Gluing and framing a 9000-piece jigsaw | Hacker News Reader

Gluing and framing a 9000-piece jigsaw

river.me

72 pointsbusymom047 comments

People in jigsaw forums usually recommend using transparent latex binder for glue. This is easy to use on top (use transparent binder!) and works great. I glued Educas Borras Life with it (24.000 pieces). Applying the glue on top is best. Anything on the backside is too much work.

As a warning I'd recommend to stay away from most commercial puzzle glues. Some of them are water based - and this doesn't go well with cardboard. Anything bigger than 1000 pieces will start to warp a lot.

It's doable with commercial puzzle glue, but you have to apply from both sides to prevent warping.

While I've done this in the past and it was a fun activity and a nice decoration on our wall, the sheer size of this article's puzzle compared to the author is not what you'd expect!

So the author is smaller than you were expecting?

Author here; almost certainly this is true

Did a 5000 piece once. The mini dopamine hit when you click a piece into place is what kept me going. Several strategies used to complete it, in the end it was just trial and error because everything looked the same. Make sure to have good lighting (no glare) or you'll ruin your eye sight.

What people may not realize also is that at this "scale", it can happen that a piece perfectly fits in more than one location. And I don't mean a couple of cm apart, complete opposite sides of the puzzle. Fun times figuring this out.

This is the one https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/81C6LLOhsgL._AC_SL1500_....

I am currently 2/6 done with [1] this 13,2k piece Disney puzzle and this guide will be much helpful once I need to hang it as that has been bothering me a bit since the sheer proportions of the puzzle are starting to appear. That might not be soon though, as I didn't account for lack of sunlight during winter, turns out doing puzzle with artificial lightning is not easy, puzzle reflects some of it and it's strain on the eyes.

1 - https://en.clementoni.com/collections/adult-puzzle/products/...

Having correct light is crucial, be wary of the eye strain. I found that I could only productively puzzle during certain times of the day with good sunlight. Those long sessions during the night were really bad for my eye sight.

I found that a ceiling light fixture is really bad for painting as well, since wet paint reflects a lot of light. I got some powerful LED lamps [1] pointing up as an experiment and they have worked out well; I was afraid of the 6000K temperature looking too blue but I think when they are powerful enough they look really nice. The trick was to put them somewhere aside so there is no direct reflection path.

[1] https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0962X573M

The author did a lot of experiments and research, so I'm probably missing something, but why not do it on then glue it to a big sheet of plywood? My dad does lots of jigsaws (mostly 500-1500 pieces), always on a big flat board so they can be moved around.

Apparently Mod Podge is a brand of craft products and adhesives: https://mod-podge.com/

I am a small person without access to power tools and didn't have much help for the project, so anything that heavy was out of the question (and the puzzle is huge). Otherwise I would have quite possibly done this!

Plywood is really good. MDF is also an option. But for the size of 9.000 pieces even some sturdy paper (old posters or calendar sheets) can be good enough as a base. With good glue (e.g. some latex binder) the jigsaw puzzle will already be quite stable on its own.

Having a soft base helps when transporting. I once had to move a 9.000 piece puzzle - and without some bending it would have been difficult getting it into the car.

For the biggest jigsaws out there it gets difficult to find a good wall for it. Weight and bending of wood or MDF can become an issue. And even some walls are not as flat as they look like...

For stability I would go with an expensive multi-ply 1/4" plywood. Not your big-box plywood, I'm talking the high-end cabinet-maker type of plywood (Euro-ply, Apple Ply, etc.).

Honestly, if you aren't planning on making a regular thing of it, MDF is probably a better choice. It's more stable than even multi-ply, and cheaper too. The ply wins on edge and corner durability though. On the third hand, MDF from e.g. Home Depot is pretty crap. If you're already going to a better lumberyard, maybe the ply is worth the additional dollars now that you've gone to the trouble of finding a better lumberyard.

Further considerations:

Multi-ply is frequently available in 5'x5' sheets and can be tough to find in 4'x8's. MDF is universally 49"x97" (so you can net a 4'x8' after accounting for the dinged up edges). The size of your puzzle may inform your choice.

Home Depot et al. will usually cut a sheet to size on their panel saw. Your local lumberyard may or may not be interested in doing so for a small order.

Home Depot et al. generally aren't interested in delivering for an even half reasonable price if they do it at all. A real lumberyard might be willing to do so, though it's unlikely to be cheap for a single sheet order ($25 for an order under $500, last I needed a delivery. Cheaper than owning a truck or van for me). They also usually dispatch trucks on a schedule. Mine goes north on Tuesdays and south on Thursdays, for example. Plan ahead and don't expect your stuff to show up like Amazon packages the next day.

