12/08/2021
Sorry for the lack of updates. Had to move articles and features regarding around Issues 8, 9 and 10. Now in Issue 8: The Premiere of Perplex Puzzles by Brent Hessel.
Bill Bucciarelli, the puzzle-maker behind Perplex Puzzles, is a retired machinist and engineer whose lifelong love of and led him to produce Wishing Well, a ceramic-coated metal take-apart box with 50 distinct steps to solve.
Bill’s experience and skill in are evident in the complex workings of his initial puzzle release. We had the opportunity to talk about what led him to want to design and produce puzzles, how he approaches the process, and what will be coming down the road.
BH: Would you tell us about your background before starting www.perplexpuzzles.net?
Growing up, I was always fascinated with machines, mechanisms and with building things. I enjoyed working with my hands and took pride in the finished projects I made. This love of making things led to my pursuit of machining and metalworking.
My career began as a machinist, operating both manual and CNC machinery in a job shop environment. The job shops customers were from many different industries and provided a wide range of different materials and challenges to learn from. Typically, the work was low volume production so I was constantly setting up and changing over to new parts. Parts consisted of milling, turning, and most required holding tolerances of less than .001”, (.025mm).
