Why Round The Corners?

Hi. (I’m still working on a salutation that feels right.)

So when I make a ten-piece 1/8th-inch thick puzzle that fits into a mini matchbox, I round the edges of the uncut picture before I cut it. But why?

Left = pointy, Right = roundy

There are reasons. There are always reasons. We are always thinking through things here. One reason is it feels better. I love the feel of wooden puzzle pieces. But I’m not fond of sharp edges. I know it can’t always be helped when I cut the pieces. It makes even sharper points when I start cutting in at a less than 90° (because the other side is then greater than 90°.) Either way, one side is very pokey. And that’s icky.

There’s sawdust on me.

Another reason is it helps with lifts. Lifts are when the lamination and paper pull away from the board. I want these things to last a lifetime. And not just any lifetime. My lifetime. And your lifetime. I want these things to last at least our lifetimes. So we glue down any lifts we find. If you find a lift, you have my permission to glue that sucker down.

A third reason is I think it looks better. It’s done by hand. You can tell a machine didn’t just stamp it out. It varies. Look at the corners in the first picture. They aren’t all the same. Can you tell? You can’t? Well, I can’t either, but I bet if you had one in your hand you could.

So I round the corners. Mostly. I might not always. But I do now. Some stuff even has irregular borders. I do that on some of the big piece puzzles already. I’m thinking I might start doing that on some of the other puzzles too. I could do it on the mini matchboxes too. I don’t mind doing one more step to get the puzzle the way I think will be the best for it.

Thanks for reading.

Craig

Claimer (See, it’s the opposite of a Disclaimer):
You can find the puzzles featured on our blog at larkwalkpuzzles.etsy.com or under the “shop” heading of this website (Hint: it’s less expensive here rather than there). Any puzzles you can’t find at either place can be quickly made to order. Just get in touch with us at either store site.

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