H Burr

Name
H Burr

Designer
Designed by Junichi Yananose in 2001. For Junichi's other designs (there are over 40), click here.

Manufacturer
Torito of Japan. Sold by Satomi Beattie of CU-Japan who's based in the United Kingdom. 

Type & Classification
Interlocking

Dimensions
8.3cm (Length) x 8.3cm (Width) x 8.3cm (Height). Chunky, heavy and solid..very nice!

Materials & Construction
Aluminium. Construction, fit and finish is very good. The burr has a nice matt finish (probably this is necessary since a polished surface would inevitably result in scratches after some time of playing). Each of the 12 pieces are smooth to touch with slightly bevelled edges.

Overview

I first found out about this puzzle from the Revomaze forum and wow! it's a metal burr...nice; got to have it! You can tell from the photos why its called the "H" Burr.

The H Burr consist of 12 separate pieces of which three pairs are congruent (ie identical). Object is to separate the 12 pieces and put it together again. 

Taking apart the puzzle literally meant "splitting" the puzzle in half. Here, there is not the usual single unique piece which holds the entire puzzle together which first needs to be removed. Instead, as I found out, the puzzle consists of two "halves" of 6 interlocking pieces each, which sort of "dovetails" nicely together. Depending on the orientation of the puzzle, you can either lift the top half upwards or pull the two halves apart sideways and then continue the rest of the disassembly.

Once the two halves have come apart, the rest of the disassembly was pretty easy. The real challenge is putting all the pieces back together to form the original shape. Although all the pieces are "H" shaped and similar looking, there are differences (some subtle) due to the various cuts and notches of each piece and this adds greatly to the challenge of putting them back together.

I was glad the puzzle came boxed with the solution. There are just too many pieces to grapple with to even try to memorise where each piece is suppose to be.

Difficulty Level

Very difficult even tho' there are 4 solutions. But I am sure there's someone out there who could probably solve it without the solution.

Summary
You don't often see an interlocking burr made of metal. Most burrs are made of wood. The only other ones I am aware of made of aluminium are the 7-Move and 10-Move Aluminium burrs from Wil Stribos and the Lee Valley Burr. The H Burr is a handsome and well made burr. Owing to its relatively large size and physically complicated looking interlocking appearance, it also displays extremely well.