I called this answer a GA. That's reasonable considering it is perfect.

I wish I had figured it out for myself though, I'm supposed to be good with puzzles.

on the nose of course

Hi kay williams,

GA to you for a very complete answer.

Take care.

With a router, of course.

GA to Kay for such a prompt response.

I have seen this before as a Japanese carpenter's puzzle. It would be easier with Japanese saws as they are pull saws, thinner and have no set to the teeth making the cut much finer than a western saw.

This is how it is done...

A cute puzzle isn't it .. i use it as an example of 'paradigm shift' in addition to the superb old lady/young lady example of Stephen Covey (always giving credit to the great man!) when i am training young design engineers. Thank you all who have responded to this one.. though i don't quite get the router remark?

Hello there, kvsridhar,

The "router" remark refers to the tool that is often used to cut dovetails. The responder was just having a little fun with your question.

Best regards,

Wade

ah hah good one.. thanks .. pardon my ignorance .. like "can you lift an elephant with one hand? sure, as soon as i find one which has one hand "

To turn this into a real puzzle you need to fit four sliding dowels:-

Drill smaller holes all the way through the centre of the dovetails initially, then drill bigger holes to required depth top and bottom.

Fit sleeves to dowels (or turn down larger dowels) to stop them falling out; put them in the holes, and, glue the top and bottom in place.

Push all four dowels into the holes, and, slide the two halves together.

Place the whole thing either way up, and the dowels will lock the two halves together.

The only way to get it apart is to jiggle the two halves until the dowels are loose, then, then spin the whole thing on the top right or bottom left (as seen above) edge so that the dowels each fly out fully into their own halves.

The shoulders, sleeves, top and bottom are just niceties to avoid loosing the dowels when the "box" is opened. You could just drill the smaller holes to the required depth from the "inside" then fit four cylindrical dowels.

Thank you. Excellent idea and great engineering drawings.

Hi kvsridhar,

You have hade a good answer already but here is a detail of "how to" make the Dovetail.

With links to help also.

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this is syperb..thank you very much...lovely links....i will get one made for my training classes.

kvsridhar

i will get one made for my training classes.

Wouldn't it be better to make it your self and become a real trainer? I would, Ky.

i agree 100%..but...alas .. at age 65, my carpentry skills, never very good, would not run to this level. However, this is India, an iges file to a CNC vendor would be easier and cheaper than even a skilled carpenter .. nowadays an endangered species here

You have my respect kysrihar, no worries. I would have problems handling it never mind teaching others how to do it my self. I presumed your were a hands on guy. It would be a nice exercise with hand tools and a lot of time to do it though.

All the best, Ky.

Hello kvsridhar,

I am pleased you found it useful. I pasted the whole page as the links looked good.

Take care.