Rose Tricylinder Puzzle

thingiverse

This project still needs work to my liking. Three components come together to form a tricylinder, a solid created by intersecting three cylinders at right angles. Also known as a Steinmetz solid, it has its own Wikipedia page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steinmetz_solid Stephen Chin designed this puzzle in 2014, shaping it into a rhombic dodecahedron. The wood copies shown are his work. It turns out that a tricylinder is equivalent to a rhombic dodecahedron with curved edges and faces. On the inside, both versions share the same structure. When made with precise, rigid pieces, this puzzle cannot be assembled. Some creative modification of the components is necessary to make it fit together. This puzzle proves trickier to assemble than expected. Don't try forcing the pieces together and pushing hard! That requires significant force and can damage the puzzle. Moreover, if you force the pieces together, you might not be able to disassemble them afterwards! Note the piece orientation; if a piece is installed backwards and you apply pressure, you may end up assembling the puzzle incorrectly. Find a way to assemble it correctly without applying excessive force. Disassembling it becomes easy once assembled correctly. You'll need three copies of the basic component. I've included a file for the component that creates a rhombic dodecahedron as well. The diameter of the puzzle is approximately 6 cm. A notable aspect of this puzzle is that different piece types can be mixed, and even pieces scaled differently can be assembled together. However, beware that resizing the puzzle may alter the fit. CAUTION: The last image displays how the puzzle got its name but also serves as a spoiler! Although it's not an extremely challenging puzzle, be aware of this fact.