Interlocking - Locked Nest

Locked Nest
Larger Photograph (52.3K)
Designer:Stewart Coffin
Craftsman:Stewart Coffin
Category:Interlocking
Material:Birch
Pieces:18

The Broken Sticks puzzle gives the illusion of twelve triangular sticks in a symmetrical array, even though if they were actually just that, the structure would collapse. In this puzzle, the sticks are reduced to a hexagonal cross-section and five holes are drilled into each one to accommodate dowels to hold them in place. Six of the dowels are attached to six of the sticks making elbow pieces and the remaining dowels and sticks are left separate. It is a fairly hard puzzle. Some were made with six elbows resulting in a harder puzzle. Stewart made 50 from 1977 to 1981. Number 22 in his numbering system.
 
More information in The Puzzling World of Polyhedral Dissections