Sliced 3D Puzzle of a Wooden Duck DIY

My first Instructables project describes how to build a 3D puzzle of a duck. I cut out the pieces with the laser cutter, but it's just as possible to cut the pieces out of cardboard. On a scale of 1 to 10 (1 = easy, 10 = hard), I would put the difficulty for making it with laser cutter at 3, since you only have to sand and assemble the parts afterwards. Have fun with the implementation of the project!

• Access to a laser cutter (Or order the parts from an online laser cutting supplier)
• 3mm wood (I used poplar wood)
• Sandpaper (Grinding machine)
• Wood glue

Choose any type of wood with a thickness of 3 millimeters that your laser cutter can cut. In order to cut all the pieces at once, I have created a space-saving arrangement of the pieces for which you will need at least a 500x500 millimeter board. However, it is recommended to take a larger board to have buffers. The pieces can be arranged on the wood as you like. The largest duck piece has a size of 194x223 millimeters. So this is the minimum size that the laser cutter must have.

I created the duck parts with the vector graphics program "Inkscape". The file has the file format ".svg" But with this program you can save them also in many other file formats.

There are many different types of laser cutters that work differently, so I can't give you detailed instructions on how to use your laser cutter. There are several suppliers where you can also have the parts laser cut.

It is important to note that some parts of the duck are very small and can easily be lost.

The files with the parts are attached as SVG and PDF files.

Most parts of the duck can be ground with a grinder. There are a few parts that have small, easily breakable bars, so it is better to grind these bars carefully by hand. This also applies to the small parts.

The parts list shows the individual numbered parts. This numbering will become important for the assembly. 

In the first step you have to connect the parts Y3 and X6 as shown in the picture. 

I recommend gluing the parts together right away with wood glue for better stability.

For more detailed instructions, I've posted the assembly as a YouTube video.

Next, insert the second Y3 part in the opposite place of the X6 part.

Insert the X7 part into the slots behind the X6 part. 

Next, insert the X8 part into the slots behind the X7 part.

Now put the X9 part into the slots behind the X8 part.

Next, insert the X10 part into the slots behind the X9 part.

Now insert the Y2 parts into the slots between the Y3 parts as shown in the picture.

Next, insert the Y1 part into the slot between the Y2 parts as shown in the picture.

Next, insert the Y4 parts into the slots next to the Y3 parts as shown in the picture.

In this step, insert the Y5 parts into the slots next to the Y4 parts as shown in the picture.

Now insert the X11 part into the slots behind the X10 part as shown in the picture.

Next, insert the X12 part into the slot behind the X11 part as shown in the picture.

Next, insert the X5 parts into the slots in front of the X6 part as shown in the picture. Assembling these parts is a bit tricky as it has to be pinned into both the body and the head of the duck.

Now insert the X4 parts into the slots in front of the X5 parts as shown in the picture. Assembling these parts is also a bit tricky, since you can't insert the part from the top because of the duck's head, but have to push it in from the front at an angle between the wood.

In this step, insert the X3 part in front of the X4 parts as shown in the picture.

Now put the X2 part over the X4 parts into the head of the duck as shown in the picture.

Next, put the X1 part over the X3 part and in front of the X2 part on the duck's beak as shown in the picture.

Finally, glue the Z1 and Z2 parts to the duck's legs as shown in the picture.

Congratulations, your duck is complete. If something didn't work as described or you have feedback and suggestions for improvement, feel free to leave a comment!