Jigsaw Puzzle Style

Custom Wooden Jigsaw Puzzles-Style

www.PuzzleArtOnline.com

Style

I use other types of wood on occasion. 5-ply 1/4" basswood plywood is wonderful for Special Occasion
Puzzles intended to be signed by party guests, because of its fine grain and beautiful creamy color when
finished. I use 3-ply 4mm okoume (a type of African mahogany) to make high-quality tray puzzles; it has an
attractive blemish-free grain and, left unfinished, has a warm and velvety feel.

ARTWORK

Unless you provide the actual hard copy of the picture or I use an original print that I have purchased,
printing is done on my Epson digital inkjet printer using Ultrachrome pigmented inks. These inks are known
for their superbly sharp image reproduction, color range, and lightfastness. Many artists use this printing
combination for producing their own Giclée limited-edition prints. If you have shopped for art prints recently,
you may have noticed that even unsigned Giclée prints command a high premium in price.

Finished prints are protected by a semi-matte vinyl overlaminate that seals the ink onto the top-quality
professional photographic paper, reducing glare and making it practically impervious to damage while
extending the print permanence to an estimated 150 to 200 years!

The subject of artwork selection is covered in more detail on the Custom Puzzles page.

FINISHING AND PACKAGING

Except when stated otherwise, the back of each puzzle is finished with multiple coats of premium shellac and
hand-rubbed to a rich satin finish, enhanced and protected by a blend of beeswax and carnauba wax.

Inspections are carried out at every stage of production, and before packing the picture is given a final
cleaning to remove all traces of handling.

General Features:

Every puzzle cutter has his or her own preferences for features to be included in a puzzle, and here are mine:

Color

Line

Cutting.

like to

make extensive use of color

line

cutting, which is to run

cut

lines along

borders between different colors. This is considered to make puzzles

challenging. I have a bit of

fun locating the puzzle tabs in areas that don't

provide much of

a clue as to what the neighboring color

is, such as

small shadows,

for example.

Color line cutting usually makes a puzzle more fun for people to work on as a group,

each can solve

a section based on color ("Oh, here are some of your horse

pieces"). These

sections are then

contributed to the total picture (often to the

sound of applause), then all

players search together for

what to do with remaining

"mystery pieces".

When I say a puzzle will be EXTENSIVELY color line cut, I mean I will cut around every

object

I possibly

can. This is extremely laborious, which is why I think m

st puzzle

cutters don't

push it. It is

prized

among collectors, though.

I have a surcharge of 20% for

extensive

color line cutting, because of the increased

labor

and risk of

ruining a puzzle.

Interlocking.

Color

line

cutting is considered to be a detriment to the interlocking

pieces, but all my

puzzles are fully interlocked

unless

urposely

made otherwise

Not

TIGHTLY interlocked, maybe,

but

fully.

This means that the puzzle can be

dragged along a

flat surface without

coming apart.

They can

usually

be picked up by

the corners, too

unless I have intentionally included push-fit pieces.

Sometimes, the beauty and/or fun of a puzzle is enhanced by NOT interlocking key

features

or figures

to the rest of the puzzle.

Examples of this are figurals with shapes that do not

allow interlocking, or

color line cutting of a central figure in the picture so that it can stand

alone from the rest of the puzzle.

Deceptions.

Deceptions are the heavy artillery in

the battle of wits between the cutter and

the

assembler. I

make

almost obnoxious use of hidden edges and corners,

indirectly

interlocked

edge

pieces,

and also of

fake

edges and

corners

on occasion

I will sometimes

pick a

small

area of a picture

to be "nightmare cut", which is to make the pieces

extremely

difficult

to distinguish from each other;

this can be done a number of different ways,

such

making them of similar shapes, or in shapes that

are very difficult for the eye

and

brain

to make sense of

, such as long, thin pieces.

One of the first things I do when confronting a

new picture is to scheme about the

deceptions that I

can use.

Others are discovered in the course of cutting; seriously,

often

laugh out loud when I find a

trick I can play.

