BöxliSpiil

BöxliSpiil is a spin off of a series of shelves and boxes I'm designing right now. One of the main concerns was to cut all pieces as lossless as possible, saving material and waste, while still ending up with a flexible boxing system.

In order to maximize flexibility and minimize cutting time I wrote a JavaScript program which directly outputs SVGrafics. Unfortunately the program is still missing a graphical interface, but we will deliver one day...

The puzzle itself may be assembled in many different ways. You may create very simple puzzles or aim for the high IQ version. However, speaking of high IQ, we were not able to figure out how many different ways there would be, so any mathematical help on this matter would be highly appreciated.

And if anything fails you still end up with a storage box... A strange one, though.

Step 1: Cut!

The attached SVG contains a complete box and fits on DIN A4 (297mm x 210mm) . The used (ply)wood has to be 4mm thick.

Step 2: Easy or Complicated?

Before you start assembling BöxliSpiil you need to determine the distribution of pegs on the inside of the faces, according to the desired complexity.

Download and print the attached PDF. It shows an unfolded dice as in the first picture. That is the inner sides of our puzzle.

The blue fields are inner fields not shared with other faces and are thus always occupied by a peg. The corners (yellow) share three faces and the edge fields (green) share two faces. Each field containing a symbol is thus shared over two or three faces. If you decide to put a peg on one face it must stay free on the other ones (eg: only one "D" can be occupied). The second picture shows the distribution I randomly chose for this tutorial.

Simple games will have an uneven distribution, having faces with 6 or more pegs and others with 3 or less pegs. The more evenly you distribute the pegs (4 or 5 pegs per face) the more difficult it will be.

Step 3: CCW or CW?

Before you start assembling the pieces you must make sure all your pieces are correctly oriented. The picture shows the two possible orientations. Which orientation you choose is up to you. I used the right one because the other side of the face had splintered due to insufficient cut depth.

I recommend you try assembly and positioning several times before you start gluing.

Step 4: Glue!

- Put the peg's sides in a row outside down, fix them with your fingers and apply glue like in the picture.

- Fold them up.

- Apply glue to the backside of the peg's topside and put it on the peg.

- We recommend to place the pegs on the faces while they are still malleable. Once the glue has dried they possibly won't fit onto the faces anymore.

Step 5: Place!

- Apply glue to the bottom side of the pegs.

- Place them according to your scheme.

Step 6: Roll It!

- Solution in hand assembly is quite easy. You just have to roll up the dice.

- Et voilà!

- The easiest way to disassemble it, is to throw it in the air while giving it a good thrust with your wrist :D

Step 7: Level Up!

You may stack up the pegs to build even more intriguing puzzles!

Step 8: Failsafe!

If everything fails and you can't manage to roll it up again you still may transform it into a box.

And if someone has time and the knowledge to discuss the logic and probabilities behind this, please do so in the comments, any help is highly welcome!