Larger Photograph (66.2K)
| Designer | : | Frank Chambers (Some of the Puzzle Boxes) |
| Craftsman | : | Frank Chambers |
| Category | : | Take-Apart |
| Material | : | Corian (artificial stone countertop material) |
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Frank Chambers designs and makes elegant puzzle boxes. He also makes a few puzzles other than boxes, as you can see in the 1st photograph, but his puzzle boxes are very special. Most are cut and machined from Corian (artificial stone countertop material). Some are from brass. Many are copies or variations from Professor Hoffmann's Puzzles Old & New, 1893. There about about 35 different designs available.
The largest one in the 2nd and 3rd photographs appears to have two recessed groves and a lid (seam is barely visible about one-third of the way from the top) that turns easily. But nothing happens. I kept this box by my chair where watch television for a few months and the only thing I could figure out was that the lid was not really the lid. With a small piece of mylar, I discovered that the part of the lid above the groove was separate from the other part that appeared to be the lid. One day, there was something on the television that described how to connect a gas grill with its left-handed thread connection. Bingo! I tried to turn the thin top while holding the false part. It wouldn't budge. I then taped the false part to the bottom so it wouldn't move and got one of those rubber jar opening things you find in the kitchen. It finally broke loose and unscrewed. Over the months I had tightened it trying to unscrew it. Wedding Ring Box and Captive Coin are reproductions of puzzles found in Professor Hoffmann's Puzzles Old & New, 1893. Frank can be contacted at: Frank Chambers | ||