Lee Valley Trick Bolts V2

Name
Trick Bolts V2

Designer
Unknown

Manufacturer
Lee Valley & Veritas. Available for US$19.50 per pair. 

Type & Classification
Take Apart

Dimensions
3.3 cm (Length) x 1.8cm (Width) 1.8 cm (Depth)

Materials & Construction
Stainless steel. Made in Canada, this pair of trick bolts is very well made and exudes quality, belying their inexpensive price tag.

Overview
Trick bolts come in all sorts of shapes, size, materials and quality. Prices also range from inexpensive (like the ones featured here) to the high end, hand-tooled bolts and nuts like the Wan-Wa-Sure by Rocky Chiaro. And there are some like the Bolt & Washer that fall somewhere in between the price spectrum.

This is the second pair of trick bolts to come from Canadian hardware retailer Lee Valley Tools. The first (and slightly cheaper) pair which they now call the Trick Bolts V1 was reviewed earlier in this blog.

From Left: Trick Bolts V1 & Trick Bolts V2

Physically both bolts look similar in appearance but have different mechanisms. Lee Valley claims the V2 to be harder than the V1. Well, yes and no. For puzzlers who have experience with trick nuts and bolts, they are pretty simple. I solved both bolts in about a minute. For new puzzlers and the uninitiated, yes, they may prove to be a bit of challenge. The tricks the V2 bolts employ tho' are not entirely new for this genre.

Difficulty Rating
Generally easy for most puzzlers other than the absolute novice.

Summary

Extremely good value for money given the high quality of manufacture. If you are new to bolt puzzles and not sure whether you want to invest in them, well, they represent a good starting point. And if you are collector, definitely a must-have.

Lee Valley Burr Puzzle & Trick Bolts

Update 23 October 2017 - Dear Reader, please check out my new puzzle blog and e-store at http://mechanical-puzzles.com

Who would imagine a hardware supplier like Lee Valley Tools would have a couple of steel puzzles as part of their inventory. From Jeff Chiou, I knew that they sold the behemoth Indian Puzzle Lock. But I did not know they also sell a steel burr as well as a pair of trick bolts until I chanced upon the latter on Rob's Puzzle Page. Given my penchant for metal puzzles, I decided to check out the Lee Valley offerings.

The burr and bolts are all made in Canada. Quality of construction, fit and finish are very good. The burr is about 6.5cm all round, solid steel and zinc plated while the trick bolts are between 3.5cm to 4cm and finished with a very nice matt gray. 

The burr consists of six interlocking rods, with five of the rods each with grooves cut out while the sixth is a solid piece which locks the other five together in the solved state. The fit of the pieces is very good. Unlike aluminium which is lighter, this one being made of steel weighs a hefty 480 grams. There are very few metal burrs I have come across so far, except for Wil Strijbos' 7 and 10 Move Burrs and Charles Perry's Ball Puzzle, all of which I already own, so this was another welcome addition.

I struggled with the burr for quite some time. Although only six pieces, the burr is pretty challenging, partly because its difficult to try to handle several heavy pieces all at the same time; but mainly because I am pretty lousy with burrs. I used my Charles Perry Ball as a guide but comparing both, the Lee Valley Burr has a different design to its pieces. This made the Lee Valley Burr much more difficult to assemble. Eventually I gave up and checked the solution offered on their website. Without the solution, I would have taken a good while longer to solve.

On the other hand, the pair of trick bolts were pretty easy to figure out. Solved both within seconds, and that's because I have played with other trick bolts with similar mechanisms. The bolts are well constructed, so no chance of any moving parts getting stuck, unlike some other poorer quality ones. 

All three puzzles came at a very reasonable price making them excellent value for money. If you do not own a trick bolt, and not sure whether to plonk down the dough for the Rolls Royce of trick bolts; ie one of Rocky Chiaro's, well, here is a chance to own a pair of high quality ones at a very affordable price.