Figur

als

When left to my own devices, I am often content to make a puzzle without

any

figurals at

all.

I feel that in most cases, they make the puzzle easier to solve.

Sometimes,

though,

a particular

picture will practically

demand

special

figures, such as

when there are

vast expanses of a particular

color or

pattern.

In those cases, figurals will relieve boredom

and speed up excessively tedious play.

Very often

, the

theme of a picture will bring

particular figures to mind, or a

story or joke

can be told

with the figures.

Here are some sample figurals and word pieces:

The eagle, trout and bear are what are
called interactive figurals. The bear, at
some distance, really wishes he was
the one to get the fish.

Figurals add a great capability for customizing a jigsaw puzzle. When you order a

custom

puzzle, you

can have one figure per 50 pieces for free, and

as many

as you want

each

Word pieces.

Word pieces are a special kind of figural that take a bit more time in

formatting and also

usually

require more precise cutting, but add the ultimate

customization

to your puzzle.

ne of your free figurals

can be a word piece, at no extra charge

. I

t could be

name,

initials, a date

or anything you like

. Additional word pieces can be ordered

$15 each.

Message printing.

If I will be printing the picture from my

Image Gallery

from a digital

file provided

by you, I can print a message on the picture, and will be

glad to do so

at no

charge.

Signature Piece.

My grandfather made his puzzles without even signing or

dating

them,

which I wish

he had. Every one of my puzzles (except the very

smallest, and

some special

puzzles) has my

signature piece

, signed and dated by me, and marked

with the piece count

of the puzzle

I had a devil of a time coming up with an appropriate signature piece. I considered

using

Cleveland's

Terminal Tower, the principal landmark of my home

town

, but what

if I decide to

move

to a

cabin in

Montana? Then, some great shapes are already

taken, like the seahorse,

jester, and tree. I

considered a bear to reflect my Russian

heritage, but that's taken, too.

So, I decided to use an actual-

size likeness of the

little saw I cut my puzzles with. And

that's the truth.

The reason that the smallest puzzles do not normally have a signature piece is that it

makes

the

puzzles too easy to solve, in my opinion. However,

you

can

order one with your puzzle

if you wish

, the signature piece can be omitted if you

prefer

. In that case, I will do as I

usually

for the small

Fun Size

puzzles, which is to initial and

date one of the larger puzzle

pieces.

Shapes of Tabs and Pieces:

Here is where you'll see the most differentiation between puzzle cutters, and in the overall "look" of puzzles.
In this regard, cutting styles are as individualized as handwriting.

The styles I have chosen to offer (out of many possibilities) reflect what I like in a puzzle, which is for it to be
difficult, but not impossible. So here they are, in order of approximate preference:

Victorian Cut.

This style is patterned very much after my grandfather's,

with large

idiosyncratically

shaped tabs. I have named it based on what I

think was

his largest

influence, which was the Victorian

era. One of my object

ives

is to

fool the

eye somewhat as

to what part of the piece is the tab, versus

what part is the

body

the piece. Most times,

the pieces have three or four sides, though often the

pieces

come out oddly-shaped

because of color line cutting or just to throw in some

variety.

Sometimes, the piece shapes

are crazy enough to make me laugh

as I cut

them

It's fun for many players to locate tabs based on their shape

("I'm looking for a

pointy

finger", or "I'm

looking for an arrow").

The funny tab shapes make it easier to

solve a

puzzle, so in smaller Victorian-

cut

puzzles I am more restrained in the piece

shapes.

Not many pictures present themselves as being suitable for this style

, such as

landscapes

I don't like

use it in large areas of a single color, for example, because

I feel that it forces

me into

a type of strip

cut. I also feel that it does not look good

most

modern pictures

ith the Victorian Cut, extensive color line cutting is included at no extra cost.

Round Cut.

Though the tab

hapes

are similar to those seen on typical mass-

produced

puzzles, the

pieces are cut randomly, so the shape

of the pieces

will differ

quite remarkably

from each other:

Though this style is not as original as my Victorian Cut, it looks good on a wide

variety

pictures.

