Questions about John Stokes - Tricky Egg puzzles.

[oldjohnevans]

I am awe struck by John Stoke's creative style cutting.

Does anybody have any detail about how he does it?

Does anyone have details about his Tricky Egg puzzle. How big is it?
What kind of wood is the Tricky egg puzzle cut from?

[PeteB]

On John's website, he has logs of his puzzles with links to detail pages having notes about each one. Each detail page is linked so that you can go from one puzzle to the next. A few years ago, I read very extensively on his site, as I found it quite interesting.

If you read through, you can see how his style developed; it did not happen all at once. Typically, he would get an idea for a particular shape, e.g. a gear wheel, practice it a bit, and then incorporate it into puzzles. He does an exercise he calls 'compulsories' in which he tries to cut as many wild pieces as possible in a short amount of time, scarcely allowing himself time to think. He discovered several of his piece shapes more or less by accident. The 'egg', for example, pretty much resulted from his cutting himself into a corner, I believe, but he liked it and noted its symbolic significance, so continued to use it intentionally.

John uses a 3/16" Finland birch. I have used this wood, too, because I was accustomed to 3/16" puzzles my grandfather made so it seemed the 'right' thickness, and Finland birch is flawless on both sides. You have to be careful where you buy it, because some people sell a counterfeit made from American birch, I think, which is very hard. I recommend Aircraft Spruce as a vendor. Incidentally, I later switched to 1/4" plywood because it's less expensive, warps less, and gives the impression of a more substantial puzzle.

[lowbike1]

got a link?