I built this puzzle box from scratch, using open-source software and tools available at my local maker space (tinkermill.org) All of the design files, software, and documentation can be found on GitHub at github.com/rcalme/puzzle-box
Unscrewing the leg is a fair puzzle that fits the construction. One technique for solving puzzles, boxes, escape rooms, geocaching, etc.. is to locate the item(s) that seem out of place or unnecessary and ask why they are present. The answer is usually that they are necessary to the solution. Congratulations for this design, and for the work that went into it.
When solving any kind of puzzle box like this, you take a good look at all the parts you get just to be sure that there's no hidden use to those parts beyond just being a vessel for something you needed. Seeing the notch on the bottom of the drawer is a hint, and you'd likely peer into the openings where the drawers came out of as well. If you noticed that there was a little latch or something that could link up with it, yeah you'd give it a shot.
Lots of people commenting how they'd hate this gift, but I think it truely shows how much you love your dad. You put sooo much work into this! This is amazing and you're awesome!
You should totally start a business designing puzzle boxes and selling them mass produced. Sell 1 design per month for people to figure out. I would gladly be your first buyer.
I'm floored by the level of workmanship in this box... how perfectly fitted the pieces are, how beautifully crafted it looks. Then to contemplate it's many challenges, each with multiple steps leaving contemplation, guesswork and good old fashioned luck to master. If this was found in a vault 1000 years from now, there would be great interest. I made a connection with the Antikythera mechanism even if each serves a very different purpose.
1000 years from now the batteries would have corroded and there would be no way to open it fully. Awesome box/present/challenge but wasn't designed to last 100 years without swapping the packs out, heck even 100 and it's not gonna work as inteneded. It's literally nothing like the Antikythera in form or function other than it has gears but so does my kids wooden toys.
Very true. Most batteries don't last a decade, but this puzzle box would elicit enough interest in the right hands. Of course it wasn't intended to predict the position of planetary bodies and eclipses like the Antikythera mechanism. My comparison was simply that these are machines that require careful examination to uncover their secrets. The Antikythera mechanism machine was x-rayed to understand it better. Similarly, the secrets of this puzzle box and the mystery of its purpose could be learned without breaking it apart or unscrewing/prying it open like a kid's wooden toy.
You could make the puzzles a little easier. Not use the gear-wheels for decoding for instance. This would make the words in the jumble easier to spot. Using magnets to be able to position the slits is something a smart 6 year old can figure out. Most don't read well enough at 6 to spot words in a jumble. And you could leave more clues, like "start by turning the legs" or a little drawing of a symbol that is on the legs and an arrow to show you have to twist it.
I actually think it's really sweet how you built this all for your dad. It looks hard as hell, but painstakingly well designed nonetheless. Props to ya' for the most unconventional albeit unique father's day gift in the world.
LOVE IT. GENIUS. Especially like how you have combined the beauty of the organic wood with the tech of the electronics and software. Truly a thing a beauty and anyone trashing you doesn’t appreciate the beauty of a good puzzle. The gain is not what rewards you can fit in the box but the time spent solving the riddle itself. Hope your dad appreciated all your efforts.
Holy cow, my dude, this is the level of complexity I always wished puzzle boxes had in real life... usually, I only see stuff (slightly above) this level in video games like Fireproof's Room games. This is incredible craftsmanship and ingenuity. Congratulations!
That sir, is some seriously bad ass work. Genius. As an amateur trick box maker for 40+ years and a student of the same, I have to say this design takes the prize. Latch designs are sweet. Use of magnets … awesome. The incorporation of electronics into the otherwise organic, analogue wooden pieces was brilliant. Further, the craftsmanship, nice tight cuts, joints, attention to detail on the finish are all spectacular . Love it!
Ryan this is nothing short of Amazing... you clearly put a lot of effort into this present, I bet your Dad loved it and felt lucky for having such a creative Son.
Its great work! amazing to see it laid bare. The only suggestion I could think of would be that each discovery should have a clue that leads you to the next secret. With the drawer that you insert upside down, it did not look as if there was any logical way to work that out, other than through trial and error. Each clue should have something that leads you to the next, and the upside down drawer was the only one that I saw that did not. Great peice of work!
Think about it: if you have nothing else to go with at the start you would twist, push and pull every element of the box to see what happens. You would find the leg rather quickly. Pulling out the drawer you would look into the hole and see the lever at the back, and then think what could be used to move it.
Awesome! Wow, I don't think I could ever come this far alone, but I would have loved to puzzle it out by myself haha.. One thing: You could have added a written instruction on how to solve the puzzle inside of the box; love it when puzzles contain their own solution as a "prize", as the solution holds no true value after you have already unlocked the puzzle itself, but it's kind of ironic :D
or just a rechargeable batteries and a small mini usb charging port.. I mean the guy has the knowledge to create this and setup the electrical components, a little charging port would be a piece of cake comparatively.
