Homemade puzzlesBlack Nightmare Plans

First, an explanation of the box. There are four sliding sidesthat can be removed, these are the top, left, right and base.The front and back panels hold a smaller panel, split in half. Thesehalf-panels slide sideways and control the other sliding sides.Whatever moves you make on the front, you must make the samemoves on the back, in order to move the other sides. Eventually,you can remove the top, base, left and right panels.

These dimensions shown are based on the box being constructedfrom 4mm and 6mm plywood. If you use a different size wood,you will have to adjust your measurements.All sizes shown are in millimetres.

Start with the inner box. Pieces required:two at 6 x 44 x 56: the sidessix at 4 x 8 x 48: the stripsone at 4 x 48 x 56: the base

48

8

12

inner baseglued to the bottomof the 6mm sides

leftside

rightside

FRONT VIEW

56

SIDE VIEW

pin and glue these six piecesto the two 6 mm pieces.

Back and front panels. Cut two to these dimensions.Use 4mm thick plywood.

48 64

64

8

12

12

16

The runners for the four removable sides are made from 4mmsquare strips. These runners are the black shapes shown below.Cut to the lengths shown, and glue to the back panel.

56

52 4

56

4

28

4

16

left

top

right

bottom

This is the inside face of the back panel. The inside face ofthe front panel is a mirror image of this. All the runners willbe reversed, left to right, on the inside face of the front panel.

These slots will hold thetop and bottom inner sliders

pin and glue the six strips to the ends of the 6mm ply

16

8

8

12

3216

cut out

8

4

66

4844

cut out

12

64

Homemade puzzles

left

top

right

bottom

52

4

inner topslider

inner bottomslider

Cut the two inner top sliders, and two innerbottom sliders from 4mm plywood.

Page 2

Cut the two middle top sliders, and twomiddle bottom sliders from 4mm plywood.

24

12

12

middle topsliders

middle bottomsliders

From 4 mm ply, cut four pieces, 24 x 48 mmTwo of these are the top outer sliders, the other twoare the bottom outer sliders.

outer sliders

Assembly of the inner box.Start with the pieces for the back panel.

Lay two outer sliders on a firm surface, and secure themso that they cannot move. Position the back panel in place,with the runners facing you, so that the outer sliders,which form a square, are exactly in the centre.Do not glue anything yet.

middletopslider

middlebottomslider

backpanel

Position a middle top slider and a middle bottom sliderinto the slots in the back panel, and glue to the insidefaces of the outer sliders. Notice that the pieces are notthe same length.

84

4

444

44

44

outer top slider

outer bottom slider

outer top slider

outer bottom slider

28

444

444

52

4

cut two

cut two

24

28

Position an inner top slider and an inner bottom slider,and glue to the inside faces of the middle sliders.Notice that the left tongue on the top slider is engaged inthe notch in the left runner.

innertopslider

innerbottomslider

Position the inner box in place, exactly in the centre, andglue to the inside face of the back panel. Be sure to onlyapply glue to the three strips on the back of the box-the sliders must be free to move.

1/4" ply

innerbox

innertopslider

innerbottomslider

Page 3

left

top

right

bottom

frontpanel

outer top slider

outer bottom slider

The front panel assembly is the same asthe back, but is reversed left to right:

middletopslider

middlebottomslider

outer top slider

outer bottom slider

24

28

innertopslider

innerbottomslider

1/4" ply

innerbox

innertopslider

innerbottomslider

This time, when you glue the inner box in place, it willhave the back panel attached. This view of the inside ofthe front panel doesn't show the back panel.

The completed inner box with front and backpanels in place, should look like this:

frontleft

Bottom panel: Pieces required: from 4mm plywood.

72

64

56

56 48

C

A

B

D

48 x 48

VIEWS ALONGTHE PANEL

inner piece (A) middle piece (B)outer piece (C) decorative panel (D)

64

Lay the 48 x 48 piece down,making sure it can't move,and glue panels C,B and Ain place, as in these diagrams.

A B C D

ABCD

4

8

4

4 84

4 4

12 12

8

8

one at 64 x 48 (A): one at 56 x 56 (B):one at 72 x 64 (C): one at 48 x 48 (D).

south-north view

east-west view

Page 4

Top panel:Pieces required: from 4mm plywood.one at 48 x 48 (D)one at 72 x 64 (C)one at 56 x 52 (B)one at 64 x 52 (A)one at 4 x 4 x 56 (E)

Lay the 48 x 48 piece down, makingsure it can't move, and glue panels C,B, E and A in place, as in this diagram:

72

64

56

64

56 52inner piece (A) middle piece (B)

outer piece (C) decorative panel (D)

C

D

B

A

48 x 48

E 8

4

8

8

ABCD

84 4

12 12

8

A B C D

D

C

B

72

72

56

48

4852

12

Left Panel part A 52

64

8

12

12

4

44

4 4

Left panel:Pieces required: from 4mm plywood.one at 64 x 52 (A): one at 56 x 52 (B)one at 72 x 72 (C): one at 48 x 48 (D)

Glue the left panel part A in place.B

C

A

Lay the 48 x 48 piece down, making sure it can't move,and glue panels B and C in place, as in these diagrams.

4

1216

12

CB D

8

CB D

12

8

C

AB

D

A

44

CB

D

8

1212

8

8

12

12

4

44

8

Page 5

Right panel:Pieces required: from 4mm plywood.one at 64 x 40 (A): one at 56 x 64 (B)one at 72 x 72 (C): one at 48 x 48 (D)one at 4 x 4 x 56 (E)

C

D

B

E

72

48

48

56

64

Right Panel part A

72

64

40

4

12

4448

4

4

Glue the right panel part A in place.

That's all the pieces completed.Next step is to assemble the box.

CE E

A

B

Lay the 48 x 48 piece down, making sure itcan't move, and glue panels B,C and E inplace, as in these diagrams.

412

4128

CB D

E

CB

D

8

12

E8

12

4

12

444

8

4

4

BCD

CB D

A

12

2044

In this view along the panel, piece Eis not shown, to show the positionof Part A.

C

A

Page 6

Assembling the box.Front view.

Top slider

Bottom slider

E

These plans are free,If you sell or give away this puzzle,

please mention where the plans came from.© Bruce Viney. January, 2008

Get more plans and solutions at Homemade Puzzles.Web address: www.homemadepuzzles.co.uk

E-mail: bruce@homemadepuzzles.co.uk

Looking at the front, the right panel panel slides up fromthe base, making sure the small bar (E) is at the bottom.The base, which can be either way round,slides in from the left.

The left panel slides down from the top. make surepart (A) is uppermost. The top slides in from the right,making sure the small bar (E) is on the left. When theleft panel is uppermost, part (A) will engage this small bar.

Top slider

Bottom slider

A

E

Of course, to get these panels in place, you have to move the front and backsliders from side to side, to allow the left and/or/right panels to move up/down.That's the fun of the puzzle! If you get stuck, download the solution.

Suggested finish: I glued thin black paper tothe front and back panels, and used artist'sspray fixative to protect the paper.After the four sliding panels were made, andbefore fitting into place, I did the same for them.This artist's fixative protects against dampness.The small outer panels were painted with silverpaint. A small Celtic pattern (printed fromthe computer) glued on, and again sprayed withthe fixative. Then the whole box given a coatof spray varnish.

Enjoy your puzzle!

Plans amended July 10th, 2008.(The assembly position ofboth middle bottom sliders.)

Plans amended August 2nd, 2008.(Size of E on page 4, lettering ofparts on pages 4 and 5.)

Plans amended November, 2008.(Total length of the inner box is 64, not 72.page 1)