I've always held a fascination for drafting and engineering puzzles. I designed this one years ago in the hope to make it the most difficult drafting puzzle around. Have I succeeded?
The "box" object appears here as orthographic projected views (standard American engineering drafting style). Every line, of course, represents an edge. Most drafting puzzles give you only two views. I have given you three views (Top, Side, Bottom).
Note there occurs no hidden edges in these views, thus no hidden dotted lines. The characters (B-O-X) appear printed (or painted) on the object surfaces (no hidden lines for these either).
The solution must allow a person to make the object as one part (not two or more parts stacked together). A machinist could actually construct this object out of a single solid material by using a milling machine; nothing about it defies nature.
If you do not understand how projection views work, then think of the top view rotated 90° clockwise about the vertical axis to see the side view and the top view rotated 180° about the horizontal axis to see the bottom view. Below shows a sample object with the same kind of projected views:
SAMPLE PROJECTED VIEWS Can you construct the missing front view or a 3D view of this object to show what it looks like?
Hint: there may occur hidden edges in the front view.
Good luck.
The solution
If you can't figure it out, I have constructed the object as a 3D model. I'll send you the solution, but there's a catch: you first have to purchase a book from Amazon.com through NoBeliefs.com. (Perhaps unashamedly sneaky of me but this helps support NoBeliefs.com and you get to read a good book.)
Just click on any Amazon banner, like the one below, (or any book reference link from an article) from any page on NoBeliefs.com and buy something from Amazon.com. You don't necessarily have to buy a book; you can purchase a CD, video, or whatever you want. After your order, just come back to NoBeliefs.com and go to the email page and tell me what you purchased and the date you purchesed it, and ask for the solution to the puzzle. I'll then send you to a solution. Don't worry, I'll know if you purchased that item because Amazon tells me what got ordered (even though they can't tell me who ordered it).
If you can't figure out what to buy, I highly recommend one of the books from the Book Reviews.
- If you click on the above banner (or any other banner on the NoBeliefs.com site), and purchase something, NoBeliefs.com will get a free donation from you.