Earlet Cut.

Earlets are a classic form of puzzle tab, most distinctively used in the

wonderful

Par

puzzles of days past, and by

several custom puzzle

cutters today.

Earlets are as versatile as the Round Cut for general use, but I prefer the cleaner

look

Round Cut

pieces

and

use

more often. One type of picture that I thinks

suits

the

Earlet

Cut to a T is florals:

Non-Interlocking (Push Fit).

As of this writing, I have produced only ONE (1)

push-fit

puzzle.

However, I find it to be an intriguing style, and am planning some

projects featuring

it, so you will be

seeing some non-interlocking puzzles from me. I

am willing to accept

commissions for push-fit puzzles,

so have included it on my

order form.

This puzzle has an interlocking border, which I thought was an interesting way of containing

the pieces:

Strip Cut.

Some may ask, "What's the point of a

strip cut

handmade puzzle? Why

not

just buy a die-

cut one?" However, there are occasions when strip-cut is

preferred, such as

Special Needs

puzzles,

puzzles for young children, or Special

Occasion or Corporate puzzles,

where the puzzle assembly is not

meant to be difficult.

I favor what is known as a

one-way

strip cut, where strips are cut the longest way

(length

or width)

and subdivided randomly. I think this makes for better-looking

piece shapes than

the

two-way

strip

cut, in which the strips are taped back together

and cut uniformly the

other way. I will be glad to make

two-way strip cuts upon

request.

Piece Sizes:

The ideal piece size for puzzles is widely considered to be 2 to 2-1/2 pieces per square inch. In other words,
an 11" X 14" puzzle ought to be about 300-375 pieces. For this reason, I have made my standard piece size
2.25 pieces per square inch.

Some people prefer larger or smaller pieces, so I have set prices for 1.25 and 3 pieces per square inch. The
larger size is especially good for seniors, and for push-fit puzzles. The smaller size is available for those who
want a bit more of a challenge.

There is also a "jumbo" piece size of 2.5 square inches per piece, intended for Special Occasion puzzles and
puzzles for young children.

These sizes were chosen more or less arbitrarily, so if you would like a different piece size than those offered,
just let me know.

ABOUT STYLE AND FEATURES

Though have listed my preferences and inclinations, it all boils down to, "What would be really COOL for this
picture and for the person playing the puzzle?" and taking it from there. So, if you didn't see it or I didn't say
it, contact me. I look forward to helping you plan your puzzle for maximum beauty and pleasure.

So that you will have some idea of what to expect from my puzzles, here are the features that are most
typically included::

MATERIALS

Most of my puzzles are cut from 1/4" plywood having outer layers of American cherry veneer, chosen for its
excellent workability and finishing characteristics, and inner plies of European birch for strength. An
advantage of plywood over solid wood is that small tabs (also called knobs, hooks, or lugs) are less likely to
break because the grain of the wood runs in multiple directions by virtue of the layers. The more plies, the
stronger the piece. Plywood is also less prone to warping. This plywood, which is specially made to my
order, is produced according to the standards of the Forest Stewardship Council.

Contrary to
popular belief,
natural cherry
wood is not red,
but a light
reddish-brown
color.

All Puzzle Art puzzles made with this wood are finished with
best-quality shellac to enhance its beauty.

I make my own sliding-top boxes of
5-ply 1/4" Baltic birch plywood. These
boxes are finished with a clear sealer
and wax to display the wood's beauty.

CUTTING STYLE

Puzzle collector and restorer Bob Armstrong has written a definitive analysis of puzzle cutting styles that
explains the elements of jigsaw puzzle styles in great depth. If you are new to hand-cut puzzles, a good
read through Bob's site will familiarize you with the history and terminology of hand cut wooden puzzles.

Cutting is done on a professional-grade
scroll saw using blades as thick as a hair
from a horse's tail (0.007" or ~180
microns).

I change blades as they wear, and do
not "hog" the blade, so blade breakages
that often cause unsightly holes are
rare. Less aggressive cutting also
results in pieces with more
perpendicular sides, for a superior fit.