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maze puzzle box

by matthew venn on March 17, 2011 Table of Contents maze puzzle box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Intro: Maze puzzle box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Step 1: Cut your peices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

File Downloads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Step 2: Tips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Step 3: Base . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Step 4: Mechanism layer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Step 5: Maze layer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Step 6: Lid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Related Instructables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7



Author:matthew venn author's website I'm an artist/engineer excited about creating and spreading positivity!

Intro: Maze puzzle box

This is a puzzle box. To open it you need to perform a certain gesture and press a button. The gesture is defined by the shape of an internal ball bearing maze. The maze can be easily changed to make a unique puzzle only you can solve! The design is parametric, making it easy to make with materials of differing thickness.

Someone who doesn't know how to open it will struggle for a long time, especially if you give them no clues. Once you've learnt the gesture, you can open the box in a couple of seconds. My uncle (who is a maker working at a museum) took 24 hours to open it, with a team of interested buddies, an xray machine, a metal detector and large magnets! Many thanks to London Hackspace, and everyone who has helped me out with learning how to use the laser cutter! This design has taught me a lot about using the laser cutter, parametric design and designing for CNC. This is about the 12th version, so it's pretty reliable by now. I hope the instructions are good enough! Tools: a laser cutter Materials: a sheet of 4mm ply, PVA glue, a small rare earth magnet, 2 x 25x4mm springs, a 4mm ball bearing and 2 x 10mm of 4mm metal rod (I use brass).

Image Notes 1. unique maze



Step 1: Cut your peices

This part is slightly complicated, because the dimensions for some parts change depending on the thickness of the material. 4mm Material If you have EXACTLY 4mm material, you can use this file: boxmaze_v1-2_4-00mm.dxf Parametric design If you have different thickness material, then I have made a parametric design that consists of a dxf file and a python script to generate the missing bits. For this you'll need the python script (+sdxf lib from ) and the boxmaze_param_v1-2.dxf To use the parametric files, download the python script and edit the thickness parameter. To get an accurate value for thickness, you should measure 10 sheets of your material with calipers and then divide by 10. You can also adjust the laserBurnGap parameter. To calculate this value, cut a square in your material and then measure the difference between the outside of the square and the inside of the resulting hole. Divide this number by 2. I have only tested the script with thickness values from 3.5 to 4mm. Run the script and then use your CAD program (I use the free version of QCad) to paste the generated file (boxmaze.dxf) onto the existing file. There is a little cross in the generated file's bottom left corner that needs to get pasted over the 0,0 point in boxmaze_param_v1-[23].dxf Parametric design and maze design tool Finally, I have a processing sketch that can help you generate the maze so you can define your own 'unlocking gesture'. For this you need boxmaze_param_v1-3.dxf, the python script and library (as above), and the processing sketch. To use the processing sketch, download (it won't be able to write to local filesystem) and then run. The sketch is here: Once your maze is designed, click export and then import /tmp/output.dxf into your CAD program using the reference cross as described above. In addition, the top right maze needs to be changed to the colour green , so that it becomes a pattern, rather than cut out. Laser settings The finished CAD file has 3 layers, one is for the cuts, one for the top and bottom patterns and one for etched parts. The settings I use on a 30W cutter are: * etch: speed 200, power 40 * pattern: speed 50, power 50 * cut: speed 4.5, power 100 Notes about parametric design I know, I know! I'm sorry it's not all one computer program yet! It is coming! My problem is that I didn't know how to do interactive design in python, and I can't get different colours or layers with processing's dxf library. So right now there are lots of annoying files. I'm happy to help if you get stuck. This is my first time with parametric design and I've learnt a lot. It seems there are a few ways of doing it; using your CAD program, or writing a computer program with a DXF export library. Also I've seen people export PDFs and then convert them. The great thing about parametric design is that as well as other makers being able to customise exactly how they want their thing, it makes the design more robust. In this case, I had assumed that 4mm ply would be, well 4mm. However it ranges from 3.5 up to over 4. Mostly it seems to be in the 3.8 area. I was finding that I had to make essentially a new design for every new piece of material I used. Then I would forget to include changes and soon I had loads of files. Right now, I have one file that's easy to edit using QCad, but missing all the pieces that can change depending on material thickness (hinges, catch, slots). These parts are all generated with a computer program that I have tweaked to get just right. So now it only takes me a minute to prepare a new DXF for a new piece of material. My ultimate aim is to have a service (possibly web) where I can just type in the thickness, design the maze, choose a unique generative cover pattern and then hit the export button to get one single file ready for laser cutting!



