Cryptex question for Horgan

[Froggen616]

Would there be any reason why You couldn't do more or less than 5 letter rings (Say more if You wanted to spell out someone's name)? Just wondering if there is some design limitation I'm not seeing that would prohibit this. Thanks all and keep up the great work. I've got every issue since #1 and have tried at least one thing in each (Tip, pattern, etc).

[BobD]

I can't see why not...the compartment would be smaller, but if you are OK with that, I'm sure it wouldn't matter. It was five in the book and movie, so...to be true to the book, that's what he did!

Bob

[Froggen616]

Thanks BobD, I didn't think so either, but sometimes when altering a design, there is "something" that keeps it from working right. I thought He was being true to the book/movie also, just curious. I'll give it a try and let everyone know how it comes out. An excellent design BTW and very well written article.

[DonH]

The only real limitation to the size you can make the Cryptex is your ability to drill out the center of the 1 3/8" dowel. I know someone that has already made a seven ring cryptex.
Thanks for the interest. I did keep it tothe five rings initially to make it like the book.

Don

[Billww]

Don - Thanks so much for the plans. I just finished my first cryptex, and I found your instructions easy to follow and well done. One change I made was cutting out the outer rings with a hole cutter rather than with a scroll saw. It was faster and, of course, produced perfect rings. This required changing the order of some of your instructions. In case anyone is interested, here's how I did it:

1. Drill 1 7/8" round holes 1/4" deep on side A
2. Drill 1 5/8" round holes 1/4" deep on side B
3. On side A or side B (it doesn't matter), drill 1 3/8" holes another 1/4" deep (this is necessary to guide the 1 3/8" bit when you drill the hole all the way through in step 5 below; if you skip this step, you can still use the middle hole left by the bit of the hole cutter, but I found it difficult to center the 1 3/8" bit using this method because the bit of the hole cutter was larger and there was a lot of "play" when trying to find the center)
4. Use a hole cutter bit to drill the outer ring (I made mine a bit larger than the template in the magazine, which required enlarging the alphabet template in the magazine)
5. Grip the ring with a channel lock and drill out the 1 3/8" hole the rest of the way using the 1/4" deep hole you made in step 3 above to guide the bit.

Also, I used 1 1/4" dowel rod for the middle (so I actually used a 1 1/4" bit to drill out the middle rather than the 1 3/8" bit mentioned in my instructions above), because I could not find 1 3/8" dowel rod anywhere other than a Canadian website that required a minimum order of 5 pieces. But I found that using narrower dowel rod and a larger outer ring diameter made the rings a little meatier which was helpful when routing the rabits (less chip out).

Thanks again.

Bill

[DonH]

Billww, Glad you made it work your way. I developed the procedure to deal with the tools I had (just like You). I shied away from the hole saw because I like things to be very precise. As you found out, changing the size of the ring requires a re-calculation on the size of the letter spacings. Using a CAD program makes it MUCH easier.
I'm happy to see people enjoying the project!

Don