Mark’s interest in puzzles began after he graduated from college. He found Creative Puzzles of the World by Van Delft and Botermans in the bargain bin of a local bookstore. It is an excellent book, full of good descriptions on how to make the puzzles included therein. Mark was captivated. He started looking for more books on puzzles, and found Jerry Slocum’s book Puzzles Old and New: How to Make and Solve Them. He was interested in working those puzzles but had no way to get them unless he made them himself, as most of the puzzles were old or produced in limited numbers. He further collected all of Slocum’s other books and searched through bibliographies looking for more. Through this, Mark found two wonderful puzzle books, The Puzzling World of Polyhedral Dissections and Puzzle Craft, both by Stewart T. Coffin. After moving into his first home in 1994, Mark finally started making puzzles. He started with PWPD and Puzzle Craft, and slowly worked his way through them from their beginnings. Since PWPD doesn’t include solutions for most puzzles, Mark had to make and solve them as he went along. He was seriously bitten by the puzzle bug and has been ever since. While living in upstate New York, Mark sold his woodcraft at craft shows and flea markets. After moving to Oklahoma in 1996, Mark rented space in a gift shop and sold there. While searching for information on puzzles on the Internet in 1997, Mark found the Puzzle World website run by John Rausch. He contacted Mr. Rausch, described the puzzles he was making and was soon on his site as a craftsman. John provided valuable critique and Mark has strived very hard to continue to improve the quality of his woodcraft.

Finding time to manufacture puzzles has always been difficult for Mark, as his “real” job and family keep him busy. He realized that it was much easier to produce several of one type of puzzle than to make one of several different types, but had no good way of selling them. To that end, he has now partnered with Eric Fuller and Robert Yarger of CubicDissection.com to provide small quantity runs of what will most likely be reissues of Stewart Coffin’s puzzle designs. Mr. Coffin is recognized as the world's best designer of polyhedral interlocking puzzles. To date, Mr. Coffin has more than 190 original designs (approximately 275, including the many variations) to his credit. His latest puzzle book, AP-ART: A Compendium of Puzzle Designs, documents his 32 year history of puzzle designs. Mark has had great fun figuring out these designs, and thinks you will too. Through Mr. Coffin’s generosity in sharing his designs with us, Mark is able to enjoy sharing them with you. Mark intends to only make a set quantity of any one particular design and most likely will not revisit it again for a long time. Mark will always offer these designs in a number of different exotic and domestic hardwood choices.

To contact Mark McCallum, please post on his dedicated forum.