You must have a very creative dad! He certainly has produced An amazingly creative son!! I'm going to check around your videos to see if there's a video of you giving it to him :) I know that took a lot of hard work to put together As well as to come up with all of the intricate puzzles. That looks like a great gift for a great dad from a great son...
What a great idea! You are a very interesting guy and your dad must be happy to have you as his son! I also encouraged my kids to make presents, not buy them! This took a long time to think and make and your skills are very good! Thank you for sharing this with us!
Absolutely Amazing Work What A Beautiful Box...!!!! Thank You For Sharing It With Us. Keep up the great work. Nick🧔🏽, RU-vid🔐: Lock Pick Nick & Nicholas Aarons.
i grow up with video games, i always loved puzzle solving games, and when i saw this video and just how much effort you put in, i have to say, i'm just amazed. i wouldn't mind if someone gave me this particular box, ofc without me knowing how to open it and see how much time would it took me. anyway, great work, excellent even. if you build something in the future i would like to see it
just be careful when the batteries run low, or you won't get the key out if it happens to be in the drawer (maybe should keep a spare somewhere or make the batteries accessible from the outside
I don't know if I'm being really dense here, but how do 7 sets of four characters, each character of which gives 2 outcomes on the gears, give you 5 characters to feed into the second set-up to find the magnet positions?
Yeah that part confused me too. I wish he had given an example of decoding one or two of those magnet positions. Maybe some of the symbols on the gears when decoding those 7 sets of 4 letters aren’t on the grid and are just there to throw you off, but I still don't understand how the first setup is supposed to give out 5 characters to use for the second setup of gears like you said.
Brad Calvin I found the solution on Reddit, you can use this cypher to try it yourself. rawgit.com/rcalme/puzzle-box/master/Cipher_Gears/Translator/cipherGears.html After setting up the gears for DAD, you go through each set of 4 letters and turn the first gear to the letter you’re deciphering in that set. You alternate between the second and third gear for the correct answers, so the first and third letters of each set will be taken from the gear in the middle and the second and fourth letters will be taken from the gear on the right. When you decipher all 7 sets, it’ll spell the message: “MAGN ETCO MBIN ATIO NCOD EISH RJAS” Tbh I don’t think I could ever figure that out on my own lol
Thanks. So wait... looking again, you take to "OFGX" and decode to "MAGN. Thanks for explaining that part. He then says that the “MAGN ETCO MBIN ATIO NCOD EISH RJAS” will give you 5 letters to fill into the "524 P$#" combination to get the correct symbols. I understand the "MAGN" decode, I understand the "524 P$#" gear combination, but I'm still not quite getting how "MAGN ETCO..." gives you 5 letters to input into the new gear combination.
Brad Calvin It spells out “magnet combination is HRJAS”, so you use HRJAS on the second set of gears with the symbols to find the magnet coordinates. One letter for each pair of symbols.
Other than saying that this is quite ingenious and a nice piece of cleverness and craftsmanship , who else notice he seems to be Ambidextrous. Job well done Sir
AV This is the "Gordion Knot" solution. Legend has it that in the time of Alexander the Great (a vicious, bloody butcher IMO, but never mind), some shrine that he visited had a rope knot of great complexity, along with the challenge that whoever could untie the knot would rule the world (which, of course AtG wanted to do). Alexander (he was a great warrior, and tremendously strong) drew his sword and cleft the knot with one blow, exclaiming, "Thus do I untie it!"
How can you even say that? Dude could've spent an hour each day for 90 days working on this. The whole "entirely too much time..." slight is garbage. You don't know how much time he spent nor how often. But fuck it. Youre an, internet asshole so why not, right?
@@charlesdavis6371 JC's wording was not the best, but it is true that the whole "too much time" thing is bullshit. I would be quite irritated if I spent the little free time I have everyday to make a big thing in the time span of several months, and then someone told me that "I have entirely too much time in my hands". It's all about how you use your free time, not necessarily about how much of it you have.
Too much time? 😂 The last time I checked, we all record time digitally (usually with electronics) in conjunction with the heavens: sun, moon, and stars. Though the perception may differ amongst people, even individually in different circumstances, the record is kept by motion of the elements, whether the heavenly bodies, or the hands on a clock; or by the space of intangible distance from the numbers on an electronic device unto a different number in chronological order. If I have “too much time,” I must be a millionaire with no responsibilities as far as monetary income is concerned? If I have too little time, I must not make much income, thus I only have time to be a slaved employee working long hours? Over-simplified stereotype? Or perhaps someone has too many distractions, or enlisted in more activities than can handle? Or perhaps one does not make any plans therefore leaving plenty of occasions for one’s self. But I must have too much time myself as I digress.
