Nova - Interlocking puzzle by Stewart Coffin (STC #8)

thingiverse

Nova Interlocking Puzzle by Stewart Coffin (STC #8) Assemble six identical pieces into the polyhedral shape shown in the cover photo. Nova is derived from Coffin's earlier design Sirius by adding additional ornamentation. The essential puzzle mechanism remains the same, though Nova boasts an especially striking appearance: mathematically, the assembled Sirius has the shape of the first stellation of the rhombic dodecahedron, while Nova has the shape of the second stellation. Coffin wrote: "The six identical pieces of Nova assemble easily to form the second stellation of the rhombic dodecahedron. ... [I]t is more of a polyhedral sculpture than a puzzle." A Polyhedral Sculpture Nova forms a striking display piece, with various symmetric arrangements possible, when printed accurately in five colors (see below). In Coffin's words: "There are several ways of assembling these pieces in color symmetry .... The simplest and most obvious is with each of the eight hexagonal dimples a solid color, with like colors opposite [this is the one shown in the photo]. Another way is with four triangles of a solid color. The most elegant is with four hexagonal rings of solid color intersecting each other around the outside. The other ways are left for the curious reader to discover." For a More Challenging Assembly Puzzle Try printing Coffin's later variant Super Nova for a more challenging assembly puzzle in the same shape. Printing Instructions Two variants of this puzzle are provided with different color arrangements. The "monochrome" version is especially easy to print; just print six copies of coffin.nova.solid.stl (You can, of course, print the copies in different colors, and you might get an interesting color pattern out of it; but the colors won't follow the geometry of the puzzle in the way Coffin intended.) The five-color version is more involved, but it has the most satisfying final appearance. Print one copy of coffin.nova.fivecolor-bases.stl and one copy each of coffin.nova.fivecolor-tips-1.stl through coffin.nova.fivecolor-tips-4.stl, each in a different color. Ideally, use a neutral color (such as white or grey) for the bases. The Colored Variant The colored variant uses "snap joints" to enable printing in multiple colors, and you will need to connect all the joints before attempting to solve the puzzle. Press the male connector on each tip into an indentation on one of the bases. If they end up too loose, they can be reinforced with a drop of superglue (but this is usually not necessary). The joints are designed to be printed without supports. You must connect the joints in the combinations shown in the second photo, or you will not get the intended color arrangement. To help keep things straight, the joints are labeled "A" through "H"; be sure to connect each male joint to a female joint of matching letter (Each of the four colors comes in mirror-image pairs, for a total of eight distinct types of tip.) The Puzzle is Modeled Using Puzzlecad I have included the .scad file in case you want to remix it. 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 manufacture. More information on Coffin, and a variety of other printable models of his designs, are available in the Stewart Coffin Puzzles collection. Happy puzzling!