Gravitational Burr

Gravitational Burr may appear to be a regular 6-piece burr at first glance. One noticeable feature from its appearance is that the pieces are slightly longer. While a typical 6-piece burr often utilizes lengths of 6 or 8 units, Gravitational Burr's pieces are 7 units long. Initially designed with a length of 6 units, Juno adopted this longer length, taking into account factors like the stability of the pieces when playing with the puzzle.

Inside the Gravitational Burr, there is one ball bearing. Assembling the puzzle without using the ball bearing results in a level 2 burr. Adding the ball bearing elevates it to level 56. This means it takes 56 moves to remove the first piece from the assembled puzzle. If you lack confidence in reassembling the puzzle after disassembling it, you can cheat by placing the ball bearing into the round cavity provided in one of the pieces.

As the name of the puzzle suggests, gravity becomes an ally when playing with this puzzle. By tilting the puzzle in the right direction, the ball bearing rolls, opening the way to the next step. When playing with this puzzle, no force is necessary. Applying force may cause the pieces to pinch the ball bearing, making it difficult for the pieces and the ball bearing to move in the intended direction. Please handle the puzzle gently.

When it comes to a level 56 burr, some might hesitate, but due to the restricted movement of the pieces during assembly and disassembly, it becomes more approachable even for those not well-versed in burr puzzles. However, while playing, it quickly becomes challenging to discern whether you are disassembling or assembling the puzzle. This confusion arises because, despite the puzzle appearing the same from the outside, numerous instances occur where only the internal ball bearing is moving.

To prevent the ball bearing from rolling away when the puzzle is disassembled, clever design features are implemented. As evident in the image below, the ball bearing adheres to the magnet embedded at the end of the groove carved into the piece.

The material for the pieces is American Black Walnut. However, the timber we purchased included many whitish grains. Due to recent increases in timber prices and shortages of certain species, obtaining the ideal timber has become challenging. Discarding half of the purchased timber is not practical, so we opted to use a mix of various shades of timber in a gradient-like fashion. For reference, the material cost for this puzzle is approximately $40 (AUD) per set. We often envy the prices of Walnut available in North America when looking at the cost of this puzzle.

The solution to this puzzle will be supplied upon request by Burr Tools file format.

Size: 117 mm x 117 mm x 117 mm

Number of pieces: 6 + Ball bearing

Material: American Black Walnut

Designer: Junichi Yananose (Juno)

Origin: Made in Australia

Ages: 12+