Pencil Puzzle Revisited

[3_M]

Fred,
You are a master. Thank you.
Mike

[ozarkhillbilly]

LOL! Thanks Fred for the pics.

[utbva]

I don't have a drill long enough for the pencil, but I did make these today. I used red cedar for the wood. I learned alot on these, now I think I can tackle the pencil one when I get the right size drill.

I took one of these to Lowes today and asked one of the guys in the tool department if he had a rubber drill so I could drill holes like the ones in the block. He told me to go to the electrical department, that they have flexible bits there. He was dead serious. Any way, these are going to be fun to take to the hardware stores and see the reactions of the people working there. It drives them nuts when you don't tell them how it's done.

[JimSawyer]

Awesome,
Thanks wood butcher...I knew how to do the arrow through the heart trick, same as the arrow through the apple. It hit me when I saw the apple pic from Will Young, ( looks great, by the by). I'll be doing this one soon, probably a few times, as people will see this and want one.

[tcleckler]

Originally Posted by William Young (SE BC)

Hi Woodbutcher.
That's a good one and I would also like to know the secret to that one. I am thinking the method is similar to the arrow through an apple puzzle .
I presume both the pencil and the wood block are totally solid with no glue joints in either piece.

I love puzzles like this.

Here is one that I am out of again and must make a few more when I get around to it because people buy them for a conversation piece.
Like the wood block with the pencil in it there is only two pieces of wood with absoloutly no glue joints anywhere . This is an easy one to do and probably most here will know how I do it but I would like to know the secret behind the one you posted with the pencil.

The apple is turned on my lathe in one piece and the arrow is both turned on the lathe and scrollsawed and is also one piece .
W.Y.

Hi William, I'm a wood turner & am very interested in how to make the arrow in the apple. This is the first time that I have seen it though several people have talked about it on here before. Now that I have seen it I have to make one. Could you tell me how you did it?

[scrollin4fun]

I'm going to have so much fun with this one. I liked the post about taking it to Lowes and asking the workers for flexible drill bits. I'm going to do that. Thanks for posting.

Scrollin4fun

[jigsue]

C'mon William

Spill the beans (or split the apple), please

Sue

[scrollin4fun]

Fred,

I tried this one last night, but when I went to drill the hole, one of my "nubs" broke. Any advice to keep them from not breaking.

Scrollin4fun

[lucky788scroller]

Try drilling them before cutting them into nubs??? Thats what I would do. Dale

[William Young]

Hi William, I'm a wood turner & am very interested in how to make the arrow in the apple. This is the first time that I have seen it though several people have talked about it on here before. Now that I have seen it I have to make one. Could you tell me how you did it?

The apple is made of hard maple and is turned on my lathe.
The arrow is made on both the scroll saw and the lathe and is made of softer wood . I used balsa .
The arrow head is boiled in water for about five minutes and the wings of it are compressed with a clamp and the arrow is driven through the hole in the apple . As it dries it expands back to its original shape. Just a slight amount of hand sanding is required once it has expanded and dried.
I have sold quite a few. When people want to know how it is made I tell them they need to buy it to get that information and as soon as I have their money I tell them how it is done.
W.Y.