Puzzle Solved!

Made on a Glowforge
#1

I love jigsaw puzzles. So, of course, I had to try to make one.

It’s not as easy as it sounds…

But now I have a fairly reliable method and have found some measure of success with it. I started with the image, which I engraved, coloured and varnished. Then I cut out the shape and the puzzle pieces. I decided to make a tray to build the puzzle in and it works beautifully.

I used 1/8" Baltic birch for the puzzle and the tray. I coloured it with regular old felt markers and let it sit for a couple of days before I varnished (front and back) it to keep the colours from bleeding. With the varnish, there was very little scorching from the laser when I cut out the puzzle pieces and what was there, just wiped away.

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63 Likes
#2

Wow! That is very cool. I love the puzzle in a frame.

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#3

Now that is a winner all around. Great technique and beautiful design. If you don’t already sell those I suggest you hop on it. Apparently puzzle sales are through the roof now with the whole covid affair.

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#4

Thank you, @jeff18!

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#5

I would love to sell them. They are an awful lot of work, though, and I doubt anyone would want to pay what I’d have to ask to make it worth it. I will pop one on my site to see if there is any interest and take it from there. This one was fun to make - after I got through the frustrating failures! LOL

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#6

This looks great. i always make the tray, otherwise mine just don’t seem to go together as well:-)

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#7

Yes the time and effort is considerably more than most people imagine. Well your friends and family will have some nice gifts if you decide to give them as presents.

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#8

@rvogt, thank you! Do you have any pictures you would like to share?

#9

If you sold one design only that would be true but once you were just producing designs that had been worked out each one would be much easier.

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#10

This is true. The next one will be easier.

#11

Well, here’s two I made for my awesome little grandsons. These guys “Patches” and “Ra Ra” are their bestest friends in the world so I know they will love them! They are 2 and 4:-)

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#12

AW! Those are adorable!

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#13

I like it I’m working on a framed puzzle now, with a photo on it

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#14

@djfb Ooh! Pictures?

#15

Pretty!

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#16

@ChristyM, thank you!

#17

It turned out beautiful! Yes, I think people have no idea how long some projects take.

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#18

@ptodd, thank you!

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#19

Gorgeous work! One thing to note, if you do decide to sell these, look into artist-quality markers. You may find that the felt markers (like Crayola) will fade over time since they are not made with light-fast inks.

If you take the puzzling a step further and draw wildly shaped puzzle pieces (Google Victorian Cut Puzzle) you could definitely sell these for the higher cost that would cover the amount of work you put into them!

3 Likes
#20

Can anyone tell me where I can go to make a 1,000 piece puzzle? I’ve looked for the svg files but have had issues finding it. Thank you.