Well, in the midst of all this excitement I've decided to share my next project with you all.
I have decided to call it the Polaris puzzle because, hey, it's a stellation. Specifically it's the small stellated dodecahedron.

I was told to warn you that the first picture might cause retinal burning and ask that you not operate heavy machinery while viewing it (don't ask).
It's a picture of a portion of the mech minus the stellated facade at a deliberately confusing angle.

The second picture is of the final puzzle with one full layer colored.

Thanks to Bram for pointing out this puzzle as a possibility.

Hmm, 24 puzzle variation?

Looks like it has similar cuts to the Little chop.

Looks intriguing but I can't guess how it turns.

The theory behind the mechanism is the same, but the cuts are completely different. It's 20 axis.

I meant, how it is Deep cut and each cut divides the puzzle exactly in half, not necessarily how they intersect

It's not deep cut

At this stage, I am not sure which one I like more, the puzzle or its name!
I will certainly watch this space for updates.




Pantazis

Niiiice!

Is this shape the stellated dodecahedron I've heard mentioned here and there? Also, in the shells picture, are the purple pieces in the outermost shell attached to something else? I ask because you might be able to ditch them altogether...

Nice one

This puzzle scares me

WOW, AWESOME progress! I'm having a difficult time understanding how adding shell will effect how your basic core works though. looks awesome from what I can tell, but won't the pointy arms make this puzzle huge? why not settle for a simple dodecahedron? great work though! the.drizzle has started a new tradition in puzzle building! perhaps the pentultimate can be rebuilt with such a mechanism?

Will this work similar to an Impossiball, or are those spikes sliced?
I can't believe how many internal layers that thing has! This is gonna be something amazing.

Very much so.
I toyed with deleting the purple piece because it isn't attached to anything, but decided against it just for completeness' sake. In all probablility when I get this printed, I'll leave that piece out.


Adding shells is like going from a megaminx to a crystal. There's no analog of the floating edges on a megaminx. And each subsequent shell allows for a deeper cut, which is what I'm going for.
Yes, this puzzle will be gigantic, but I just love the look of it too much. Not many puzzles have taken advantage of stellation to work.
If you look for the "Pentultimate writings" thread, Noah links to Bram describing a way to build up from megaminx to pentultimate.


Those spike things are sliced. If you look at the spiky picture, ANY group similar to the differently colored layer will twist. (3 full spikes, and 3 groups of 2 faces.)


Don't operate any heavy machinery!

Wow this is cool. Love the name too.

That's very ambitious Tyler, and I'm eager to see how this turns out. Given the.drizzle's recent results, this may come out very well.

For those of you who don't get it on first glance this is the small stellated dodecahedron, and the outer part of the puzzle has 60 pieces, one for each visible triangle. It's surprising that such a deeply cut (but not quite deep cut) puzzle only has one type of visible piece, which is why this one was picked out for building.

Tyler! You tease. Could we please see some more pictures?

*bats eyelashes*

You know, I just realized that this thing jumbles.

So the extended pieces don't get in the way of each other?
I'll do a little looking and see if I can make a jumbled image.

Edit:

And there it is!!
Wow, this thing reads HORRIBLY through 2D pictures.

This is a very different and interesting mechanism

Sure ... but I'm still gonna be a tease
Here's one of the more complex pieces. It's a floating hidden support that will only be visible on partial turns.

And here you can see it in context from a deliberately confusing angle

Seems to me like friction will not be your friend upon the completion of this puzzle.

No less friendly than with the 24 Cube. The mechanisms are based on the exact same principle.

Friction doesn't seem to be an issue at all actually. Just get all the sizes right, and use heaps of good lubricant when assembling (have you got an assembly plan yet? If not, I've got a "universal" approach that will let you put anything spherical together if you need a hand) and the movement is smooth and easy.

Also, from the clever "confusing" picture, I can see how you can eliminate at least 2 of the 8 layers you've got there, possibly 3. Email me for an explanation if your'e interested; it will cut down the cost significantly as you can reduce the overall size of the thing.

Thanks, that did help.
So the parts are off to the printers! Huzzah.

Now I sit here with no puzzle to design ... so I'm starting another!!
Bram came up with the idea (again! Man he's smart)
viewtopic.php?t=4229

And included is a pic of the roughed out mech minus the large connections of pieces described in the other thread.
In the foreground you can see the inside of a Center/Edge/Corner of a megaminx.
In back, you can see the Pentagon and triangle that make up the pentultimate facade.
Between that is the crystal, and the layer the facade is connected to.

I'm taking some credit where I can!

