Hackaday · Creativity & design

3D Printed Sliding Puzzles Get Full-Color Treatment

A maker has developed a parametric, print-in-place 3D sliding puzzle design and successfully applied full-color UV printing to its surfaces, showcasing impressive results after considerable trial and error.

The design features a pop-out tile that can be reinserted once the puzzle is solved. Achieving a functional print-in-place sliding puzzle relies heavily on precise tolerances, a challenge that has become more manageable with modern 3D printers but still required extensive learning.

Balancing the fit of the pieces was a key difficulty: too tight and they wouldn't slide, too loose and the puzzle could bind, flex, or even come apart. The shapes of the pieces and their contact surfaces also had to be designed for reliable 3D printing.

The maker demonstrated puzzles ranging from small 3x3 units to a large 11x11 version printed on a Prusa XL.

Full-color designs were applied using a desktop UV ink printer. While single-color images looked good, creating textured relief images with tactile depth proved more complex.

Applying thick ink layers can cause the puzzle to jam due to overspray, necessitating careful avoidance of printing over the gaps between tiles. The process and final products are shown in a video.

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