Tricky Hand Job

(Six Pairs, One Puzzle. Many Fumbling Fingers)

This design originated when we (Derek Bosch and the Monkeys) were deep into the analysis for Joy of Hex  (still available here). We stumbled across a great hex design using 12 identical "AB" pieces. Brilliant on paper, or more accurately, on screen. But in real life? Not so much. Once assembled the whole thing just collapsed under its own weight into a disorganised orgy of pieces.

We tried joining a pair together. Still unstable. Tried a second pair. No better. So we joined all twelve pieces into six fixed pairs. This gave stability but was a little tricky to assemble. You may need at least a couple of fingers per piece.

It took us a while to get this puzzle right, as we experimented (on and off) with different ways to join the pieces. Each pair is joined with a pair of pins inserted into a pair of holes in two different directions. These boys ain't ever coming apart. The final result is a tricky little coordination motion burr puzzle. 

Other joined-piece hex designs exist with the likes of Stewart Coffin, Bill Cutler and Ronald Kint-Bruynseels all having contributed to the genre. But as far as we know, Derek's design is the first to use six fixed pairs, joined in two different ways, all built from twelve identical pieces.

Each of the twelve underlying pieces has been precision-milled from solid brass and is 6cm / 2.36 inches long. Once assembled, the puzzle weighs in at around 800g. These things have real heft.

*The pictures are an accurate representation of the puzzle but we think one of them may have been tweaked by AI