Thursday, January 31, 2019

Doable 12

Doable 12 is our fourth orthogonal 12-piece burr puzzle product and it seems to be the easiest one among them. Although it's still a very difficult puzzle, Juno says that it's doable to solve without computer aids.


So, what are the feature of the puzzle? As you see the perimeter of the puzzle pieces, it has diagonal and curved lines. Juno has modified the shape of the pieces and restricted the puzzle to have not only a unique solution but also a unique assembly. You can trace which piece goes where in the assembled shape of the puzzle observing the shape of the pieces. Then the remaining challenge is to find out how and in which order the pieces have to be assembled. The burr puzzle requires 14 moves to remove the first piece from the assembled shape. It's tough but doable. (I mean to some serious puzzle solvers.)


Our originally made plywood laminated American Black Walnut and European Beech is used for the puzzle to increase the durability of the puzzle. The pieces have a very nice texture and a smooth surface. The shape is cut by one of our CNC routers and all the sharp corners are rounded using a router table.


It is very time consuming to produce those plywoods, but Juno has already produced a different profile of plywood and he has been working on the next project. Two more kinds of 12-piece burr will be released in the near future and I hope that you enjoy these puzzles.


Yukari

Saturday, January 19, 2019

The 8th Auction Results

I will announce the results of the 8th eBay puzzle auction that was ended two days ago. This time, we had put up two puzzles; 2nd grade of Chubby Crocodile and a new puzzle that is going to be sold soon, Doable 12.
The sales results are as follows:

Doable 12: AUD $86.00
Chubby Crocodile: AUD $104.30



For donating half of the sold sales we went to an animal shelter, "Animal Welfare League Queensland," yesterday. One of the staff remembered us and told that "you are puzzle guys!"


Juno, who is a serious cat lover, took lots of cat pictures as shown below.




I was a bit curious about guinea pigs. They are cute, aren't they? There are some guinea pigs in the shelter, but I prevented myself from looking at them because I would come to want them. You know, we have two cats at home, and they might attack guinea pigs, so I cannot keep them.

In Queensland, Australia, there are lots of people who keep guinea pigs. I guess that's because it's not allowed to keep rabbits in Queensland. Long long ago, the immigrants brought rabbits to Australia to enjoy hunting or as a food. However, the rabbit's population has increased more than people expected and it's getting to be a serious problem now. I sometimes see a rabbit jumping in a field while I'm driving.

Let's back to the subject of the auction. The donation, AUD $100.00 will be used for feeding and medical treatment in the shelter. We hope all the animals in the shelter are able to find a home where they can live with peace of mind.


Yukari

Sunday, January 13, 2019

The first puzzle auction of 2019

We have started an eBay auction for two puzzles, one prototype of a new puzzle and another one is a 2nd grade of Chubby Crocodile.

Pluredro eBay Auction

Juno is a serious cat lover and he needs to visit an animal shelter occasionally and say hello to cats. Therefore, we are going to donate half of the sold amount of this auction to an animal shelter which we have always done.


The prototype puzzle is a new design that we are currently making using our original plywood. It's composed of 12 pieces and is difficult. This prototype version is made of Camphor Laurel timber.


Chubby Crocodile is the puzzle we started selling from last week. This 2nd grade one has marks of mending and a small crack on the internal part.


If you would like to know the details of Chubby Crocodile, please see the online shop page as follows.

Chubby Crocodile at Pluredro Shop

We are looking forward to you joining the eBay auction!

Yukari

Wednesday, January 9, 2019

The first puzzle in 2019: Chubby Crocodile

The first puzzle in 2019 is a unique look that we have never made. It's a crocodile! This is the first animal shaped puzzle for us.


As you see, it's chubby. There is a small cavity inside of its body. We have put one or two "something" inside and you will find it when you solve it.


The puzzle is not very difficult like other Juno's design puzzles, yet I'm sure it puzzles you. Why do I know it will puzzle you?
That's because I, myself, was puzzled by it even though I knew the inside structures.


The Chubby Crocodile has wavy lines. The straight edges are easy to sand, but wavy lines need manual work. Juno and I worked very hard to polish the puzzle both the flat surface and the edges. It's a bit hard to see by the pictures, but its skin is smooth and shiny unlike a real crocodile.


We are going to hold an eBay auction and will sell one Chubby Crocodile which is second grade and one of Juno's prototype puzzle someday soon.

When we start the auction, we will let you know by newsletter as usual. If you are not yet registered for our newsletter, please see the following page for registration.

http://blog.pluredro.com/search?q=newsletter


We hope you will have a fun time with the puzzle of one of the animals representing Australia.

Yukari

Tuesday, January 1, 2019

Looking back at 2018

Happy New Year to all!

Looking back to the year 2018, we think it was a busy year. We have produced 15 puzzles in a year.

Here are the puzzles and the release dates we have made.
The red asterisks are sold out puzzles as of today, and you can see them in the puzzle archive.

Jan.18 Mirii CFT - Burr puzzle (Nonorthogonal)

Feb.21 Ixia Box * - Puzzle box and sequential discovery

Mar.12 T-Slot Burr - Burr puzzle

May 7 Alcyon - Burr puzzle (Nonorthogonal)

May 7 Merope - Burr puzzle (Nonorthogonal)

May 7 Quartet Box * - Puzzle box

May 27 Heart Case * - Puzzle box and sequential discovery

Jul. 22 Mirii 6x4 - Burr puzzle (Nonorthogonal)

Aug. 1 Meanders Box - Secret puzzle box

Aug. 26 3D Shhriken - Burr puzzle

Oct. 12 Spade Case - Puzzle box

Oct. 12 Grooved 6 Board Burr #1 - Burr puzzle

Oct. 12 Tangled Clip Burr - Burr puzzle

Nov. 4 Great Grate Puzzle - Burr puzzle

Nov. 18 Sequential Discovery Burred Box * - Sequential discovery, burr and puzzle box

I (Yukari) personally like "Quartet Box" because I like cogs and like the unusual movements of "Quartet Box." If you have bought one, you may know what I mean. If I choose one puzzle from another point of view, I like Mirii CFT. It looks gorgeous and big, but it's a very difficult puzzle, so I use it for an ornament.

I have no idea what kind of puzzles we are making in 2019. At least I know the next puzzle we are going to release. I cannot write about the details yet, but it would be a unique look that we have never made before.

We are going to make fun puzzles as fun as last year's or maybe more.
Please keep your hopes up!

May this year bring new happiness, bring new puzzles and a lot of Aha moments in your puzzling life.