Puzzle Tips & Tricks

[loghome]

Hello Everybody,

I would greatly appreciate it if anybody could give tips for jigsaw puzzle making. I mean everything wood thickness, blade size, feed rate, anything!

 

So if you know of any tips relating to jigsaw puzzles please, I would love to have them. Feel free to post anything you know.

 

I'm looking forward to the posts.

 

Thank You

[wood-n-things]

I typically make my jigsaw style puzzles out of 1/4 " stock plywood is best poplar if you can find it is the best.

I use mod podge to adhere my picture to the wood others use aileens tacky glue. Then cover with a product caller triple thick glaze. Let dry for 24 hours and cut away. I suggest starting out freehand and never going back to grids. There are no mistakes because each one is an original. Cutting speed is up to you and your level of expertise. Blade size I use a superior puzzle blade for adults and up to a #5 or even a #7 for childrens puzzles.

I prefer flying dutchmen ultra reverse but there are many providers of quality blades out there so pick some and have fun.

I give my puzzles to the recipient unassembled with no pictures. You can use many techiniques, color line, figurals, drop outs and size of pieces can vary as well. Most important is too have fun.

 

if you are printing a picture with your home ink jet use at least #24 paper I prefer #65 or 67 don't remember right now so I do not have the dreaded bubbling of the print. You can also use high quality photo paper for printing...I use the regular paper because I'm cheap LOL & I do several coloring pages and use crayons to color them first for tray style puzzles as well.

 

hoe this has been helpful. There are lots of puzzlers on several other forums as well with great ideas. Look around you will find all kinds of help!

 

Dale here can help with stand up style puzzles as well...

[FD Mike]

This might be of some help:

http://www.mikesworkshop.com/Carter%20J ... torial.htm

 

Here is also a video what might help:

 

Mike

[Travis]

I did a WIP tutorial on how I made a tray puzzle for my son. You can find that here. I use spray adhesive to mount my pic on 1/4" ply. Just check the back of the spray adhesive and it will have instructions for a permanent bond (each brand is different). Then I clear coat it with acrylic spray before I begin cutting to protect the picture. I freehand the puzzle using color lines. It makes it a very unique puzzle.

[Firedkm]

The above comments and advice work very well. My feeling for mounting pictures or what ever you want to cut onto plywood should be dry mounted. I have found this works best and there is no waiting around for things to dry. The only problem with dry mounting is the cost of the equipment. The next best method for me is what Travis does. Using spray adhesive. You can cut your puzzle almost immediately after mounting also. The down side is you will get spray glue all over the place.

 

I use 1/4 baltic birch plywood (5ply). Please dont use the cheap 3 ply for this. You will not like the results. Other puzzle makers will use oak, cherry, and poplar. I hear Poplar is a really great wood for puzzles but I have never use it just yet.

 

Stand up puzzles can be cut out of hard wood or plywood. Use at least 3/4" thick stock. I dont recommend using a soft wood like pine. Pine seems to break to easy. I use mostly sassafras and some oak for my Stand-up puzzles. The plywood works out great because of the strength of the wood. It will not break as easily as regular wood will. However I think plywood is rather ugly compared to hardwood. I use a fd#5ur blade for these puzzles. This cuts the wood really good and there is not much sanding needed after cutting. You can also use a #5sr but there is more sanding needed.

[loghome]

Thanks Everybody the tips are working great. And I would like to say thank you to everybody who posted.

 

It still amazes me the wealth of scroll saw knowledge their is here!