## Gill (26 Jan 2007)

StevieB":339cmjmr said:


> ... since he charges up to $8000 dollars for some of his larger puzzles I am tempted to try and learn ...


 :shock: 
I might have just cut my last dance segmentation.

Kerrrrrrr-*chinngggg!!!!!* 






Gill


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## chrispuzzle (26 Jan 2007)

Steve -

Now I understand.

I am beginning to favor a mix of round and earlet tabs, with "nightmare" elements, according to the MGC scheme of things. I am not sure that all this classification is entirely good for the creative juices!

There seems to be a theory that the best cutters are able to cut with a single style of tab and a constant piece and tab size, which is fair enough as a measure of skill, but my friends seem to love puzzles with unusual and baffling shapes with many curls. Anything which gets away from the tyranny of the traditional strip cut!

Chris


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## StevieB (26 Jan 2007)

Do you have any examples of your work you could post Chris - I for one would be very interested!

Cheers,

Steve.


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## Carter Johnson (26 Jan 2007)

Steve, you seem to be really on the right track. I like the idea of developing one's own style of freehand puzzle pieces, and you seem headed in that positive direction. Throw out any preconceived notion that pieces need to have certain kinds of locks, or need to be a certain size and shape. Occasionally my puzzles will have little tiny pieces. For me it's a matter of what the color lines dictate.

And you're right. You needed a pattern for the intricate pieces in the second puzzle. Good results!

Mark of MGCPuzzles and I started cutting puzzles at the same time about 15 years ago. He went (of necessity) in a commercial direction and I, by choice, did not. He is now, I believe, the world's thrid largest puzzle maker. Stieg Puzzles and Elms Puzzles are 1 and 2 but they are production outfits that employ cutters. Look them up on the www. They're quite something, and they charge much more than Mark.

I know and have met most of the puzzle cutters here in the U.S. and all of them sell their work for (roughly) a certain amount per puzzle piece, ranging from $1 to $1.75 ($1= about .5 pound). The market for the puzzles is almost exclusively over the internet at first and then by renewal and referral.

Keep up the good work. If you want to ask any questions off the forum, feel free to email me directly at [email protected].

Have phun.....Carter


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## DomValente (26 Jan 2007)

OOH, OOH, think I know somewhere those photo jigsaws would sell.

Dom


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## Chris Knight (26 Jan 2007)

At the price Carter is "offering" I may just get me a Hegner..


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## chrispuzzle (27 Jan 2007)

It's finding the guy with the $8000 that's tough! Not cutting the puzzle...

My own learning curve on puzzle cutting is that the trickiest part is not the actual cutting but preparing the board and picture for cutting, and protecting the picture while you are cutting. It is easy to mark the surface with dings or fingerprints, or get a tiny smear of glue onto it, and so on. If you were asking commercial prices you'd need to be extremely vigilant at all stages in the process: you can't just buff up the surface with a fine grit sander!

SteveB: I haven't got any puzzles stored as online pictures at the moment but I think now this forum has opened up I will, so I'll post some when I have that done. I'm right that you can't post pictures into this forum except by linking to a page holding the picture?


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## StevieB (27 Jan 2007)

Thanks for the kind comments Carter. I have had a look at the Elms puzzles on the web, but they only show the prints not samples of their cutting. Stieg I couldnt find by google at all. Some very busy (dare I say messy!) websites out there though - even Marks is very confusing :? Some stunning images though. I was intrigued by the Elms rental scheme, not sure they would post to the UK for that but it would be a good way of seeing samples and getting ideas.

I have managed to pick up some larger art prints today which will hopefully allow me to cut some proper jigsaw designs - watch this space but dont hold your breath :wink: Time is one thing I do not have a large amount of at the moment!

Chris, agreed, if you know of anyone with $8000 do share his name round won't you  Yes, a web hosting provided such as photobucket is free and easy to use - even generates the image code for you to cut and paste into messages so that your images show up - its how the ones above were done. Do you sell any of your puzzles or is it a hobby for personal use / friends and family?

Cheers,

Steve.


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## chrispuzzle (27 Jan 2007)

StevieB":ockxbq4q said:


> Do you have any examples of your work you could post Chris - I for one would be very interested!
> 
> Cheers,
> 
> Steve.



Here is one which I did as a Christmas present. It has 147 pieces and is about A4 size, slightly trimmed. I'm hoping the image turns out OK as this iis the first time I tried linking to an image like this.






There are a few simple freehand figurals in it, some more successful than others.

Chris


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## StevieB (27 Jan 2007)

Looking good Chris! I can spot a duck and possibly a teddy bear, and is that a top hat in there as well? I have not put figurals into any of mine but I might now do so on the next one  I am guessing the entire piece was cut freehand without a template, although you do not seem to be as evil as me and have kept all your edge pieces straight :twisted: 

Cheers,

Steve.


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## chrispuzzle (27 Jan 2007)

I kept all the edge pieces straight but there are one or two "false" edges in the body of the picture. It is suprising how difficult just a few false edges makes it for people who like to do the edge first. Also I find if some of the edge pieces have a very short edge - eg, only 1./4" or so - then it also confuses the victim. Victim? I mean customer...recipient...friend...

On the figurals I imagine it's an advantage to be able to cut them freehand (and eventually show off one's skill). The alternative means fixing them to the puzzle which risks damage to the surface of the picture, although very low tack paper ought to be OK I suppose.

Chris


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## Gill (27 Jan 2007)

My goodness, Steve, you've got sharp eyes! I'm not sure it's a duck, though - with a neck like that I reckon it's a goose. Or is there a duck and a goose in there, but you've seen the duck and I've seen the goose? Only Chris will be able to tell us, I suppose.

One of the great virtues of these free-hand puzzles is the way that a skilled cutter can make the puzzle fun without detracting from the picture itself. Chris, that's an excellent example  .

Gill


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## chrispuzzle (28 Jan 2007)

Gill's right, it's supposed to be a goose. 

There's also a kangaroo WNW of the teddy bear. With a Joey. OK, with a bump. :? 

Steve is right, I didn't use a template for any of it. I think it would be much more stressful and difficult to use a template!

Mind you, I have printed out Gill's wolf picture to have a go at a proper piece of scroll art.

Chris


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