Old burr puzzle

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Splinter
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Old burr puzzle

Post by Splinter » January 31st, 2016, 6:51 pm

Hi fellows,

As you may know, I know little to nothing about burr puzzles. I only have a few simple ones myself from my childhood.
But, I hope you can help me with some questions about this older burr puzzle that one of my family members has:
160131.2 - cropped_small.JPG
160131.2 - cropped_small.JPG (165.22 KiB) Viewed 10608 times
160131.1 - cropped_small.JPG
160131.1 - cropped_small.JPG (203.87 KiB) Viewed 10608 times
This burr puzzle is made of brass, and is estimated to be from the 1930's. There's no manufacturer or country of origin indicated on this puzzle

To me it seems a rather easy burr puzzle (seeing the first block has no cuts at all, and falls out directly), but still not something I can solve immediately.

Can anyone tell:
- the solution for this puzzle (my family member has even less patience and skills for this :) )
- the name of this puzzle (or the name of a similar puzzle nowadays)
- if this kind of brass puzzle is known by puzzle collectors. E.g. which country does it probably come from, maybe even a manufacturer name?
- the age of this puzzle
- is this a good find? (already since long in our family, but could be a very common puzzle from the period it comes from)

Any help / information is welcome.

Thanks,

Splinter

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Pio2001
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Re: Old burr puzzle

Post by Pio2001 » January 31st, 2016, 10:51 pm

Hi Splinter,
Your puzzle is probably the Ultimate Puzzle, made for Chadwick Miller in 1969, according to Rob Stegman's page.

Have a look at http://www.robspuzzlepage.com/interlock ... amatoblock and check if the pieces are the same.

These kind if 6-piece crosses are quite common. They are currently made in Bangkok in teak in large quantities.
The specialist for these kind of crosses is Bill Cutler. He sells much more interesting and complicated ones. Here is his online shop : http://69.195.124.183/~billcutl/stock/sixpiece.html

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Splinter
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Re: Old burr puzzle

Post by Splinter » February 1st, 2016, 8:01 am

Hi Pio,

Thanks for this info, I'll check it out!
The sample on the photo is definitely older than 1969. Maybe for the origin I should check patents or ask Bill.

Best regards,

Splinter

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jack
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Location: Apeldoorn - The Netherlands

Re: Old burr puzzle

Post by jack » February 3rd, 2016, 4:42 pm

Hi Splinter,

The solution can easily be found by the use of Burrtools. It can also supply pictures of the distinct steps of the solution. If you are not familiar with Burrtools it's little trouble for me to help you. Just send me pictures showing the shape of the six pieces.

Best regards,
Jack

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Splinter
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Re: Old burr puzzle

Post by Splinter » February 8th, 2016, 7:59 am

jack wrote:If you are not familiar with Burrtools it's little trouble for me to help you. Just send me pictures showing the shape of the six pieces.
Hi Jack,
Thanks for offering assistance. I think we will take it apart in some time and photograph those steps.

As you can guess, I'm not familiar with burr tools (I have heard about that more often here), but seeing the parts of this burr listed on Rob's website I don't think it's too hard for me to solve.

I'll let you know if I get into trouble.


Best regards,

Splinter

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