Image Notes 1. part 1 2. part 2 3. part 3 4. part 4 5. part 5 6. part 6 7. part 7 8. catch 9. mechanism 10. part 8 11. hinges

File Downloads

boxmaze.py (3 KB) [NOTE: When saving, if you see .tmp as the file ext, rename it to 'boxmaze.py']

boxmaze v1-2 4-00mm.dxf (74 KB) [NOTE: When saving, if you see .tmp as the file ext, rename it to 'boxmaze v1-2 4-00mm.dxf']

boxmaze param v1-3.dxf (61 KB) [NOTE: When saving, if you see .tmp as the file ext, rename it to 'boxmaze param v1-3.dxf']

boxmaze param v1-2.dxf (69 KB) [NOTE: When saving, if you see .tmp as the file ext, rename it to 'boxmaze param v1-2.dxf']



Step 2: Tips

Hints Take your time between layers. There is not much tolerance in the design for mistakes. A mistake with glue will stop the mechanism from working and you'll never be able to open your box! Don't forget the bearing before you glue on the top layer! Sand all the pieces Sand the tops and bottoms of all the pieces to make sure they glue well. Especially sand the moving parts of the mechanisms to make sure they slide well. Make a jig After your pieces are cut, it helps to have a jig to assemble them. I just use a square corner; 3 pieces of wood glued together so when I stack the layers into a box I know the box will be square. Part numbers To help with the instructions the layers are numbered from top left to bottom right; 1 to 8. See the CAD file for orientation.

Image Notes 1. a clue!

Step 3: Base

Start with the bottom layer (1) and turn this over so that the unpatterned side is up. Get the next layer (7) and put some PVA glue over the back of it and glue it down. After I glue I use a couple of bricks to compress the pieces flat and leave it for 5 minutes.



Step 4: Mechanism layer

Get the mechanism layer (3) and glue the back of this, leaving plenty of room round the mechanism so it doesn't get gummed up. Glue this to the stack.

Check the button slider and the locking slider slide easily in the slots. Put the springs in test that they both move nicely.

Find the hinges and put in the hinge rods. Then put the hinges in place in the mechanism layer.

Before gluing the next layer, hold it down (layer 6) on top of the mechanism and check things work and slide nicely.

Then around the mechanism layer, taking care not to get any glue near any of the slots. With the springs in place, fit on the next layer (6).

When this layer has dried, drop the ball bearing down the hole and check that the button moves the catch slider. Check that the catch goes down the hole and that you can lock it in place and release it.

Image Notes 1. put the rod through the hinge 2. springs 3. sliding button 4. sliding catch 5. space for the ball bearing

Image Notes 1. so you can test the catch 2. drop the bearing through the hole...

Step 5: Maze layer

Now find the maze layer (5), glue the back of this, avoiding the maze area. Glue this down.

If you want to make the puzzle harder, and prevent accidental unlocking, you can glue a magnet into the little slot next to the right of the maze. This will allow you to "lock" the bearing so it won't rattle and accidentally unlock the box. Depending on the strength of your magnet you can move closer or further away from the maze to ensure you can release the ball with a good shake.

Before you glue the next layer, check that the magnet is lower than the level of the ply otherwise the next layer won't be flat.

Glue around the top of the maze layer, avoiding the maze. Double check the bearing is still inside the mechanism! Then take the top layer (4) and align this on top.

Image Notes 1. maze 2. magnet



Image Notes 1. etch of the maze so you can see what it's like inside (after opening)

3. don't forget the bearing!

Step 6: Lid

After the base has dried, check that the catch can push into the hole and that you can release it with the bearing in its hole. It will get looser later, but if it really won't go then some careful sanding of the catch will help. Glue the 2 lid layers (8 and 2) together. Make sure that the hinges fit well into the slots of the lid layers. It should be a nice tight fit. The slots may need a bit of a file. Put the lid on top of the base, and put the catch through the hole. Check that the mechanism locks. You'll need the bearing in the right place and to press the button to allow the catch in. If it doesn't you may need to carefully file away some part of the catch. I imagine that this will change from laser cutter to laser cutter. Glue the sides of the catch and then lock it in place through the lid. Glue the tops of the hinges and swing them up into the lid and get everything nice and square. Try to leave it patiently for at least 10 minutes for the PVA to dry before testing! Congratulations!

Image Notes 1. hole for the catch 2. slots for the hinges

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