| RELEASED: | 7.26.2013 |
| PRODUCED: | 39 Copies |
| DESIGNER: | Bill Cutler |
| CRAFTSMAN: | Eric Fuller |
| MATERIAL: | Cherry and Walnut |
| COMMENTS: |
The Binary Burr is a classic Bill Cutler design. It was awarded a First Prize at the 2003 IPP Puzzle Design Competition, and has been unavailable for several years. Here is what Bill has to say about it: "The Binary Burr is a burr that functions like a 6-ring version of the Chinese Rings. The puzzle consists of 21 pieces. One is equivalent to the ‘bar’ in a Chinese Rings puzzle, and six others are equivalent to the ‘rings’. The other 14 pieces in the puzzle construct a ‘cage’ or ‘box’ that holds the other pieces in place. The entire puzzle should perhaps be called a ‘boxed burr’, and might be more logically constructed with only a solid wooden cage, however Bill chose to dissect this outer shell into smaller burr-like pieces. To disassemble the puzzle, the rings and bar must be manipulated until the bar is freed. After the bar is removed, then the rings can be removed one-at-a-time, and finally the remaining pieces come apart easily. The number of moves required to remove the first piece is 85, which is approximately 2 * (2/3) * 2^6 or 85.3 . Each move of a ring on or off the bar in the Binary Burr requires two moves - a movement of the bar piece, and a movement of the ring piece." Construction of this puzzle was tricky. The humidity in my workshop was fluctuating wildly, so I opened up the tolerances more than I usually do to make sure the final product wouldn't bind up or get stuck. The good news is that I was successful there - this puzzle should work in all humidity conditions. The bad news is that the puzzle turned out looser than I would have liked, having perhaps .035 inch cumulative tolerance variation. In practice this means that while the puzzle looks and functions fine, it's a little looser in the hands than my normal standards. I have subsequently discounted the price quite a bit from the $200 I had planned to charge. Each puzzle is signed and dated; 39 copies made for sale. Ships assembled. |
| SIZE: | 3.6" x 3.6" x 4.4" |
| PRICE: | $149 (SOLD OUT) |
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