A jigsaw puzzle is a tiling puzzle that requires the assembly of often oddly shaped interlocking and mosaiced pieces. Typically, each individual piece has a portion of a picture; when assembled, the jigsaw puzzle produces a complete picture.

Most modern jigsaw puzzles are made out of paperboard since they are easier and cheaper to mass-produce than the original wooden models. An enlarged photograph or printed reproduction of a painting or other two-dimensional artwork is glued onto the cardboard before cutting. This board is then fed into a press. The press forces a set of hardened steel blades of the desired shape through the board until it is fully cut. This procedure is similar to making shaped cookies with a cookie cutter. The forces involved, however, are tremendously greater and a typical 1000-piece puzzle requires a press that can generate upwards of 700 tons of force to push the knives of the puzzle die through the board. A puzzle die is a flat board, often made from plywood, which has slots cut or burned in the same shape as the knives that are used. These knives are set into the slots and covered in a compressible material, typically foam rubber, which serves to eject the cut puzzle pieces.

New technology has enabled laser-cutting of wooden or acrylic jigsaw puzzles. The advantage of cutting with a laser is that the puzzle can be custom cut into any size, any shape, with any size (or any number) of pieces. Many museums have laser cut acrylic puzzles made of some of their more important pieces of art so that children visiting the museum can see the original piece and then assemble a jigsaw puzzle of the image that is also in the same shape as the piece of art. Acrylic is used because the pieces are very durable, waterproof, and can withstand continued use without the image fading, or the pieces wearing out, or becoming frayed. Also, because the print and cut patterns are computer-based, lost pieces can be manufactured without remaking the entire puzzle.

Video Credit: www.ravensburger.com & www.clementoni.com

This video is part of our ‘How Everyday Things are Made’ series. To watch other video of the series click on this link:    • How Everyday Things Are Made?  

Join 'Engineering World' like many others to get access to very special perks:
   / @engineeringworld.  

Also, kindly consider subscribing to our channel if you liked the video: https://geni.us/SubscribeChannel

Watch some of our other interesting manufacturing videos:
How Plywood Is Made In Factories?
   • How Plywood Is Made In Factories? (Me...  
How LUXURY Rolls-Royce Cars Are Made ?
   • How LUXURY Rolls-Royce Cars Are Made ...  
How Pencils are made in Factories?
   • How Pencils are made in Factories? (M...