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How to Make Your Own Puzzle Kit

Puzzle-lovers adore a hard jigsaw puzzle or a particularly beautiful finished piece. With so many gorgeous photos and pieces of artwork available, it can be tempting to create your own jigsaw puzzle. If you have an interest in cutting wood and in creating a challenging group of spatial tricks, building jigsaw-puzzle kits could be for you. To create your own puzzle kit, you will need to train on the scroll saw, and this makes the project somewhat challenging.

Things You'll Need

Scroll saw with 16-inch or 18-inch neck depth
High-quality sheet of plywood, 3- to 5-ply, preferably mahogany, bass or birch
.020-inch saw blade for scroll saw
White glue
Picture with thick paper from a catalog or a calendar
Thin pattern paper
Rubber cement
Brayer
Pencil
Eye protection

Instructions

- 1
  
  Choose an interesting picture for the puzzle.
  
  Choose a picture for the puzzle. Buy wood that is the same size as the picture or cut the wood to size using the scroll saw. Glue the picture to the puzzle and use the brayer to roll the picture flat. Let the picture sit for a day or two until it has completely adhered.
- 2
  
  Use a sharp, dark pencil to trace the puzzle outlines.
  
  Create the puzzle pattern by drawing on the pattern paper. Gently adhere the pattern paper to the blank side of the wood with rubber cement.
- 3
  
  Use thin saw blades to cut accurately.
  
  Put on your eye protection and plug in the scroll saw. Move the wood so that the blade cuts through the pattern in the pattern paper. After each piece is cut, remove the piece and take the pattern paper off that section of the wood. Cut each piece like this.
- 4
  
  You can also give puzzle kits as gifts.
  
  If you are making a kit for someone who would like to create their own puzzle, you can do as many or as few of the steps above as you wish.
  
  You can simply include the picture, pattern paper, glue, and the appropriate-sized piece of plywood. You can also go further and trace a pattern on the paper and adhere the picture to the plywood. Add the instructions above so that the gift recipient knows how to make their own puzzle.

Jigsaw Puzzles