Puzzle

[upsman]

I have a question on a project i am working on. Has anyone ever made a puzzle on the ShopBot? I have a friend That want me to take a photo put it on wood and turn it in to a puzzle. I have found scroll saw patterns for doing this just wanting to know if any one has cut a puzzle out with the ShopBot and if so what bit was used. Thanks for any help.

[steve_g]

Upsman:

Puzzles can be a challenge! Especially if a photo is involved… you need to use the absolute smallest bit possible, and that’s still not small enough!

My successful puzzle projects were cut as separate pieces… that doesn’t work for a photo puzzle! Also, very large pieces work best… maybe challenging for a two-year-old type! Wood is a poor choice for a puzzle, too much movement with temp and humidity changes… I landed up using Sintra to make educational stuff when my grandkids were very young.

This may be a laser project.

There used to be adds in magazines where you sent in a photo, they laminated it to “puzzle stock”, die cut it and sent it back.
Good luck!

SG

[garyb]

Mirror and cut it from the back side, if you use a 10° engraving bit and .125 material that will give an approx .02 gap at a depth of .125 on the back side.
Gary

[Martin Reid]

Dear upsman

I've done a few. May I suggest you cut out the back board, clean it up, assemble it - then stick on the photo and finally cut the photo with a craft knife.

Tip – if you struggle to remember where the cut lines are, between the pieces, cut a spare set to lay on top of the photo.

You will find a DXF for a 6 x 4 jig saw puzzle here https://sites.google.com/site/diyrange/ProjectRange/jigsaw

Tip - inspect the 2D preview with solid set, to make sure your cutter cuts to the line. I use a 3½mm router cutter.

Hope this helps
Sincerely and in good faith
Martin

[upsman]

Thanks for the input. Will let you know what I come up with.

Thanks again
John