Soma Perch Puzzle

thingiverse

This is a stand for a Soma puzzle, but it is no ordinary stand. The puzzle is to find a configuration of your Soma cube so that it rests comfortably on this stand. Rick Eason is the inventor of this puzzle. See http://www.mechanicalpuzzles.org/puzzles/eLPerch/somaPerch.html Only the stand is given here, and two versions are included. The Version1 stand is similar to Rick Eason's wood stand except that I have cut the bottom off (the footprint is triangular). The Version3 stand is similar but some of the cubes have been cut diagonally, it has a different look. I assume here that you already have a Soma puzzle (in wood, preferably). If not, search for the Soma puzzle and print a copy. In order to size the stand, you need to know the cubie size of your puzzle. My stands are sized for a 15 mm cubie, this size forms a finished puzzle cube of size 45 mm. PLA tends to be too slippery for use in this puzzle, I recommend using wood-infused PLA to give the pieces enough friction. If X is the cubie size of your Soma in mm, then scale my stands by X/15. Alternatively, you can change the cubie size in the PuzzleCAD file I include. Warning: this puzzle is difficult! The photos show a "near solution" where all pieces except one will stay in place. The larger (two-color) puzzle in my photos has cubie size 19 mm, and the stand has been scaled by 126.67%.