Wooden Jigsaw Puzzles

I have to admit when I got into puzzling as an adult, it never entered my mind there was such a thing as 250-1000 piece adult wooden jigsaw puzzles, so imagine my surprise when I saw my very first one. I would like to share two wood puzzles that I am lucky to have experienced.

Wentworth Jigsaw Puzzle Company

My very first was a Wentworth wooden jigsaw puzzle with whimsy pieces and excellent artwork by Ruth Sanderson. It is titled: "He Looked Like A Peddler " and I had the pleasure of assembling it.

The unique cuts were quite different to handle because they are wood.....it was like the pieces had to be set in from directly above and not slide into place from the sides, a tactic that I was very familiar with. You can also pick the entire puzzle up, turn it over and see some of the whimsy cuts on the back. The image was so fun to work on, especially the Christmas tree and Santa. I did think it was a tad dark.

The wood used is from the forests managed on a sustainable yield basis. I would say the pieces are about 1/4 of an inch thick. They are quite solid. This was taken into consideration when getting the frame.

I received it as a gift from a puzzle friend in the UK. She had completed it herself and she knew from my social media comments that I really really REALLY wanted one. Since these are not easily available in Canada she was very thoughtful to send me hers.....so bet your bottom dollar I was thrilled, excited and delighted to own it.

I have to admit I have not taken it down and now the Christmas season is almost upon us so I will not be switching it out again for some time

Platinum Puzzles

Platinum Puzzles was my second wood puzzle. They pride themselves on top quality and give the Puzzler an experience in the same way puzzles were first introduced back in the old days. By that I mean the ' sense ' of owning a truly, original, vintage puzzle. Here ’ s some similarities of ‘ old school’ puzzles.

The first puzzles that were produced did not have an image on the outside of the box The puzzle title was hand-written on the outside of the box as were the number of pieces Some came in tin boxes as well as cardboard with the label stuck onto the outside The pieces were not bagged back then but blanketed with tissue paper

When you open the box you are instantly greeted with a 'Welcome '

envelope sharing a personal touch. Inside the envelope is a sheet of paper that shares the details about the puzzle such as the title of the puzzle, number of pieces, date made and how many whimsies. The rest of the sheet is for record keeping of Puzzlers who have assembled the puzzle once it moves onto the next Puzzler; name, age, location, missing pieces and date completed. Inside the box, the wood pieces are wrapped in soft white tissue paper and you will instantly see the Platinum Puzzle seal imprinted on the top sheet. You will see how perfectly the tissue paper is folded around all the pieces.

Platinum Puzzles adds a real personal touch;

Finally, when you lift the tissue paper you will be delighted to see the lovely cut wooden pieces made of quality 5 ply cherry wood that are surprisingly light and are various shapes and sizes.

I did not do my usual sorting routine because this is 236 pieces which laid out nicely onto the foam board. There is no picture to go by and the title refers to Night Cat which doesn 't give me much of a clue.

The cut has 23 whimsies embedded. There is no way to determine the border so I started to match colors and colored patterns because matching pieces was not an option here.

Eventually some of the pieces started to give me clues, like there

' s cats eyes, a mermaid, some flowers, a house and I see water. As I continued it became clear this was going to be the shape of a cat with colourful painted details inside.

I decided that I wanted to put this treasure on the wall. I did a test to see if the Buffalo Presto Peel and Stick for puzzles would be removable in case I want to redo this super fun puzzle and yes it is doable. But in the meantime I prefer to see it on my wall.

I had to use 2 sheets due to the size of the puzzle and the sticker sheets. I traced the outline of the Cat. I cut on the inside of my pencil line to make sure there was no overlap on the edges. Then I peeled off the outer strips and placed the 2 cute patterns onto the back of the shaped Night Cat. The puzzle is not heavy so I used a 2-way wall hanger and DONE! It looks great on the wall.

I have always been impressed with the puzzles cut by Dee Rogers in our Jigsaw Puzzle Connections Facebook Group. She has shared some of the most amazing images and extremely beautiful shaped cuts. Clearly the quality is outstanding just by seeing and feeling the smoothness of each piece. There was zero puzzle dust and the pieces have such a nice, smooth feel to them due to the sanding of each individual piece. When you browse the Platinum Puzzles website you will see some of the most outstanding custom cut puzzles which are quite difficult to assemble - that is their goal. The ' cut' IS the Art and they certainly have achieved that! You can also watch a TV-News video interview to see how it' s made and many challenging puzzle images in their workshop studio. I have to admit - the experience with this wood-cut Platinum Puzzle is outstanding compared to the traditional board puzzles I am accustomed to assembling and it really does give you a sense of ' vintage ' . I highly recommend this brand to those who are looking for uniqueness in a puzzle, a gift for a Puzzler or are interested in having an image cut that is extremely challenging.