Contact me directly at mercurywoodworks@gmail.com. We’ll see if we can work something out.

I’m a small business. And by small, I mean it’s just me building each piece by hand, currently no CNC, no automation. (Sometimes my daughter helps where it’s safe for her to do so!). I try to create sets of 3 to 10 of a particular puzzle. If there’s a high demand, I make more.

That said, if you want a particular puzzle custom made and you can’t wait, feel free to contact me directly at mercurywoodworks@gmail.com.

I use a custom mix of food-grade mineral oils, citrus oils, and locally-sourced all-natural bee’s wax on all my creations. They’re very safe to handle!

However, since some of the puzzles are crafted from walnut wood or other nut-producing trees,  if you or the person you’re gifting this to has any nut allergies or other sensitivities, I unfortunately can’t guarantee that the wood will not cause a reaction.

I take great care to craft puzzles with precise tolerances and tight-fitting seams, ensuring each one is not only visually appealing but also durable. However, wood, being an organic material, is sensitive to changes in moisture. To maintain the quality and functionality of your wooden puzzles, it's important to protect them from extreme humidity.

I recommend storing your puzzles in a controlled environment with a relative humidity of around 50% +/- 10%, and away from direct sunlight. While I can’t guarantee their performance in other conditions, following these guidelines can help prevent warping, swelling, and other damage.

Avoid storing your puzzle box in areas with high humidity (such as saunas!), or near sources of high heat (like vents or fireplaces!), as these conditions can be detrimental. Prolonged exposure to UV light, such as placing your puzzle in sun-exposed windows, should be avoided.

If you find that your interlocking puzzle is too tight, avoid forcing it. Adjusting the ambient humidity level can often resolve this issue. Conversely if your puzzle feels too loose, especially during dry winter months, you may have to wait for the seasonal change for it to restore on its own. Note that some puzzles are intentionally designed to have a looser fit.

The initial production run of the first Sequential Discovery Puzzle Box by the Mercury Woodworker completed in April 2025. The second production run will hopefully be released in mid-2026 if all goes to plan.

After that, the idea is to unveil a new unique Mercury Woodworks Puzzle Box annually, meticulously handcrafted in limited quantities.

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First of all, it's very subjective!!

For some of the interlocking-type puzzles, a series of numbers separated by periods indicates the puzzle's difficulty level. Take for example The Little Kenny puzzle (the non-rotation version), with a difficulty level of 5.1.1: it needs 5 moves to remove the first piece, 1 move for the second, and 1 for the third and last pieces. This numerical sequence is a measure of the puzzle's complexity, with a higher number of moves usually indicating a more challenging and intricate solution.

Determining a puzzle's difficulty level can be quite challenging though! While the number of moves required to solve a puzzle is often used as a gauge, it's not always a definitive measure and doesn’t necessarily apply to all types of puzzles. The complexity of a puzzle can vary widely depending on various factors such as the puzzle's design, the solver's familiarity with similar puzzles, and their problem-solving skills.

What may seem challenging to one person might be straightforward to another, based on their experience and aptitude for puzzles. For instance, a puzzle enthusiast who has solved many similar puzzles might find a new one relatively easy, while a novice might struggle with the same puzzle. Not only that, but individual preferences and strategies play a significant role in how someone perceives a puzzle's difficulty. What one person finds engaging and stimulating, another might find frustrating and tedious (burr puzzles anyone?).

While the number of moves and the average solve-time can provide a rough estimate of a puzzle's difficulty, it's important to remember that the actual difficulty can vary widely from person to person. What truly matters is the enjoyment and satisfaction derived from solving the puzzle, rather than the perceived difficulty level.

For that reason, I don’t assign a difficulty rating to my custom puzzle boxes. However, I do provide the number of moves required to solve them, leaving the puzzle community to judge the true difficulty.

How's that for a non-answer...?

Black holes can significantly affect time due to their intense gravitational pull, causing time dilation effects predicted by Einstein's theory of relativity. However, using them for interstellar travel remains purely theoretical and is not currently feasible with our understanding of physics. As for conduits for time travel, I’m working on it as a side-project.