“Anchor No. 8” Tans.

Boys and Girls,

Sorry for another attack on your sensors, however, with Chrissy and that unshaved red fatso fast approaching, I thought I’d push this item a tad further as a great stocking stuffer for the kid/grandkids.

 

Don’t get me wrong, this is not as much about the puzzle, but the Tangrams… which are also “puzzles”, so I got me wrong!

 

As I delved deeper into this previously posted puzzle,

I was gobsmacked by the coverage it got on the Internet. Its popularity is not so much in solving it as the square or rectangle, as I primarily intended to present it in that previous post, but rather in the varied Tans that can be created.

For those unfamiliar with the concept, this is Google’s feedback on the subject,

and there are literally hundreds… and if you have a good imagination, thousands… though with the limited shapes of the pieces, you may need to close both eyes to see what the presenter is calling it, however, there are many that are blatantly obvious. 

 

I’m not going to spruik all the tans out there, however, the SketchUp model and subsequent solution extracted from it, introduces a fair selection of the more popular tans,

If it is decided that the recipient should indulge in tans, more so than the basic puzzle, the provided frames will be bugger all useful and arranging freehand was a PITA.

 

My latest take is to imbed a small magnet in each piece 

 

so, it can be assembled on a vertical “ferrous” surface like the fridge or a magnetised whiteboard… 

or even the side of your favourite P-Car.

My initial though was to laminate 2 x 3mm MDF together with a hole to house the magnet in one of the laminations,

Great on paper but the one parallelogram piece 

needs to be flipped for certain configurations which would render the magnet on the top layer, 

probably not strong enough to hold on… and if I used a stronger magnet, you’d need a crowbar to pry it from the surface.  Conversely, all the other pieces can be rotated to achieve the desired profile.

An option is to make up two of the parallelogram pieces with the magnet on each of the appropriate layers, however, that now makes it an 8-piece puzzle, where one piece will always be unused… I’m sure the Chinese forefathers would throw a wobbly at such blasphemy.

 

The other option is to place a magnet in both layers of that piece, however, that would make the magnet always visible on top and look out of place.

 

So far I have chosen to only have one 3mm layer with the magnet visible on top for all the pieces,

The only issues I have with this is that the CA might not hold as well with the limited glue up surface.  For me that’s not an issue, however, it could be for any recipient.

 

I then opted for the laminated set, with a single recalcitrant piece having a magnet in both layers, which kinda looks out of place as the only odd-looking piece,

I have considered the best way to package this magnetised version is to include a small magnetised whiteboard, which makes various Tans easier to configure,

 

and the kiddies can write what they think their tan represents,

even though we all know it’s a SHU.

 

Another option with the magnets is to get some of this magnetised A4 sheets

That also acts as a whiteboard. It can be cut to size and glued to some boards/wall or just attached to the fridge for easy removal of the tan in one piece,

 

Hey gramps/grimmy, imagine getting a new tan every morning, like you soaking in a bath tub, 

rather than those kiddy scribbles,

that we all “love”… or you can just leave a message for SWMBO,

and she can respond with a,

 

For anyone interested in my collection of Tans (a good starting point), they are included in the downloadable  solution (which may be periodically updated with additional tans).

 

Anyone interested in my puzzles (or other authors’), you can see them all here in my “Puzzle Collection” .

If interested in any of mine (LBD), measurements can be made available on request for anyone not familiar with SketchUp… though a working knowledge of SketchUp’s navigation (as opposed to its design/use features) and access to 3DW could be of benefit.

All the solutions to my puzzles can be found at this link...
*** Measurements and further details can be provided on request. ***
Christmas is coming and puzzles make a great stocking stuffer... for all ages.  
Kids love ‘em and most of us are still kids.

 

 

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