Fantastic model, many thanks for sharing this one!
I used silk PLA for the stones and matte PLA for the box and lid. I really like the feel of the magnets - I just used 9mm x 2mm ones, turned out to be more than sufficient.
Puzzle Box / Block Puzzle
Can you fit all stones in the box?
In the contest Tabletop Games and Puzzles
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updated August 13, 2022
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Prints great, works great
Finally! My blocks follow the New Melting Block design, which uses 1 less piece and is said to be "far more difficult". (Melting Block is the original name of this puzzle)
Also shown on the last picture, with smaller box, even fewer pieces and bigger red stone is Parabox, and I've uploaded a model for them.
This is definitely the best looking puzzle I've ever printed, I really enjoy it. Thank you for the model, and also thanks for helping me find the origin of this puzzle! (edited)
@Extrutim Hi, could you share with us some info on the wooden puzzle you got inspiration from?Because I just read about a 30 years old wooden puzzle from Japan which has similar pieces and goal to your design, except math of pieces are slightly different (which allow a mathematically perfect fit in the container) and there are only 6 white pieces and one extra green piece.I'd like to model this puzzle, but I'm more willing to learn more about it first. Currently I don't even know the name of the puzzle, and I'm curious about its relationship with your wooden puzzle. May I ask, is your wooden puzzle from Jean Claude Constantin? Please, any help is appreciated!
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@Extrutim Thank you very much, now I think I have a good story. If I ever publish a model of that simpler 7 piece puzzle I'll certainly include all the background information I knew, maybe somebody who see it would provide us more information. At the moment all I really know is the 7 piece puzzle is from the legendary Nob Yoshigahara.
And thank you again, for bring us a wonderful puzzle. (edited)
@Extrutim Guess what? I think I found name and origin of our puzzles! Turns out they are from different designers, both designs are dated back to 1980s, or even 70s.
"My" 7 piece puzzle is "Parabox" by Nob Yoshigahara. And I finally saw the photo of that green block.
Your 9 piece wooden puzzle is originally "Melting Block" by Thomas H. O'Beirne. This one is more popular, many versions are being made, some with different names, among which a popular name is "Redstone Box" by Creative Crafthouse:
https://www.amazon.com/Creative-Crafthouse-Redstone-puzzle-teaser/dp/B006IGBPPY
Knowing names, I also find designer's original dimension of "Melting Block". The numbers are freaking me out. Both 8 and 9 blocks can form a perfect cube without holes, as always. The beauty is, when adding the 9th block, the cube expands in all THREE axes to form the new cube! Of the three expansion, the biggest difference is height, and that's merely 1/57! Hey are you interested to do an update with these numbers?
@Extrutim any instruction about puzzle? Should I print two sets of stones or just one?
@YuriiMorozov_574335 You need to print all of the stones. For the lids and legs, you can choose which ones you want.
@Extrutim I meant more about puzzle logic. printing insctructions clear, thanks
Great design, easy print! Can't wait to see how hard it is to put together. Thanks!
