Ron, I don't check this site as much as I ought.  Indeed, I did fix this library puzzle, but odd how things sometimes work out.  Months back, I had to sell off any misc puzzles I had to pay bills, and this box was included in such sales.  I apologize for not giving you the chance to play with it before this point.

Now you guys see why we nickname him the "playtpus". 

Here are some pics of the lathe updated with a moving track to produce threads on projects.

Yet more pics

More Pics

Everything here is attached to the old aluminum sliding grid system that I never used for my last table saw (because it got in the way of my sled).  The moving bar slides like butter as it moves on its bearing wheels along its tracks, allowing me to do exact measured cuts with ease.  There are two small micro-movement wheels on the bar that allow me to move it very slowly when I want to.  I can pull the lever and lock the bar down at any point to focus on detailed cuts on a particular area.   

In the back, I have attached to the sliding arm my table saw's miter gauge (also not used on my table saw because it got in the way) .  Currently, I have a simple chisel from an old hand planer clamped onto it, but most any lathe tool can be clamped on as well, but I first have to remove it from the handle to get it to lay flat.  The fact that the miter gage is adjustable means that I can use tools with different angled cutting tips.  Once clamped on, I can just slide the main bar slowly across its tracks and give the project a perfectly even radius all the way down.

In the front, I have attached a drimmel press to a swivel base.  The drimmel can move forward and back on the bar, angle left and right on its base, and pan almost 180 degrees in respect to the horizon of the project.  With this setup, I can approach the project from most any angle with varous carving bits.  The plunge press on this system has a setable stop block so that once I get the proper anglel, I can slowly plunge into the project to the exact depth that I want, and then let it spring back so that I can move the main bar and do a duplicate cut a few inches down without marring any of the project in between or turning the lathe off.

Eric,

Wow I am honored.  Having my puzzles on such a well esteemed website.  I must have hit the big time.  I will have around 25 of them.  Do you think that you can sell them all?

Here are some sneak pics of the new Stickman Illogical Puzzlebox.  It is far from finished yet and requires the addition of a few more inlays, a good sanding and a proper finish, but enough of it is done to get a fair idea of what it will look like. 

I could not show pics of it open, as that would give away hints to the solution.  What I can say is that the solution requires figuring out illogical patterns, and arranging each wooden triangle in proper positions on the side panels to perform each sequential move.  Placing a triangle in the wrong position will lock it all up again.

Hopefully, these will be ready in a few more weeks.     

A laser could probably make them a bit more accurate and faster than I do by hand, but be sure to take into account that any wooden gears need to consist of 2 wood layers glued together in perpendicular wood grain directions.  If you don't then the teeth that stick out perpendicular to the wood grain are far too fragile to do any work.  I like to use two different types of wood when I do this to make the gears both decorative as well as stronger structurally.

I must agree that the most efficient way would be to go Eric's route, but feel free to contact me if for some reason you just want to craft them by hand.  Also, there is another guy online who makes them by hand using a different method than I, and I can find a link to his website if desired. 

Mark,

I don't think I own a board without at least some warp to it.  Unless the warp is bad enough that it can't be safely machined than I use it.  The warp in most boards will all but disappear once you have cut it into pieces about the size of the panels you are needing.  If you cut a 6' board into a few hundred 3" pieces then you would be hard pressed to visually notice any warp in the pieces you made.

However, when makeing puzzles, it is often necessary to make things fit exactly, and a warped board will produce pieces that (although not noticabley skewed) are not perfectly square.  It takes a bit more time, but I actually overcut all of my pieces slighlty and then go back and individually square up each piece to ensure they are perfect.

I have never used a miter saw.  I assume it could make accurate degree cuts, but it seems as if it would be difficult to use for small pieces and produce tear out because of how the angle that the blade contacts the wood.  IF you used one for cutting pieces as small as the matchbox then you would probably have to devise some sort of clamp to hold the pieces firmly in place.

My recommendation if you have limited space and only plan on using 1/4 stock is to get one of the hobby saws from hobby store.  They don't take up much room and I hear they work somewhat decently on thin stock that does not have to be ripped.  They are made for cutting pieces for hobby plane models, pinewood derby cars, and such.

The matchbox is a wonderful first project and I wish you luck with it.  There is nothing as satisfying as makeing your own project.

I am not good at all with traditional math.  I don't do well with rigid formulas that have to be memorized.  I have to understand why a formula works as opposed to the actual formula itself.  That is the only way I can remember it. 

Usually however, I just cut based upon the shapes required for the next piece with little regard to any mathematical measurement or calculation.  Every once in a while and exact calculation is required and when it does I hope that it does not involve circles or hexagons as I am the worst at those.

Thanks for the answer.  I cut many pieces through trial an error and just had to get an accurate figure.  I've been out of school for years now and was not so fresh on the math. 

Here are pics of the final product.

I think the answer is .93188.  James Strayer suppled the answer.

Here is a real life math problem that I recently had to solve for my current puzzlebox project.  It took me 4 hours to come up with the answer.  (I have been out of school for a long time now!!!)  See if any of you can solve it quicker than I did.

The illustration is symetrical and all triangles are "perfect 90 degrees" and overlap eachother producing the same area. 

You will see this pattern in my next puzzlebox if all works out well.

Jonas - it is good to have you and good luck with finding your impossible lock.   I do not know the designer but will keep a look out for you interesting lock mechanisms for you.  Odd that the website only has a place to send send e-mail.