The Woodshop Shed

"Sedici Animali" (Sixteen Fishes) - an Homage to Enzo Mari's MCM puzzle

Furnished content.
(from Lumberjocks.com)


Enzo Mari designed this c. 1957 for Italian manufacturer, Danese Milano.My understanding is that the original was Oak, (or sometimes plastic), around 1 inch thick. This puzzle was made out of 1/2” thick birch ply.My dear friends are expecting their first baby any day now – I made this as a gift to them to commemorate the occasion. (I don't actually think this is an appropriate toy for toddlers or younger – I just think it's a handsome piece of Italian design). Now that it's in their hands, I can share photos of it.I created a template in Inkscape, by tracing an image file of a photo with an original Danese Milano puzzle. Being a vector-graphic, I can make the template any size without it getting pixelated. My understanding was that the originals are around 15” x 10.5” – so that's what I made mine.After cutting out the pieces on a scroll saw, I refined their shape on a combo belt/disc sander. Then, after hand sanding, they got just one coat of Danish Oil, and knocked down with paste wax.I feel weird making an homage to something that's still actually in production (I guess it's technically a knockoff?). The thing is, when I first saw EM's puzzles, I don't want to have it—I wanted to make it! I also made his other puzzle, “Sedici Animali” which is on my projects page.They're a lot of fun to make!

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