Stolen from Chinney

[Roby]

Here is a few pics of my current progress on my next puzzlebox.  I stole the idea from Chinney and his setup for making threads on the lathe.  I still have a long way to go on this project and need to put some diamond stoppers in the ends to keep the nut from coming off, and separate the round nut into two pieces so that it will also serve as a leg/stand, as well as put inlays into the ends of the box, but I could not have gotten this far without the wayward platypus and his odd way of using the lathe.

Thanks Stephen.

[Canuck]

Very nicely done!!!!!!! 

[Arc Light]

Hey I knew there would be some benefits to being a late flyer    my plane leaves tomorrow morning, so it's cool that I get to see the pics of your new puzzle box Robert.  Fantastic!!!  I really like the mechanism on this!  Very cool work.  The way the thread is cut just on the corners of the box doesn't look like it would be a thread!  I think many will be surprised at that fact!  Can't wait to see the finished product!!!

[brianpletcher]

Very cool! Looking forward to seeing the finished puzzle. Reminds me of Hanayama Nutcase (http://www.puzzlemaster.ca/browse/metal/689-cast-nutcase), one of Oskar's designs, though the mechanism sounds different, if I remember correctly from your original post.

Brian

[MBD]

Very nice looking! Can not wait.

[philtomlinson]

sweet!

very nice looking!

[Roby]

Phil,  I have heard from you in a coon's age.  How is the puzzle cabinet coming along.  No excuses, it has been over a year now.  We require pictures.

[Canuck]

Yeah Phil...'what the freaking freak' 

[Roby]

John, I am going to have to start charging you royalties of you keep on using my catch-phrase.

[Canuck]

John, I am going to have to start charging you royalties of you keep on using my catch-phrase.

Oh wait until my next puzzle design gets published, it will be called: 'What the freaking freak'

[MBD]

Yea, 

Phil, what about those puzzle cabinets.  I would like a miniature one for my mame box collection. 

[philtomlinson]

Cabinets are coming along!

My new title, as "World's Slowest Cabinetmaker" has yet to be challenged!   

Amid other distractions (life?), I finally got the lighting details figured out. Whew!  What a freakin' rabbit hole that turned out to be!

But here is the status report:  The cabinets look gorgeous!  I figured out a terrific finishing schedule that very nicely mimics the colors and depth of a perfect Stickley cabinet from 100 years ago.  I am right now spraying base coats of Target WB Alkyd Varnish on pieces and parts in prep for final assembly. Everything else has been ordered and is either here or on the way: tempered glass shelves, magnets, springs, door pulls, lights, special screws, soss hinges, regular hinges, and blah blah blah.

Been trying to solve one last problem and that is how to cut a perfect mortise for the sliding muntin part of the puzzle cab. It is one thing to cut mortise and tenons to a good or reasonable fit.  It is quite something else to cut them so the pieces slide perfectly.  Perhaps one of those industrial horizontal mortising machines would do the job, or some machinist's milling machine, but I don't have the bucks for that.  Suffice to say that 3 HP routers drift, the Powermatic mortiser is just sloppy enough not to work, and chopping by hand is impossible.  I am experimenting with my amazing Wood Slicer band saw blade to actually rip a stile, route in a perfect mortise and put it back together.  Tedious, but invisible.

Am going to take a few photos of this gorgeous quarter-sawn white oak with the finish on it and get them posted.

[Canuck]

Oh wow, can't wait to see those pics....

[jaurand]

Phil,

Good update! Can't wait to see the finished project!

What if you use the mortiser or drill press to cut an undersize mortise and then sneak up on final dimensions with a really sharp chisel? The only places where the fit has to be perfect are the entry and exit points - the middle of the mortise is not as critical. (You might even want to undercut some of the inner walls to improve ease of movement.

J

[philtomlinson]

Phil,

Good update! Can't wait to see the finished project!

What if you use the mortiser or drill press to cut an undersize mortise and then sneak up on final dimensions with a really sharp chisel? The only places where the fit has to be perfect are the entry and exit points - the middle of the mortise is not as critical. (You might even want to undercut some of the inner walls to improve ease of movement.

J

Good point, Jeff, but these mortises are only 1/4" x 1-1/4".  There is no mortising chisel smaller than 1/4" that I know of.   I did experiment with drilling through with a 3/16" bit and using a chisel guide to pare out the mortise.  It is still quite tedious and I have 12 of them to do, not to mention the 64 blind mortises for the non-moving muntins.