How to Create a Giant Puzzle

Introduction:

Are you a fan of puzzles and enjoy working with cardboard and lasers? Then you're going to love this project! I've been thinking about making a giant puzzle for a while, and finally found the perfect occasion to do so. In this project, I'll be showing you how to make a big puzzle using cardboard and a laser cutter. 

Cardboard is a great material to work with, as it is easy to find, affordable, and eco-friendly. Laser cutting is also an efficient and precise method to cut cardboard, which makes it ideal for creating intricate and detailed puzzle pieces. 

Whether you're looking for a fun DIY project to do with your family, a unique gift for a puzzle enthusiast, or just want to challenge yourself with a big puzzle, this project is perfect for you. So, let's get started and create our very own giant puzzle!

You're gonna need lots of cardboard and a big ass laser!

You'll need to decide on a fun image. For me it was a nice VW Beetle cruising under California palms.

Then you'll need to vectorize the image. I did this partly manually because I'm a control freak and couldn't help myself.

Then, after getting the vectors, I imported the file in SketchUp where I enlarged the image to be a square of 2 x 2 meters.

Then you'll have to get a puzzle design, vectorize that, see that 15 by 15 pieces is too much work for the amount of time, and also 225 is more than you actually imagined to be.

Change plan, make the thing again, 7 by 7 pieces this time.

Then the whole thing must be split into parts - this is done by hand and takes a lot of time so I suggest a really wide screen to work and look at Mr Inbetween while manually cleaning each part.

Finally its time to clean your house and remove the oh so many boxes stacked around.

These need to be cut, pressed to remove the bends, see which ones smell like tomatoes or watermelon.

Also, during the cutting process do not forget to inhale a decent quantity of smoke, imagine you're at a nice cabin with a log fire, realize log smoke doesn't smell like that, unless you're a hobo.

Get your hands dirty and sticky from the laser residue and notice it's not that romantic to work with as advertised.

The parts are quite big. The stack can be seen along with my backpack for reference.

So, make a box. See that the box doesn't fix all the parts. Be annoyed. Force the last parts in. See that the box holds. Good enough!

Finally, the long awaited moment.

Assemble the thing. Realize it's bigger than actually thought. Climb a chair, then a table to get high enough. See that it's not high enough.

Look at your entire creation. Observe that part no 1 is missing, because you took it home, since you were so proud of it, and forgot it home, so now you have to present the thing with exactly the first part missing... Knucklehead!

Interesting how cardboard seems to be the same color unless you do something like this and it's not. Must be from the watermelons...

The pattern can be seen more or less. But for a first version of the project it's quite nice.

Have to think about a way to make the actual design to be better seen. Add color somehow. Or shades, with engraving.

All in all it was a nice first attempt and it inspired me to see things from a different perspective. Which is more than I could have hoped for.

Thanks and give a like, subscribe, click the bell for notifications!

Oh, wait, this isn't YouTube...