Thanks to lots of advice I received here (including super-awesome advice from jbmanning5) I have managed to create a chipboard puzzle that is cut all the way through and not burned to a crisp! It’s one of my husband’s photos - of the new FHC building in Philadelphia. It’s only 150 pieces but it’s surprisingly difficult given the reflection of the clouds on the windows! I still have a LOT of refining to do…it has a bit more char on the lighter pieces than I’d like, and it still required a fair bit of effort to separate the pieces after cutting, and I could have been a bit more diligent with spraying the acrylic sealer…BUT it’s a start!
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Forgot to mention that I used this GREAT jigsaw puzzle generator:
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Stunning photo!
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Oooh! Nice shot! And the puzzle looks great! 
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Oh, that is SO nice! Now make a custom box for it.
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Very nice photo! Fun to turn it into a puzzle!
I took to doing several coats of acrylic sealer, alternating direction of spray with each coat. I then give it a few days for everything to set and air out.
Looking great!
For any off-color stuff around cuts in the light areas, a barely damp paper towel can usually rub it off, if a dry towel won’t do it. Or, you can breath some hot air onto it, like cleaning sunglasses.
Personally, when I develop settings for the puzzles, I aim for a puzzle that I can slide out of the bed and into a pan in pretty much one piece. It’s just barely hanging on, but it’ll come out all together. This way I know I have the tightest possible cut. It should separate pretty easy once you have it to a working area. A little twist and the piece will pop off. I plan to build some kind of vibrating platform (concrete vibrator or something) that will separate those pieces like that.
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The reflections really do make it a fine puzzle!
Awesome…
Would a low-tack masking work? I guess that could be a pain to remove - unless you then put a piece of high-tack masking over that when the cut is completed.
New GF owner here. How’d you get the image on the piece you cut? If adhesive, what kind that won’t mess up the device or create a bunch of smoke? I don’t know all of the lingo. 
@jbmanning5 is a professional puzzle maker. I think if you stick his name and terms like “puzzle” and “adhesive” in the forum search you’ll probably turn up a gold mine.
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Turned out great. What a satisfying project! Nicely done.