This puzzle was designed by the customer for a corporate celebration of Martin Luther King day. Everything about this puzzle is huge. This is my first "frame" or "tray" puzzle. See below for further details.

As it happened (from my Journal archives)

January 8, 2001

I am making a Martin Luther King custom puzzle, 24 by 25 1/2 inches in size, by far my biggest puzzle, with a single gigantic frame "piece" which will surround the whole puzzle bringing the total size to about 29 1/4 by 35 inches. The frame "piece" will be glued to a backing, in effect making this puzzle a giant "tray" puzzle. Making the initial puzzle cuts will be a major logistical challenge

Making the puzzle board and backing board required new methods as the board was larger than my table saw could handle. Had to use a belt sander to fine tune the squaring of the edges of the boards.

January 11, 2001 1:00 am

Finally finished cutting the massive Martin Luther King puzzle, 180 pieces - wow did I underestimate how long it would take to cut the frame - helped define a new meaning for the word "patience" as I guided the 29 1/4" by 35" heavy piece of wood in my 30" Excalibur scroll saw while cutting the long lines. I had some control problems at first - which required light repairs before I realized I needed to use a stronger blade - and got a better sense for how to guide the large board - still very slow. I broke three blades cutting the frame in the early going, not one while cutting the puzzle! (Actually, after the initial puzzle cuts, I cut the rest of the puzzle on my Hegner.) The initial puzzle cuts were a major challenge even with the very large pieces. When cutting the large puzzle pieces, everything went slower, which meant the internal time element I have for "dancing" a curve had to be readjusted - and the time to cut all the pieces was way longer than I estimated. I used 1/4" wood instead of my usual 3/16" wood for added strength - this added extra weight and resistance to the board, requiring increased pressure to cut the wood. I will ship the puzzle assembled in the heavy frame, somehow later today. Puzzle looks spectacular - mostly a Swirl Curl.

In gluing the frame to the back board, I used 14 clamps to hold the two sections together while the wood glue was drying. This required me to buy out the stock in the local hardware store