Does anyone else like blacksmith puzzles?

Off-topic Chatter
1

On my recent holiday I acquired more time wasters. I usually play with these ONLY when I’m on holidays nowadays. I don’t have the solution in my head to all of these but they have all been apart at least once and put back together. One or two I can do with my eyes closed. One in particular got the better of me and I looked up the answer last year…… stuffed if I can remember how to do it :person_facepalming: :expressionless:

Most of these are Hanayama puzzles which have a rating of difficulty (from the manufacturer). However a number of the puzzles I have are level 6 (the hardest) but to me there is a big difference between some of them. Here’s a few net pics for a better look at them. I put them in order of how hard I think they are starting with the hardest at the top.

Vortex - all pieces come apart

Quartet - all pieces come apart

Enigma - all pieces come apart

Spiral - all pieces come apart

Chain - all pieces come apart

Marble - all pieces come apart

Elk Horn - all pieces come apart

Ball and ring - remove the ring

Other puzzles I’ve solved but never owned

Plus many simpler puzzles :innocent:

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One thing I have never been able to do though is any of the rubiks puzzles :rage: Not the cube, nor link the rings, unlink the rings, the clock or anything else :weary: My brain just doesn’t bend that far :confounded:

So does anyone else share my passion for frustration? ……. oh, that’s right, half you guys are into modding lights. That’s frustrating :laughing: :smiley: :person_facepalming:

2

Looks like fun. Any particular puzzle(s) you recommend over the others? I might order one or two.

3

I have seen many youtube video with these and more complicated puzzles. Most of them I have never thought would exist, very interesting things.

4

Usually I prefer the ones with multiple / many moves to solve. Reason being I can get more mileage out of it. A puzzle with a simple trick or solution will lose it’s appeal once you know it but a complex puzzle with multiple moves can be taken apart without fully understanding how it was done and may take several goes to fully understand it. When I solve a puzzle the first time I put it down and come back to it later to put it back together. Makes it harder :smiling_imp:

I don’t really know what to recommend as far as difficulty, that’s really up to the individual. I’ve handed my toys around to family and friends and only the occasional person will solve one of the easier ones. So I guess that’s a good place to start. Check out Hanayama’s other selections, they have plenty of easier ones and they have a difficulty rating system (tongue in cheek :blush: )

5

i’ve got a bunch, too lazy to take all those pix though
some of the worst/best have chains, balls, iron pieces

that sphere in a cube thing is pretty cool

though if i remember right it just relies on slight dimension differences between right way and wrong way

wle

6

My late father, a mechanic, was amazing at solving these!
That’s probably why I like them so much even if I cannot solve most of them.