A new friend and local chiropractor was fiddling around with some of my wooden puzzles and asked me to think about making some fidgets for her waiting room.

However, a fidget in such a public place will need to be cleaned often and reset easily. Fellow resident artisan Lauren Newby recommended General Finishes Satin Poly as an easily-cleanable surface finish. We both agreed that it would be a shame not to use a natural product, but neither of us know any natural product that can be sanitized multiple times a day without breaking down.

Tue 23 Sep 2025, 12:21pm

I'm wondering: should I use rope at all? It seems near-impossible to un-grime a rope or string.

Tue 23 Sep 2025, 12:40pm

I found this very interesting 3-piece puzzle in Puzzles Old & New. I think it could make a good waiting-room fidget if I can figure out how to make it!

I'm not quite sure, but I think this is the shape of the middle wedge area:

I already had some nice little wooden rectangles I split from a piece of birch, so let's try it.

Tue 23 Sep 2025, 1:05pm

Okay, I learned something: the gap in the middle has to have the same width as the pieces themselves. This is way too big!

The book did mention this but I'm a denial and error guy.

Tue 23 Sep 2025, 1:27pm

I think it's quite neat that each piece only involves two facets to define the wedge piece. You can see here I've made sort of a step-by-step process.

The piece in the middle has the first facet cut, and the piece on the right has the second facet cut. That's it!

Tue 23 Sep 2025, 1:41pm

After sawing the pieces apart (and whittling down a few thick spots), it's done!

It is quite weird to get the puzzle together. It's a sort of twist/jam/slide that makes me think I should carve the next puzzle out of something stronger than basswood. The little wedges take a lot of torque when you twist the puzzle together!

Tue 23 Sep 2025, 2:49pm

After a quick lunch and a bit of digesting, I carved down the ends of the pieces and got out some gouache paint. Cooper Ternes told me that he uses gouache for youth class projects, because it's bright, nontoxic, washable, and comes in handy tubes. I asked about gouache at our local art store and I was told it's actually made from honey!! The cashier told me that her dog ate a huge amount of gouache and the beast wasn't any worse for wear.

Look at how bright and lovely! I usually use milk paint for projects, because it has a nice matte finish and muted colors, but for this little puzzle I think the bright red gouache really makes it say I AM A TOY!

Tue 23 Sep 2025, 6:09pm

The paint has dried - probably - and I've been off on other craft adventures. Resuming this project, I used a bit of sandpaper to knock off the sharp edges and add a bit of dimension to the geometry.

I don't know if I totally like it, to be honest. It looks more worn than defined. Anyways, I picked up some glossy finish and painted it on!

Either the brush I was using was too rough, or the paint wasn't quite dry (or both), so some paint got pulled off of the pieces.

I don't like using plastic products, but like I said, this is a prototype for a waiting-room fidget toy that needs to be often-sanitized. As long as I'm using a petroleum product, I want a nice strong shine to it!

I can't tell if they look grubby or glowing. I'm going to let them dry overnight and see how they look in the morning.

Wed 24 Sep 2025, 9:23am

It was a beautiful sunrise today.

The poly finish is beautifully shiny, but has a stubbly texture I don't like. I sanded down the surfaces with a 600-grit paper and that smoothed everything out but also matte-ified the finish.

Time for another coat, I think.

Wed 24 Sep 2025, 10:34am

A second coat after the sanding is already looking shinier and smoother!

I wish I wouldn't have sanded down the corners of the paint before adding the poly finish. If we're going for a plastic-y look, the pure red color would have been better, I think.

Wed 24 Sep 2025, 5:50pm

It's a beauty!

And harder than it looks to put back together!