The original pieces of the production are cut out of select, thick hard-wood. These pieces are then supported by and locked together with thin metal dies that are raised above the wood so that their sharp edges can stamp out complete puzzles in one motion, or operation. Essentially, this technique remains the only practical method for producing puzzles in large numbers.

The earliest puzzles were individually cut by hand with fret straws. An Englishman named John Spillsbury is credited with the invention of the jigsaw puzzle in 1760. Spillsbury applied hand-colored maps to thin sheets of mahogany, which he then cut along the various boundary lines. Spillsbury’s puzzles were very expensive and marketed and “dissected maps for the teaching of geography.”

The first die cut jigsaw puzzles of cardboard were produced in the united states during the early to mid 1800’s. The term “dissected puzzle” evolved to “jigsaw puzzles,” and puzzle making became a production business. Some of the early manufacturers listed par times for assembly of their puzzles, and some individuals gained notoriety for their speed of puzzle completion. During the depression years, puzzle clubs and contests flourished. Some famous American families including the Rockefellers, Vanderbilts, and Duponts are known to have collected and played puzzles intensely.

Other countries continued to make puzzles out of wood well into the late 19th century. In around 1914 plywood came into use; and for puzzle making, it is probably still the choice material of wood crafters who cut their own jigsaw puzzles with modern scroll saws.

Today there is one well-known company in Suffolk, England, that still produces custom made wooden jigsaw puzzles for worldwide markets by mail order. The customer provides a photograph or picture, and specifies the level of difficulty, which determines how the puzzle is to de cut. The puzzles are made with 4mm 3ply birch backing material.

If you own a scroll saw and employ just a few elementary techniques, you can produce your own custom-made jigsaw puzzles. Any picture photo, map, postcard, or poster can be pasted on wood and cut up into pieces to create a puzzle. The possibilities are endless. Making these puzzles requires very little skill or imagination, and zero artistic talent And, you can make them without much technical assistance. However, as popular as jigsaw puzzles are, they are only a small part of what you can make with your scroll saw.

Here are some free puzzle patterns for you to get going…

Free Scroll Saw Puzzle Patterns

More free scroll saw puzzle patterns

Handmade paper..  it should really be called ‘Recycled Paper Making‘, but handmade sounds better when your giving someone a gift. Then you can throw in that it’s made of reclaimed household materials and is totally Green and good for the environment!

Tools & Materials:

• Scrap paper or other fibrous products.
• Blender.
• Water.
• Medium size rectangular tub (minimum 4-5 inches deep).
• Framed screen that will fit into the tub.
• Food coloring or dye
  
• Various other optional materials.

Making Red Paper for a Valentine

Step 1. Making paper slush. Imagine spring skiing in New England and you’ll understand the consistency of slush. To begin, grab whatever paper products you have around that you want to recycle into your new paper; like newspapers, junk mail, magazines, cardboard boxes, etc.

Notes on items you use to make new paper:

• Red papers(and other bright colors) will bleed and turn everything pink.
• Materials with heavy printing on them (like cardboard pasta packaging) will make brown paper with little tiny specks of whatever color printing was on it.
• The amount of print on the paper you use will determine the grayness of the paper you create.
• In general, the variations of color in magazine pages and other materials will all even out to gray.
• You can use lint from your dryer, old clothing, and other scrap materials that have small fibers, but be careful when blending. Don’t use too much material other than paper or you will loose cohesion in your final product.
• One your first try using only basic paper products is generally best, you can experiment all you want after you get the basics.

Cut, rip, or shred everything into small bits and throw it all into a bucket with warm to hot water. The thicker the materials you are using the longer you should let them soak. For example; cardboard you would want to soak for about 24 hours before going on, but regular printer paper or newsprint don’t even need pre-soaking. Now pour some of the water and paper materials into your blender, making sure you have enough water that your blender motor doesn’t burn out, and mix until it’s a slush consistency throughout. There shouldn’t be anything noticeable as paper anymore at this point. I use the pulse button a lot to get it started blending, seems to go more smoothly this way.

Repeat this step as many times as you like pouring your paper slush into a high sided casserole dish or larger tub. The size of the tub will ultimately determine the maximum size of your paper. Leave some empty space at the top of the container so you don’t spill too much.

At this point you can add various things:

• Food coloring – It will color your paper, duh.
• Thread, glitter, leaves, grasses, etc. ..really anything you could want to incorporate into your paper. The flatter the object the better.. you are making paper. A long piece of contrasting color thread can look really cool weaving through a page of a handmade journal.

Screen for making paper.

Step 2. Screening your slush. Obviously, you need a screen. I simply used an old window screen and stapled it to a canvas stretcher frame, but any sturdy frame will do.

Simply dip the screen into your bin of slush and gradually bring it back up to the surface, gently rocking it back and forth making a thin even layer of paper slush. This took me several tries, but remember, you can always just dump it back in the bin and start again. Practice makes perfect, or at least makes it look ok. 

Once your new sheet of paper has drained of much of it’s water (blotting with a sponge will help to expedite this process) turn the screen over on a towel and shake gently just inches above the towel. The paper should begin to fall away on to the towel. This will also take some practice to get it right.

Once your paper is ready to begin drying you have a few options:

• Dry naturally
• Press
• Roll
• Hair dryer

It seems that a slow natural drying process between two towels and a large book pressing down was the method that produced the nicest, smoothest looking paper.

Drying took about 2 days with this method at about 65 degrees F.

Less than perfect first tries at making paper.

Now all you need to do is personalize the paper/card and send it off!     Hope they like it!

Handmade Valentine