Mechanical design doesn’t begin in the hands. It begins with your intentions. Before wood is cut or mechanisms are drawn, the designer must first listen—to forces, to constraints, and to the quiet intelligence already present in matter. A puzzle box isn’t invented by imposing will, but by recognizing how physical laws want to express themselves and then arranging conditions where those laws reveal meaning. This is where the mental and spiritual meet. Listen to the wood. The mind learns to hold multiple truths at once: freedom and limitation, movement and restraint, simplicity and complexity. The designer isn’t forcing outcomes, but aligning intention with reality—allowing form to emerge through patience, curiosity, and respect for unseen relationships. In this way, mechanical design becomes a practice of manifestation. Thought becomes structure. Attention becomes function. Awareness becomes form. The box works not because the maker is clever, but because they listened well enough to let the system teach them how it wanted to exist. But what does this step by step process look like? More to follow.

As we begin to create an identity around being a puzzle maker, do you have little ways of mirroring that? I am pretty sure pens and mugs have been done to the hilt. Over the last few years I began making little stickers that are 2 1/2" x 2 1/2" square. It turns out that this size fits perfectly around a BIC lighter. Even if people don't smoke, there is usually a lighter around for candles or whatnot. Business cards get lost, and this sticker has no other info, so they will have to google, what a fun little search they will do. Additionally, I get to include a local artist in helping create the image too, keeping as much as I can in my community. The artist I engaged with for this year is Remy de Boer from near-by Milton. What innovative ideas are you using or brewing?

I would like to join ;-) I already have a hexagon puzzle, but just today I found some hexagon pieces that I'm making a new puzzle from. The AI ​​images are also really inspiring to me.