I actually already completed a (slightly different) design for a "shelled" pentultimate in full, but didn't print it owing to the high cost and was waiting for the Meffert's Pyraminx Crystal to be available to build off of as a drastic cost-cutting measure. Since then, Jason finished and debuted his design, and it turned out the Crystal was not produced to a standard that would allow it to be built out, so I decided to resign the .stl files to archive, so to speak.

I guess these designs are simply "coming of age". (Nice deceptive screen capture, too!)

In the meantime, I'm putting the finishing touches on this and this, but I'm not sure if I'll be able to get them printed at all... Oh well!

You need to resurrect the shelled Pentultimate design. Please. I can't believe that something like that is sent to archive.

You guys, I'm going to ask a really stupid question, but please don't get mad at me:
After reading this thread and the 24-puzzle thread, it left me wondering what deep-cut puzzles were. Thanks!

If you make a turn on any puzzle, you can see it cuts through or bisects a part of the puzzle. On a 3x3, making a turn will bisect one third on a puzzle. A puzzle is deep cut when half the puzzle is bisected.

Some examples:
2x2: Deep Cut
3x3: Not deep cut
Megaminx: Very shallow cuts
Pyraminx Crystal: Like the megaminx, but with deeper cuts.

Generally, the deeper a puzzle is cut, the more difficult it becomes as one turn will affect many more pieces.

Hey now. You don't have to take credit, I'm giving it to you! If it weren't for your design of the 24 cube, I wouldn't be doing any of this. This process just sort of ... clicked with me.


Though I do wish you would have continued, I know that cost can be a big issue. I hope to do these by casting as a dramatic cost cutting technique.


Well, you take an idea and run with it, I guess. You pioneered it. I'm just following in your footsteps.
And I wasn't *trying* to be deceptive. It's just nearly impossible to give a screenshot of all the pieces in context that actually means anything


Ooh!! More puzzles!!
What? Not printed??
Oh Nooooooo!!!!!1111oneone

Hang on, credit where credit is due! Yes, I did manage to build a few puzzles via this method, but I'm pretty sure it was Aleh's Brillic that used it first, and Adam's SuperX was certainly ahead of anything I did. I can't think of anything else off the top of my head, but certainly those two puzzles helped things "click" for me

Thanks, that clears things up. Are the 4x4 and 6x6 deep cut then (even though they are deep cut and have very shallow cuts)?

its deep cut it the turn goes directly through the center of the puzzle, its shallow cut if it does not

Easy definition of a deep cut puzzle.

All the planes of rotation intersect at a single point.

I got a package in the mail today!!!

Edit:
Sorry guys, I really need to get my own camera. Will attempt to get pictures again though.
2 pieces in molds, but I think my OOMOO is dead. Gotta get more tonight.

I can't wait! too excited!

A couple of pictures:

Looking good tyler, keep it up! I can't wait to see the finished product.

Awesome work! can't wait to see more. you masters look super smooth considering you haven't done anything to them

I can see you're casting your companion cube!

Ok, sorry to hijack the thread.
Oh wait. I started it
Due to some ... miscalculations ... on my part the polaris has taken a backburner to another project I debuted on this thread.

Happy Halloween

niiiiiiice:)

(and assuming you got it fairly accurate, it should be even smoother than Jason's too!)

Pentultimate. Layered mechanism.

Unbelievable...

Phenomenal. Dying for more.

Yes, PLEASE Show Us More!

I had something to say at the top of the thread, but after reading the whole thing, I lost it.

Ok, I remember now. I have actually been thinking about this puzzle recently(like the exact puzzle), before I even saw this thread. After reading it, I realize I came up with the idea of this puzzle around the same time you started this thread, Tyler. I never thought up a mechanism, anyway, good job on building it, or almost building it. Looks great!

P.S. sorry for double posting, the thread wouldn't let me edit.

P.S.S. great job on the mech, don't know how it works but I know I could've never came up with a complicated mech like that. I'm supposedly smart, but you guys amaze me in how you design these puzzles, it totally baffles me, I can't even start to get how to make something like this, maybe one day some of you could teach me so I could actually build my quadraminx.

Okay
On the left you see the megaminx centers.
Most of the ones in the middle are the Pyraminx Crystal edges with extensions.
The ones on the right directly above my xacto knife are the pieces that float between the faces and corners.

Could these be peices for a long awaited (by me) companion cube?

Of course they are.
My problem is that I have about 5 projects going on at once, and the Companion Cube is (sadly) near the bottom of the list for the moment. Have no worries because it's just too cool for me not to finish it eventually.

Is the companion cube the one with hearts all over it and stuff?