Concentration is the Name of the Game.

Boy and Girls,

 

I may have left my run a tad late as Christmas is approaching faster than Rudolph can run into the bushes to avoid Santa having to run around after him with a doggie poo bag to keep the rooves clean.

 

Deviating from my puzzles, this is a game that has proved very popular with both kiddies and their bigger owners in the past.

 

Because of the graphics, this is primarily designed for laser owners/users unless you have a steady arm, keen eye and a swag of Sharpies.

 

I use my Timbermate backfill technique to bring the characters to life, however, there is no reason why they can’t be just engraved with a greater burning process to minimise build times.

 

This project was originally published at Lumberjocks on 15th. October, 2021.

The 3D Warehouse model,

Files can be downloaded from my cloud storage if interested.

 

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Boy and Girls,

 

Just to confirm that I am a fully-fledged deviant, here is a deviation from my current puzzle fetish that made me game enough to venture into gaming… no, not gambling though you could drop a few shekels my way if you are a generous thrillseeker.

 

I should never have introduced at least one of my friends to this Lumberjock's Forum.  An old friend was browsing through the projects, and she immediately dialled in on and started to hassle me about one of Jolien's projects of which she reminded me about a show we both watched on TV oh so many, many, many years ago.  The show was called Concentration and I still remember it with affection in black and white

 

Well no amount of coaxing was going to make me plagiarise one of a fellow LJ's project… not even the offer of a ½ cask of vino…  BUT, when I was bribed with the other ½ of the cask upon completion and delivery of a working product, I just couldn't resist.

 

Having a swag of Disney

and Looney Tunes clip-art caricatures, I had the theme, I just had to draw up the tiles, lay them out and prompt the laser into operation.

 

I tried a Goofy sample, on 30mm x 30mm x 3mm MDF (with flocked back),

As with all my puzzles, I am forever seeking to miniaturise them so they can be kept in my pockets and hand them out as freebies as I sneak out during lockdown… just kidding… I don't sneak, just waddle.

I tried some miniature 15mm x 15mm,

While the engraving was "crystal clear", the tiles were just too small to see except very close up,

so that idea was reluctantly abandoned.

 

CorelDraw was my choice and opted for a 6×6 matrix requiring 18 pairs of tiles.

 

There was no underlying  rebus as per the original TV game, but the matching pairs was not an accident.

 

Undecided whether to Disney or go Looney, I flipped a coin and decided to do a set of each. 

Unfortunately it was not a case of my favourite characters but more so which would make more attractive tiles. Picked a fair variety of 18 different characters for each set, however, to my horror, I later discovered I omitted Daffy from the Looney set.

Then I remembered that there are heaps of people on this planet of mine that are humourless and so solemn, that I chose a set of alphabets to appease those sour pusses (though a cat theme might have been just as appropriate)

 

I chose to size each tile as 30mm², for no other reason than to make a relatively small portable set that could easily be carried around.

 

First step was to engrave the characters on a sheet of MDF.  I ganged the 3 sets together,

engraved the MDF

and then proceeded to ebony wood fill the engraved recess,

to create what I think is a more presentable tile.  The engraving was then sanded and topped up

to take out all the missed gaps and indentations,

 

 The back of the sheet was then flocked,

 Back to the laser to cut out the tiles,

 Made up 2 "jigs" to hold 8 pieces each for easier sanding

I did get a tad carried away with the sanding and bottomed through the filler

Though later I found a chip under one tile lifting it and sanding was uneven causing the "blow through",

and buffing,

I hate loose pieces and realised a plastic baggie a bit barbaric and my Tormek isn't set up to sharpen sewing needles, consequently a cloth bag was out of the question.

 

Off to SketchUp to design a box to house each set of 36 tiles,

and the job for the laser

then through to CorelDraw, to design some instructions on the lid of the box and send it to the laser for cutting and engraving.

Also designed some pseudo-rules to make multiple players a tad more competative,

 

Rubber banded and taped some of the boxes to test fit,

before that dreaded glue up.

 

Risked the router table with my still dodgy left arm and with some safety guides, routed a channel for the lid,

then the glue up,

… and bugger that bloke that had the audacity to utter the bullshit that "you can have too many clamps".

I had 6 sets of tiles requiring 6 boxes that needed to be buffed,

and the tiles had to be sorted into sets as I thought it would be too cruel to mix the 3 sets up prior to distribution,

 

 

Of course I had to unpack a set,

and have a test run against myself using the matrix setup,

the random layout,

I barely won, but I did have to cheat.

 

Did make a video if only to get the opportunity to wear my animal nightie again.

 

The arm is still dodgy, but I need sympathy for something else…

Because of lockdown, I didn't get my ½ cask deposit, and with the postage shortage, it'll be a while before I can post the box of tiles for me to claim the second ½ of the vino… In the meantime, I will continue to have nightmares about the missing 1st ½ (of the cask).  Life is sooo cruel!

 

Keep safe, jocks... and your jocks, safe!