PuzziSphere sample assembly instructions

The following instructions will present techniques for the assembly of attractive, consistent, glued PuzziSphere™ samples.

Put an arrow on the back of each face before starting assembly. Make sure that the arrow points to the top of the face (flag). While assembling faces to one another, all arrows must converge at the "north pole".. Pop out the outer pieces (trapezoids).

Because the soccerball puzzles are made from flat pieces, the locks rise slightly above the surface. For display models, we feel that this effect should be minimized as much as possible to present a smooth surface.  On glued samples, we bend the male locks to make them follow the contour of the adjacent pieces. With a thumb, pinch the male lock and bend it down slightly before joining it to the next piece.

A ring of trapezoids should be constructed and the center piece pushed into place from the back.  This makes it easy to assemble and also makes a more attractive and smoother end product. Join the pieces, pressing the 'male' lock in from behind the adjacent piece.  Ensure the two surfaces are flush with each other.

Align the artwork and press the center hexagon or pentagon into place from the back.  Ensure that the surface is as smooth as possible. The locks should also be bent on the center hexagons and pentagons to make a better fit (see previous steps).

Turn the face over and apply glue to the back of the hexagon or pentagon.  We use simple Elmers white glue, only very slightly diluted with water.  A puzzle preservative or other clear drying glue will also work. After gluing, turn the face over and firm up any pieces which may have slipped out of alignment.

Allow the face to dry artwork side up.  If the face is allowed to dry art side down, some glue may seep through the cracks and stick the pieces to the table.  This of course is very frustrating.

Following the instruction sheet (PDF), begin assembly of the faces to one another.  Be careful to keep the faces properly oriented as you progress so that all the flags are upright.  Also make sure that faces  join in the same plane - that there are no locks popping up.  It is not important in this model that the flags be assembled in a particular order, but you may wish to simply do them in their numerical or alphabetical order (A-L and 1-20) to make them consistent.

As the faces are joined, apply a generous amount of glue to the faces where they join. When you get near the 'top' (at fig 6), begin applying the glue to the edges of the face being placed and to the edges of the already glued faces where the new face will be placed, as the back of the puzzle will be inaccessible.  With the last piece (hexagon 20 - fig 7), glue the edges and use the trap door to get it placed.  Close the trap door using a paper clip or other handy device.  Some samples we assembled using the above techniques follow.

The above instructions make a smooth, attractive PuzziSphere™ which appears very spherical and holds together well. Below is one of the first cut with the new production die and assembled using the above instructions.