Making a homemade puzzle, or "Why I love my jigsaw"

Inspired by the puzzles made by Staves, I decided to try my hand at making my own with my jigsaw.

This is my third, and because I haven't seen an instructables about how to do it, I decided i would post about it.

For this you will need:
A small sheet of plywood or scrap. (I used 3/8th" which was definitely overkill and cost me a jigsaw blade)
An image that you want to make into a puzzle,
A jigsaw,
A few extra blades,
Spray adhesive,
Creativity,
A little bit of patience

I got my jigsaw (also known as a scroll saw) to do simple work with aluminium, using it as a cheap alternative to a bandsaw. besides needing to frequently replace the blades, it has slowly won me over by being able to cut tight curves and by the smaller kerf size(more on kerf later).

Step 1: Gluing Down the Image

For this one I picked the charming little robot that appears on the side column of this website. Of course if you have read this far you may already have an image of your own in mind.

Spray adhesive isn't necessary, any glue that will hold the paper to the wood is alright. I prefer spray adhesive because it lets me finish this first step in two minutes, rather than requiring me to put down the project for an hour.

Print your image at the size you want, and line it up on the scrap so that your entire image, and however much background you want is over the scrap of wood. You will trim the paper and the scrap in the next step so don't worry about it yet.

Next glue your image to the plywood backing. I had a lot of room on this scrap for this image so I just sprayed a bit of the adhesive on the wood and then pressed the backing down onto it with enough room on all sides for the background.

Comments

[3frog]

You are using a scrollsaw, a jig saw is a hand held saw that can scroll, however not as well as a scrollsaw

[mdog93]

i have heard this type of saw refered to as a jig saw, hegna saw and scroll saw. Although i have only ever heard them called that on instructables and stuff...

[forsakendoll13]

coool. :]

[Lance Mt.]

I did one of these AGGGES ago with mi mate from sckool and it was the picture of batman kissing robbin... We laughed when we should our friends dad, a diehard batman fan.

[GorillazMiko]

very nice job, especially with Instructables Robot on it :-)

[Stanislaw]

Awesome project, I remember making these with my father when I was just a little kid, my mother would paint or draw a picture, and my dad would cut out the puzzle shapes. Wow, very nostalgic idea, thanks for the memories!

[Doc Holliday]

I have a foam cutter. Basically a tungsten toaster wire set up like a jigsaw. Do this with plenty of ventilation (If you're using flammable glues, avoid the next steps): You can print out a picture, overlay a puzzle pattern, glue to the foam and cut away. Great, cheap puzzles. Of course I use a saw when I cut up tree rings for the same.

[joshcube]

It is a great instructable. You could also put a top coat over the image to make it more durable. Decoupage might work well. 3-D puzzles would also be pretty cool, but would take a lot more planning. I just recently inherited a saw myself and I'm hoping to use the traditional techniques to do some non-traditional pieces (like Star Wars characters). The patterns I can find right now are mostly wildlife and such.

[dmacrae]

I tried a top coat with my first puzzle. It ended up being very messy. I used an enamel top coat which dissolved first the paper, which was cool and let the wood grain show through the image, and then proceeded to dissolve the spray adhesive which let the paper come unstuck. I had to reprint the image and then lay it on the completed puzzle and cut it with a razor.

[RichardBronosky]

If you like that cool wood grain effect, and want a more durable image... Try printing the mirrored image on transparency film and gluing the printed side to the wood. You will want to use a laser printer, as its ink is more durable.

[joshcube]

I don't mean to be the grammar police, but the tool you are using is a "scroll saw" not a "jig saw"... a jig saw is actually a hand-held power tool.

[LasVegas]

In many parts of the US, a scroll saw is also known as a jig saw. Both the table and hand held versions use the same blades and action in their operation.

[Suppafly]

I've never heard anyone with basic knowledge of tools use scrollsaw and jigsaw interchangeably.

[LasVegas]

From the Wikipedia reference to jig saw above:

In the past, what are now usually called scroll saws were often referred to as jig saws.

[RichardBronosky]

You, and Wikipedia, are correct. These saws were once called jig saws. That is why the puzzle is called a "jig saw puzzle". But that was back when most power tools were large work bench machines.

When the hand held tool became common it was always called a jig saw. At this point they start calling the table top saw a scroll saw, because it had one very important feature that the hand held saw lacked. A scroll saw keeps linear tension on the blade. This allows it to use a special kind of blade that is very thin and has teeth on all 360 degrees of the blade. (It is often made from a high "teeth per inch" blade that is twisted with many "twists per inch".) This special blade can cut from any direction, which means you do not have to rotate you puzzle as you are cutting it.

The ability to cut from any direction is very beneficial when you have a large project. You can cut a project whose radius is the length of the saw's arm. Contrast this with a tradition jig saw blade, which can only cut in one direction. A jig saw blade can only cut a project whose diameter is the length of the saw's arm.

You see that this special blade not only makes cutting simpler (because you only rotate the project for your own comfort), but also lets you do projects that would be impossible with a jig saw blade. (That's even without considering sharp curves and acute angles that are only possible with a scroll saw blade.) This special blade is called... a scroll saw blade. And this is where the scroll saw gets its name. (The older table top models that where called "jig saws" didn't use these newer blades. The name changed to advertise the new saw's ability to use the new fangled blade.)

But be warned that scroll saw blades are considerably more fragile than a jig saw blade made of the same material.

[susie]

I made a rectangular puzzle once using the back comic from a Mad magazine. I made a frame out of plywood to hold the puzzle which is really easy to do.

[Instructables Robot]

Hello.Please find high resolution images of me here:

http://www.instructables.com/forum/EUNDX6Q3D1EYWDIREL/

[Instructables Robot]

My name is Instructables Robot, but ''you'' may call me Robot.

[FatMan]

Great puzzle and good instructions. I have made several for my children and grandchildren over the years and mostly had to puzzle it out on my own. This should really help people starting out. One tip: If you are breaking multiple blades in a project this size you probably have the blade tension set either too low or too high. Check your manual and see what they suggest. Also, as far as the nomenclature goes, joshcube is correct about the name of the tool. Scroll saws, are very different from jig saws. The blades of a scroll saw are very, very thin and thus have to be held at both ends by the machine. (The hand-held, non-powered, version of a scroll saw would be a coping saw.) A jig saw, by comparison, is a hand-held power tool that grasps a saber-shaped blade by one end.

[jeffreyf]

That is pretty awesome, and thank you for using our robot! It's called Robot (Very creative, I know.). Perhaps we should hold some sort of naming contest. Also, I need to get you some Robot stickers.

[ich bin ein pyro]

nice instructable you covered alot im tempte to make my own also i like how you used the instructable robot by any chance does it have a name?