Frequently Asked Questions Guinness World Record 17x17x17 cube

 

 

 

 

 

Q: Why are your (3D-printed) puzzles so expensive?
A: Materialise and Shapeways uses 3D-printing to build the parts. 3D-printing is an expensive process. It uses expensive machines. It also takes a lot of manual labor to fill the machine, to sort and clean the parts, logistics, help desk, etcetera.

Q: Lower your prices goddammit!
A: Please use only polite language on my YouTube channel.

Q: Could you lower your prices please?
A: Unfortunately, I do not control the cost of 3D printing.

Q: Could you mass produce this puzzle, so it becomes cheaper, please?
A: Thank you for finding my puzzle desirable. It will be up to a producer to decide which puzzles he wants to invest in for mass production. Only a few percent of my designs are mass produced. The market for mechanical puzzles is limited. If you want to make an investment (typically $10.000) to bring one of my puzzles to mass-production, then please contact me directly.

Q: Why don’t you buy your own 3D-printer, so you could sell your 3D-printed puzzles much cheaper than Materialise or Shapeways.
A: You are forgetting labor cost. Much of 3D-printing cost goes into manual labor for cleaning, logistics and sales. Materialise and Shapeways are using well-trained minimum-wage labor for this. My operation would be much less efficient as theirs, and I hope that you value my time more than minimum wage. Nevertheless, I have bought a Dutchy 3D-printer as you could see on my YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VoGAlBDt-kc. It takes a lot of time to feed and run the machine. Also fulfilment takes effort: the time and money to print, package and ship. I have started to sell some of my 3D-printed puzzles via PuzzleMaster, so they can take care of fulfilment.

Q: Can you send me your puzzle design, so I can 3D-print it more cheaply?
A: Sorry, the quality of home 3D-printers is too poor for most my puzzle designs. You can buy some of my designs at CGTrader, see http://www.cgtrader.com/Oskar_van_Deventer.

Q: Where can I buy your puzzles?
A: At lots of places and shops.
Puzzlemaster: http://www.puzzlemaster.ca/browse/inventors/oskar/
Sloyd: http://www.sloyd.fi/oskar-deventer-c-151_154.html
Shapeways: https://www.shapeways.com/shops/oskarpuzzles
iMaterialise: http://i.materialise.com/shop/designer/oskarpuzzle

Q: Can you send me your puzzle design, so I can 3D-print it more cheaply?
A: Sure. Here are some of my designs that I have successfully printed on my own 3D printer: https://oskarvandeventer.nl/Print-It-Yourself/. I used to sell some of my designs also via CGTrader: see https://www.cgtrader.com/Oskar_van_Deventer. Most of my twisty puzzles are unsuited for home FDM printing.

Q: Do you have assembly instructions?
A: I have no assembly instructions for my puzzles. Too many puzzles, too much work. Fortunately, the assembly is usually not that difficult. I typically use M3 slotted cheese head bolts (http://www.screwsandmore.de/en/25-pcs-DIN-84-A2-M3X60.html) cut to length, often M3x10.

Q: How do you dye your 3D-printed puzzles?
A: See http://twistypuzzles.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=307095#p307095.

Q: How do you sticker your puzzles?
A: I use transparent nail polish as primer. This helps stickers stick better to the 3D-printed nylon surface.

Q: Where do I buy stickers for your puzzles?
A: Order them at Oliver Nagy: http://oliverstickers.com/stickers-for-3d-printed-puzzles/oskar-van-deventer. We can add more stickers, if you need them.

Q: I have an idea for a new puzzle, can you make it?
A: Feel free to send me ideas. No promises, no guarantees. You may want to publish your idea at a public internet forum (e.g. http://twistypuzzles.com/forum/) in order to get feedback on your idea.

Q: Please sign my Non-Disclosure Agreements.
A: Sorry, I do not sign your NDA. With all due respect, people who ask me to sign an NDA for a puzzle idea are usually crackpots. They believe that their idea has huge value, that it could make them rich and that people want to steal their idea. It never is. Too much bother for me.

Q: Can I commission you to design and build a custom puzzle for me?
A: Please contact me about this directly. Cost may be $300-$500 or more.

Q: Who is shooting your videos?
A: That is my wife José. She has been doing a great job, with lots of patience.

Q: Why are you shooting videos in your garden?
A: It started for the better light, as my indoor videos never looked any good. It has become part of my channel’s identity.

Q: Why did you block me from commenting on your YouTube videos?
A: Sorry for blocking you. Contact me directly for unblocking. You would not believe the number of nonsense comments (“First!”, “Under 300!”) that my channel receives. I assume that those commenters are not really interested in my channel, and that my fans are not interested in such comments.

Q: Sukkel praat tog Nederlans jou engels klink nergens naar
A: Sorry for blocking you. I hope other channels appreciate your comments more.

Q: Have you ever touched a female that wasn't related to you?
A: Yes, but please do not tell my wife.