Hexsticks, plans? angles?

Have a project you're currently working on? Post it here!
flawr
Posts: 48
Joined: June 12th, 2012, 8:05 am
Contact:

Hexsticks, plans? angles?

Post by flawr » June 9th, 2013, 8:43 pm

I decided to make a copy of the Hexstic Puzzle but the cuts seem to be in very odd angles. Does anyone know where to get building plans for that puzzle or does anyone know the exact angles/measurements for making this puzzle?
I just tried to figure them out by myself but failed...

TheJuggler
Posts: 120
Joined: April 25th, 2011, 10:19 pm
Location: California, USA
Contact:

Re: Hexsticks, plans? angles?

Post by TheJuggler » June 10th, 2013, 11:32 pm

According to Coffin's notes, the notches are all the same dimension of the sticks, and exactly to teh centre. Cut at an angle of 70.5 degrees to the axis of the stick.

flawr
Posts: 48
Joined: June 12th, 2012, 8:05 am
Contact:

Re: Hexsticks, plans? angles?

Post by flawr » June 12th, 2013, 10:20 am

Thank you very much! After now searching for "Hexsticks + Steward Coffin" I found the patent with the exact masurements: http://www.google.com/patents?id=HcAtAAAAEBAJ

flawr
Posts: 48
Joined: June 12th, 2012, 8:05 am
Contact:

Hexsticks vs Hectix Revisited

Post by flawr » June 20th, 2013, 11:14 pm

After building a "mockup" with triangular sticks (just for analyzing the structure and to have something to 'hold' in ones hand) I now finally made some hexagonal sticks (18mm diameter) that will eventually turn into a puzzle. Now I figured out that there are two know puzzles that pretty look the same but seem to be quite different: Hexstics and Hectix Revisited. Which one do you recommend? On the one hand I read that Hextics is rather a simple puzzle, but on the other hand Hectix Revisited can cause severe brain damage=)
Do you have any recommendations? :?

TheJuggler
Posts: 120
Joined: April 25th, 2011, 10:19 pm
Location: California, USA
Contact:

Re: Hexsticks, plans? angles?

Post by TheJuggler » June 21st, 2013, 12:25 am

Since both use the same pieces, I believe revisited is a collection of the sticks glued in a specific way, I'd say cut the pieces for HexSticks, and if you find it too easy, then glue the pieces together to create the harder version.

You should be able to get the comparison easily enough, but if you struggle, let me know and I'll send you the info you need.

User avatar
bluesign2k
Site Admin
Posts: 285
Joined: March 21st, 2011, 12:51 pm
Location: Worcestershire
Contact:

Re: Hexsticks, plans? angles?

Post by bluesign2k » June 21st, 2013, 3:31 pm

Actually, there are 3 similar puzzles here: Seven Piece Improved Hexsticks has glued sticks but I don't have them here so can't confirm if the pieces are the same. Hectix Revisited was designed by Bill Cutler and has 12 separate pieces many of which are quite different from Hexsticks.

User avatar
Pio2001
Posts: 218
Joined: August 10th, 2011, 9:22 pm
Location: France
Contact:

Re: Hexsticks, plans? angles?

Post by Pio2001 » June 21st, 2013, 6:01 pm

And there is also a difference between Hectix and Hexsticks, one has three different kind of pieces, while the other has only two and has internal holes.

flawr
Posts: 48
Joined: June 12th, 2012, 8:05 am
Contact:

Re: Hexsticks, plans? angles?

Post by flawr » June 21st, 2013, 9:34 pm

Thanks for the hint that there is another "version" of that puzzle! But since I do not want to glue pieces together (due to the lack of being able working that acurately) the only (?) puzzles that comes into consideration are the already mentioned Hextics and Hectix Revisited. What are your experiences with those two puzzles?
PS: I finally found a way for calculating the angle between each two of the four triplets. The have the same angle as the four lines that go from the center of a tetrahedron to each of the edges which is 2*arctan(sqrt(2)/2) approximately 70.5287794°

User avatar
bluesign2k
Site Admin
Posts: 285
Joined: March 21st, 2011, 12:51 pm
Location: Worcestershire
Contact:

Re: Hexsticks, plans? angles?

Post by bluesign2k » June 21st, 2013, 11:15 pm

Pio2001 wrote:And there is also a difference between Hectix and Hexsticks, one has three different kind of pieces, while the other has only two and has internal holes.
That's interesting because my copy of Hectix has two types of pieces (9 of one and 3 of another), that same as those mentioned in the patent above. I don't have a copy of Hexsticks. Is the patent therefore for Hectix and not Hexsticks?

flawr
Posts: 48
Joined: June 12th, 2012, 8:05 am
Contact:

pouring sauce over the confusion

Post by flawr » June 21st, 2013, 11:51 pm

I just did another bid of research: I hope this is correct and hope you can identify your exact puzzle=)

Post Reply