Impossible puzzle

[Carry Pine]

Suppose the first thing to think of is the order its done. 1st the two cutouts, then the hole is drilled, then the nail is inserted.

The hole drilled? thats the first puzzle. Cary, is it a good fit or slightly loose

Nail can move, not really loose. There would be less than 1/2 mm clearance

[AlexS]

Leave it with my friend and I for a few minutes. Between the two of us I reckon we could free that pesky nail.

Don't force it, use a bigger hammer.

[Lignum]

Carry what are the distances between the 3 sections. The upper cuttaway is larger by the looks?

What size nail is it


Has the nail burrs from pliers - because the nail in the photos are not straight and the hole seems skewed. Or is that just your crap photos

And as the text reads -- DONT worry about how to get it out, just how it went in Their is a clue

[JDarvall]

I know. But I'm not telling....'have a go yourself'.....PM if you know

They didn't mention bending the nail.... maybe after drilling the hole, by hand maybe using something that resembles a tap wrench.....then bend the nail 90 degrees 1/3 from the sharp end....slip the sharp end into the hole.......while its sitting in there bend it again another 90, this time 2/3rds along (so its a U shape).....straighten the first bend which will drop it to the second bend(back to a L shape)...then just straighten the last bend....and somehow disguise all the bending marks on the nail.

Maybe, If you clamped up accross the top of the E.......and clamped up accross the middle (uno clamps to stop splitting at weak points) , could you flex top away enough for you to drill the hole with a long drill bit (might explain that slight angle the nails at) and slip the nail in,,,and release without splitting ? If the timber stayed a little bent after, they'd just thickness the wind out...I reakon thats what they did..something simple


or they split open a small pine sappling just enough to insert a nail,,,,,,then let it grow.....10 years latter he fell the tree and just chiselled all the cutouts away.....hows that for laterial thinking

[Buzza]

I think the timber part is soaked until really wet.

Then, it has the centre part twisted by hand, enough to put a drill through, and then the nail is inserted. It is then allowed to dry with a weight on it to return back to its original shape.

There is a scrollsaw exercise somewhere, that is a heart with an arrow right through it. The barbs on the arrow when wet, will slip through the hole in the heart.

Now, what's the prize for getting it right?

[Schtoo]

I'm going to test a theory tomorrow. I'll let you know what happens.

Or maybe not...

[mrblue]

patiently waiting ,, very neat...

[pawnhead]

Some sort of wetting and twisting, looking at the angle the nail is at.

Wet one side of the middle leg, and the opposite side of the top leg. Wait for it to soak in and they would bend, then put the back part in a vice and you could twist it a bit to get it to go even further.
When the nail is in, wet the other sides to straighten it up, leave it somewhere to dry, and sand it straight with a belt sander. Throw away all the ones that look crook.

He could knock up a hundred of those in a day and toss away the rejects.

Ring him and ask : - (03) 6363 1445

edit: - That impossible dovetail still has me stumped

[JDarvall]

Ring him and ask : - (03) 6363 1445

I'll give him a call at 2 in the morning.

[Lignum]

Something tells me their is no weird ways like soaking and twisting or bending the nail (pencils dont bend) And if Fox is giving away a bottle of Grange if its solved then it must be legit. Lateral thinking and thinking out side the square is the key to this and its driving me crazy.

Cary Pine Please post or (PM if you dont want to on the forum) the measurments for us.

Then again he probbably has a whole backyard full of little saplings with nails shoved in just waiting for them to grow up and annoy the likes of all us

[pawnhead]

Then again he probbably has a whole backyard full of little saplings with nails shoved in just waiting for them to grow up and annoy the likes of all us

It wouldn't be an easy task cutting it with the nail in place, the nail wouldn't be as shiny as it is, and I doubt it would be able to move if it was 'grown in' with the tree.

The nail being on an angle is the clue I reckon. With a piece of pine laying in a puddle of water, it would cup quite a bit in the sun. Especially if it was as short as those legs are.
Just lay it in the sun with the middle leg on a wet sponge, And another sponge on top of the top leg. Keep the sponges wet.
When it's all twisted up cockeyed, drill the hole as straight as you can get it, and insert the nail. Reverse the process to straighten it up again. Then sand it off flat when it's dried out.

edit: - Notice that he says "Don't worry about how to get the nail out. Just worry about how it got in there." It would start to look a bit worn out if you kept doing that to the wood.

edit 2: - I'm going to have a go at it. I need simple Christmas present ideas for next year

[Black Ned]

I think the nail is in two pieces - top & Bottom.
Each piece slightly smaller than gap.
The hole has been drilled to fit a section of short tube that is inserted in hole.
The two sections of nail are in turn glued into the tube,
The nail then appears to be one piece.
The tube is thin and short enough so as not to to be seen.

So what.s the prize for solving this puzzle?

[Lignum]

So what.s the prize for solving this puzzle?

Carry Pine is going to give you $50

Well done linden Not sure if thats how the maker done it, but that will work easy and achieve the exact same result. The inner tube could be the same dia and the nail just ground to fit inside. Well done

Now its upto Carry pine to cut his puzzle in half to see if you are correct

[masoth]

I think the nail is in two pieces - top & Bottom.

The 'notes' state the nail is NOT cut and rejoined, so I think Linden's solution is incorrect. Sorry!

soth

[pawnhead]

He also says that the nail can move, with 0.5mm clearance.

I still think my solution is worth a go. It's overcast today, but I'll see what happens to my puzzle: -