Has anyone on here ever made a dodecagonal prism as shown on the puzzle museum

http://www.puzzle-shop.de/start-museum.html

follow the link to square 1 transformations.

If so how much works involved?

Its not as much as it seems, although it can be a pain. Remember though... the middle layer is still 2 parts, its just made too look like its seperate. The other 2 layers are made from real square 1 pieces.. the mid parts can be done wil milliput

Tyler,

Are you sure that the middle row is just two pieces? The Square 1 Master Flower sure looks like it has more than two pieces in the middle layer, so I had just assumed that the the middle of this puzzle was also multiple pieces. Also on the Square 1 the middle row the pieces are not the same size, but here all the pieces seem the same size.

Anyone have either of these puzzles that can verify how they work?

I've got both variations of the square one and I'm currently making the other version which cuts out the middle layer completely. Tyler is right. The middle is still in two parts but is cut and built up so that it matches the "flower" shape of the top and bottom. The Barrel is the same thing. The two layer one cuts the middle layer out and is essentially the same puzzle.

In the 2-layer variant, are the exposed pieces just extensions of the normal square-1 corner pieces, or how is it done?

Either way, how do you control the movement of the hidden part of the mechanism relative to the visible parts?

Whew.... I just read my answer and that was some meandering... Here's an easier answer.

To make the two layer version, take your Square One puzzle apart (by cutting into the middle layer and unscrewing the screw). You will have two L shaped middle pieces. Discard those. But there will be a little piece that comes off of the L shaped pieces which have a half ring on top and bottom and a hole for the screw to go through in the middle. Carefully saw the top and bottom rings off of the middle piece. Glue the top and bottom ring together back to back. Carefully cut out the area around the hole through which the screw passes, so that it just fits in the small space between the upper and lower glued rings. Cut your screw down, put your pieces on the rings, and then push the pieces together and presto! Use a good, strong glue... You've basically created the Star modification without the middle layer. ( you could do the same I guess with a square or barrel shape if you wanted)

No they are not trivial and are not extensions. I will try to explain briefly how I do this. I'll try to take some pictures and post them for Ya'll later on. The top and bottom layers of the Master Square one is normal looking. To make a middle layer piece, I take 2 normal pieces and cut the bottoms of them off (the part with the lip that holds on to the little curved ring part) I then glue the two half pieces together to give me a piece that has a lip on the bottom and top. The bottom holds on to the normal lip and the top lip holds onto another ring upon which is glued another ring upon which is the top layer. Get it??? All of the inner layers are constructed this way. In order for the pieces to not fall off when turned, the trivial middle pieces must be taken out and the mechanism inserted between two of the rings. That is how the two layer star in the Puzzle Muesuem is made. This is kind of confusing in writing I'll try to post some pictures.....

OK, I think I can see now how you've reduced the "core". But still can't quite understand what stops the core from rotating (say) 30 deg relative to the top and bottom layers, jamming the puzzle. Or, to put it another way, how do you make independent rotations of the top and bottom layers, through multiples of 60 deg relative to the core?

Sorry -- maybe I'll have to wait for the pictures to understand this properly.

Jeremiah send me a email in private about a question that I have when you get a chance.

Thanks for the replies, Ive just started taking a square 1 apart to try and make one.(spent the 5 minutes of the project looking for the yellow cap which shoot off into space)

Regards