Hi Twisty Puzzles fans,

Here is another non-twisty puzzle that I would like to share with you. The reason for sharing is my hope that this public posting could lead me to its inventor, whom I have been looking for for several decades.

Cooksey Maze is a maze concept invented by an Englishman named "Mr. Richard Cooksey" in the 1970's. An evolved metal+plastic version with springs and pins was prototyped by Pentangle, but it was never taken in production. I have been trying to locate Cooksey for quite some time, as the original "Cooksey Cilinder" has been an inspiration for many of mys puzzle designs. This is a modified version of the original Cooksey Cylinder with a much simplified mechanism.

Earn a free Cooksey Maze if you can bring me in contact with the original inventor of this maze concept. I know nothing more than his name, the fact that he is an Englishman, and that he was already an adult in the 1970's. Also the people who operated Pentangle in the 1970's could not provide me with any more identifying information.

Watch the YouTube video.
Buy the puzzle from my Shapeways Shop.
Read more at the Shapeways Forum.
Also posted at the Renegade Puzzlers Forum (subscription required).
Check out the photos below.

Enjoy!

Oskar

Hi Twisty Puzzles fans,

In addition to the Oskar-style remake of the original Cooksey Maze, I have also designed and built six Cooksey Tribute puzzles, as a tribute to Richard Cooksey's original design that provided the inspiration.
-Cooksey Tribute A: two identical square pins
-Cooksey Tribute B: two identical square pins at a 45 degrees angle
-Cooksey Tribute C: two identical square pins at a 22.5 degrees angle
-Cooksey Tribute D: two different rectangular pins at 0 and 90 degrees angle
-Cooksey Tribute E: two different rectangular pins at -45 and +45 degrees angle
-Cooksey Tribute F: two different rectangular pins at -22.5 and 67.5 degrees angle

Watch the YouTube video.
Buy these puzzles from my Shapeways Shop.
Check out the photos below.

Enjoy!

Oskar

Oskar, would you perhaps be willing to offer a slimmed down version of these puzzles? If at 5cm diameter they cost $144, then at 2cm diameter they would cost $10 (could could make a nice pack of all A to F then). I'm not sure if they could be scaled that much, but even if you're just able to offer a half-size version (at $18) that would be quite interesting also.

The Cooksey Maze is cool, but the fact that you printed 7 of them is just awesome.

While ordering, I noticed the STLs on Shapeways look different from the designs in your pictures. In particular, the collars now have filigrees!

Have you added more decorations?

Scott,

Thank you for your order. Yes, you are right, I have updated the model since my first prototypes. I have made the ring a bit taller for stability. I have also added holes in the ring, so you can see the maze through the ring. Ideally, the ring would have been made of a fully transparent material. Unfortunately, such a 3D-print material does not exist yet. The mazes themselves are not changed.

Oskar

Update!

Following the discussion above Oskar provided me with the specifications to build rings for the Cooksey Trubute mazes. They aren't as ornamental as the ones on Shapeways, but they're transparent.


The transparency isn't perfect, but it's good enough to see the puzzle while solving it. I've got two of the Cooksey Trubute puzzles so far, with a third on order, and the transparency really helps.


Still, it's a tough choice. Oskar's original rings are really elegant-looking with those intricate little windows, but they block just enough of the puzzle to be annoying. There's a lot of friction, too. But they're so beautiful!

This is just like a revomaze only you can actually see the maze instead of wandering around in the dark...

Kind of. in the revomaze, you stay in the track. On this, you have to move around, and switch which piece is in a track, and move some more, and switch again. It's pretty neat.

I really ike those mazes!! Do you think it would be possible to put the rigs in another stl file, so we can order them in transparent material?

- Greg