![\"\"](\"https:\/\/saccade.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/ThreeBurrPuzzle-300x293.png\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nIt looked fun, so I endeavored to make one. Unfortunately, the materials available to me then (a scrap of plywood and a janky power scroll saw) didn’t produce very good results. It worked, but was crude and wobbly. Spray painting it black didn’t help.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A couple years ago, I revisited the project, this time with 3D printing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/saccade.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/PuzzlePhoto-294x300.jpg\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nPrinted at Shapeways in dyed plastic, it works great. It’s kind of pricey though, running just over $90 for the three solid pieces. Similar puzzles retail for less than $5. I tried making hollow versions to lower the price, but it reduced it less than 20%, and required annoying holes to drain the trapped material.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Yes, I could just have bought one.\u00a0But there’s something fun about precisely realizing something you envisioned decades ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Update Feb 2022<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
I recently printed the burr puzzle in bronze\/gold\/nickel plated steel from Shapeways. I shrunk the puzzle to half size to keep the cost reasonable, but did not adjust the model to account for the difference in the material tolerance<\/a>. It took a fair amount of filing on the interior slots to get the pieces to fit properly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Somewhere around middle-school, I came across a diagram of the classic three-piece burr puzzle. It looked fun, so I endeavored to make one. Unfortunately, the materials available to me then (a scrap of plywood and a janky power scroll saw) didn’t produce very good results. It worked, but was crude and wobbly. Spray painting it read more ![\"\"](\"https:\/\/saccade.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/BurrPuzzles_2up-1024x577.jpg\")
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