Convolution - Interlocking puzzle by Stewart Coffin (STC #30)

Convolution

Interlocking puzzle by Stewart Coffin (STC #30)

Assemble the seven pieces into a 4x4x4 cube.

This is one of Stewart Coffin's classic designs. It was a pioneering 4x4x4 interlocking cube - a puzzle genre that has become extremely successful over the years - and it still holds up as a brilliant and beautiful design, a fine challenge with some surprising movements. Coffin considers it inferior to his later designs Involution and especially Involute, but it remains popular today and is an essential part of his canon.

Printing Instructions

Two versions are provided, a four-color version and a single-color version. The multicolor version uses "snap joints" to enable each piece to be printed in several components with different colors (see below for details). It's the preferred version and is the one shown in the photo. The single-color version lacks the aesthetic properties of the multicolor one, but it is designed to be relatively easy to print.

To print the four-color version, print coffin.convolution.color-1.stl through coffin.convolution.color-4.stl each in a different filament color; colors 1 through 3 will appear on the "windmill" patterns on the cube faces, and color 4 will appear on the corners. You can also print a two-color version by using the same color for color-1 through color-3.

To print the single-color version, print coffin.convolution.single-color.stl. There is also a smaller variant provided, coffin.convolution.single-color-smaller.stl, which will use around half as much material.

After you print it, first connect all the joints before attempting to solve the puzzle. Snap each male connector into a corresponding female connector (for example, the male connector labeled "A" should connect to the female connector with a matching "A" label on the interior).

The joints are designed to be tight, and depending on the printer and filament used, you may need to hammer them into place. If they come out too loose, a drop of superglue will make them more solid (in most cases this shouldn't be necessary, but unfortunately tolerances vary across printers and filaments). The snap joint concept is discussed further in this tutorial: Getting Started with Puzzle Printing.

The Printable Puzzle Project

The Printable Puzzle Project aims to make available high-quality open-source models of many puzzle designs. All of our models are posted with the generous permission of their designers and are licensed for non-commercial use only. Anyone may print copies for their own personal use, but selling or otherwise monetizing them is not permitted, and puzzle designers retain all rights as copyright holders of their work.

Our puzzles are modeled using the open-source puzzlecad library. The .scad file is included with this model in case you want to modify any of its design parameters; more information on how to do this can be found in the PPP Puzzle Modeling tutorial.

About the Designer

Stewart Coffin has been called "the most outstanding designer and maker of interlocking puzzles that the world has ever seen". He is credited with over four hundred designs, has pioneered numerous ingenious puzzle forms, and has written extensively about puzzle design and craftsmanship. More information on Coffin, along with many other printable models of his designs, can be found on the Stewart Coffin Puzzles overview page.

Happy puzzling!