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How to Cut a Wooden Jigsaw Puzzle

Jigsaw puzzles are fun. Often these simple puzzles provide hours of shared family time. Wooden jigsaw puzzles are a luxury. One of the problems with cardboard jigsaw puzzles is that the interlocking ends of the pieces can bend or tear. With wood, the puzzle pieces can last for years. A wooden puzzle also offers the opportunity to personalize a puzzle with a print of favored art or photographs. When you make your puzzles yourself, you will have one-of-a-kind puzzles that will last for generations of family fun.

Things You'll Need

1/4-inch 5-ply mahogany, bass or birch
Image (medium-weight paper)
Orbital sander
Dry mount
Variable speed scroll saw
.009 to .020 saw blades
Rubber cement
Jigsaw pattern

Instructions

- 1
  Select a print or image that is of good print quality, meaning that if a water drop touches the paper the ink will not smear. You cannot use ink-jet prints. The print should be on medium-thick paper. Magazine images are printed on paper that is too thin. Prints that are too thick may fray along the edges of the jigsaw pieces.
- 2
  Cut your 5-ply, 1/4-inch-thick plywood to the size of the image. Select a wood, such as mahogany, bass or birch for your puzzles as these woods will cut cleanly and hold up well over time.
- 3
  Sand your plywood with an orbital sander so that it is very smooth.
- 4
  Take your ply and your image to a local frame shop and have them dry-mount the image directly onto the board. This is a heat-adhesive system that will mount your image to your board perfectly flat, and you will have none of the issues that using wet glue can cause.
- 5
  Select a jigsaw pattern for your puzzle. Search online or through library resources for jigsaw patterns. You can also draw your own patterns. Keep in mind that cutting tiny shapes with a saw is difficult, so your pattern should be larger and less intricate than some commercial puzzle patterns.
- 6
  Glue your pattern to the top of your puzzle image using rubber cement. Test the rubber cement on a scrap piece of image to make sure that it can be rubbed off without leaving a trace when you are done cutting.
- 7
  Cut your jigsaw pattern using a very fine scroll blade. Keep in mind that blades as small as .009 to .020 can be used with a variable-speed scroll saw. The thin blades produce very thin cut lines. These blades will also break every 15 minutes or so under proper use.
- 8
  Sand the sides of your finished pieces.

Jigsaw Puzzles