Internal Combustion

Internal Combustion

The Internal Combustion puzzle was sent to me by Puzzle Master. It is an aluminium boxed burr puzzle made for Puzzle Master themselves. There is a wooden version made by Mr Puzzle in Australia called Pandora's Box is available in either standard or craftsman finishes.

It is rated as a level 8 out of 10 (demanding) by Puzzle Master which I think may be a little high. It comes nicely packaged in a large blue box with the puzzle attached to a card by plastic ties - mine was jammed on quite tight and took a bit of doing to remove. Luckily, being made of solid aluminium it is very tough! The size is a pretty decent 6cm square and 3.4cm high and is quite a considerable weight (don't drop this on your toes!) The finish is pretty good - nice and smooth with the edges nicely rounded. The cut-outs for the burr pieces are a little sharp but overall this is a very nice looking puzzle.

The box is a simple box with space for the burr pieces and no internal obstructions like some of the other boxes burrs I have seen. The aim obviously is to disassemble and then reassemble it - previous reviews of this by Neil and by Oli have both stated that reassembly is quite a lot tougher than the initial take-apart. The solution is apparently in included in the box but I think I threw it out without looking for it! If you did the same then you can download one from here.

I have been playing with various boxed burrs for a while since I received a few made by Eric Fuller and I have to say that, due to the lack of internal pegs on the box interior, I found this one really easy to take apart. I think it took me about 3 minutes and I had all 4 burrs on the table!

Internal Combustion Pieces

I deliberately jumbled them up immediately and left it for 10 minutes before trying to put it back together and this was a lot tougher! It took about 20 minutes to do and ended up requiring a rather unusual approach. I actually ended up arranging the burrs by themselves without the box to work out the orientation and then inserted them in the correct order into the box afterwards.

I have given this to a few friends and expected them all to take it apart in just a few minutes like I did. I was pleasantly surprised when they all managed to get it apart but only after a good 10 to 30 minutes each. When it came to reassembly they all gave up and asked me to show them (not a single person could reassemble it despite me leaving it with them as long as they wished!) So, maybe if you are not a regular puzzler then this is worth the 8 out of 10 rating (for experienced puzzlers I would say 6 or 7).

Whilst I didn't think anyone would really need it, I couldn't resist making a Burrtools file for it (I just lurve Burrtools!!) and to my astonishment there are 6 different solutions. The one that is the starting solution for the Puzzle Master version is number 5 and is a level 6.1.2 solution. The tolerances in the construction (at least my version) are not good enough for all the stated solutions to actually be manageable with the puzzle I have. Solution 6 is very interesting as it is a single level 15 solution and is constructible with my puzzle. It is a nice set of moves but less puzzling because there are fewer blind endings and choices to be made in the process - however, it is still quite fun to undo!!! If you would like a copy of the file then just drop me a line.

Overall, I am very pleased with this one. It feels very satisfying in the hands, looks terrific with a nice polished aluminium finish and is a nice puzzle to solve (relatively easy for the experienced and a good brain-teaser for the novice). It is especially fun to find the alternative solutions! You do get quite a lot for your money.