Furniture Puzzle

From one small block of wood you get, a main table, side table, coffee table, two end tables, two chairs and two ottomans for a total of nine pieces of furniture. They go over big with puzzle fans and doll furniture collectors. They make great gifts for friends buying their first house. They are small enough to be affordable with most any type of wood you desire.

These are very delicate and are not intended as toys. There have small pieces and are not appropriate for young children. My rule of thumb is that if they are not old enough to use a carving knife, they are too young to have this. Place it on a shelf until they are older.

Start with a piece of wood 21/16“ by 11/8“ by 15/16“. I used walnut scraps but most any knot free wood will do. This is made using a scroll saw and all cuts, unless said differently, are made with using #5 skip tooth scroll saw blades.

Step 1: Cut Out Main Table and Coffee Table Top

Glue pattern to the side of the block. (Pattern is found in the included PDF.) Make first cut and set Big Table piece aside. On the inside block, make second cut and set Coffee Table Top a side. The remaining block is used in the following steps.

Step 2: Cut Out Ottomans and Chairs

Glue pattern on the remaining block. Make two cuts for the Ottomans and set them aside. Then cut and separate two Chairs

Step 3: Cut Out End Tables and Coffee Table Legs

Place each Chair piece, from step 2, on its back and glue on pattern. For each Chair make the first cut and set the Coffee Table Legs aside. Make the second cut and set the End Table aside.

Step 4: Optional) Cut Side Table

There are two reasons you may decide to skip this step. First, your saw may not be able to cut 21/16” thick wood. The other is that you may not be comfortable trying to make corner cuts in material this thick. This is okay! The consequence of skipping this step is that you end up with one less table. (So you only get eight pieces of furniture from one block of wood.)

Take the block from the Big Table in step 1 and glue pattern to its end. Make the cut and set Tables aside.

Step 5: Build Packing Crate

The Packing Crate is make from two sides measuring ¼” by 1” by 11/8” and eight slats measure by 1/16” by ¼” by 25/8”. (You can always use ¼“ Baltic plywood for the sides and craft sticks or wooden coffee stirrers for the slats.)

Start by gluing three slats to the sides of the two end pieces. Then glue two slats on the bottom. I use cynoacrylate (CA) glue with an accelerator so each glue joint only takes 10 seconds to dry.

Step 6: Add Stamps

The last step is to add the stamps. I use postage stamps for three reasons. The first is that I like the apple box like look they give to the crate. The second is that they are the right size and appear to be made for this. And lastly they are cheep! Only a penny and you can’t but stickers for that price. (Reminds me of the guy that went to the hardware store to buy a copper washer. When he found out they cost 65 cents he just went home and drilled a hole in a pre 1982 penny.)