MDF was also my choice for my largest gluing project. I needed about 7m² for the 24.000 Educa. MDF is cheap and easily available in big sizes. I'd use Plywood for things <1m², it looks nice.

For the 9.000s I always used paper for the backside (old calendars are a good source for big sheets with excellent quality). Using one wooden lath at the top was enough to ensure stability for a 18.000. The 9.000s didn't need that - just paper and a bit of duct-tape on the backside were enough.

You can do a puzzle on any flat surface, but there's always the problem of how to glue the finished puzzle to that flat surface without turning the whole thing upside down. After all, it's the backside of the puzzle that you want the glue to be on.

I found that a coating of quick-drying, low-viscosity liquid glue on the front side works pretty well, because the glue easily flows into the gaps between the pieces, and then into the space between the puzzle and the board. Once the glue dries off, all the pieces and the backing board become a single chunk of cellulose-infused plastic. This is probably much better than either the thick mod podge or the adhesive sheet that OP tried to use at first.

My strategy was to buy two plywood boards, and put the puzzle in between those to be able to turn it upside down so I could glue it.

I was thinking take it apart in sections, spread glue on each section's area one by one, putting them back in place as you go. The pieces stay the right way up the whole time.

Anything over about 1/4" thick plywood is going to be heavy at the size of that puzzle. At the same time, thinner material (and I'm thinking of Masonite) is not going to be very stable — could end up bowing in the center.

I was thinking the same, the only issue would be cutting the sheet to the exact size which requires a table saw that, I suppose, she had no access to (I guess, a circular saw with another large plywood for a guide would do as well). Perhaps, it could be ordered, too?

Or use a jigsaw. The cutting tool, not the cardboard pieces.

Or sheet of hardboard and a stanley knife, which is probably the most sensible option in context.

Jigsaws make rather poor cuts (can use router afterwards but that's significantly more involved than a circular saw). Personally, I'd not use the jigsaw for pieces I'd hang on the wall, esp. not use jigsaw free hand. On hardboard - no direct experience with, yet I'd expect it doesn't like moisture, so it has to be properly sealed.

Jigsaw cuts look like garbage IME. The boxcutter knife would work, I've done that to trim plywood before and while it takes a while the cut is sharp and precise.

Better blades go a long way towards not splintering your workpiece. The Bosch ones are excellent if you get the "clean cuts in clean wood" ones. Note that there are two incompatible shank styles: T and U. Get the ones that work with your saw.

For sure. Couple other issues, one, the blade tends to wander, leaving not-perfectly-straight sections. You can mitigate by going slow and careful. Second, it needs a straight edge guide offset to the blade, which is harder to set up than direct.

All in all when I needed a one-off cut I used a box cutter knife, and when I needed a series I used a circular saw with a plywood blade. The setup is similar (needs an offset guide) but the cut is much straighter, faster, and less error prone. I think the only time I'd use a jigsaw is for making non-straight cuts like some curved artistic shape or something.

Rail saw would do it easily too. The framing place would probably have something suitable.

If by rail saw you mean a track saw, I heartily agree. Many people who have no room for (or are intimidated by) a table saw should look into purchasing a track saw. (Still a spinning, sharp blade though and not to be trifled with.)

I would not have enough room to install a proper track saw but circular one is mobile and can even cut on the floor with polystyrene foam below. Well, technically I can install the guide rail on the floor in the same fashion.

(Like mentioned I did have it in the reply as well)

The track saws that I am describing are in fact simply a circular saw + guide rail. And cutting on the floor with foam below is exactly the way to get into it.

Proper track saws though tend to come with finer tooth blades with a thinner kerf so that they cut cleaner than a circular saw. They also retract within a kind of housing so that they're safer — only plunging down when you lean on them to make the cut.

Once you use one, you'll not go back to your circular saw unless, for example, you're trying to cut some framing lumber in place.

I have a Makita [1] which I like a lot, but my sister, wanting to save a little dosh, got a Kreg [2] and is happy with it.

[1] https://www.amazon.com/Makita-SP6000J1-Plunge-Circular-Stack...

[2] https://www.amazon.com/Kreg-ACS-SAWBB-Plunge-Cut-replaces-AC...

I did have the plunge saw (another name) as an option but then removed in favor of a easier solution of circular saw + plywood.

Pretty sure Mod Podge is just expensive PVA.

In case it helps anyone:

I had a 12,000 piece puzzle mounted and framed by a framing store. I forgot the details, but they used something called "Gator Board" (they could get it 10-foot sheets, along with a 10-foot long piece of plexiglass) and they used a machine the heat up the adhesive in sections. They used two separate sections of Z-channel which is apparently what museums use to hang frames. And they advised that I use washers to line up the Z-channel since most walls are not straight.

My original plan was to glue it to a single 10x6 piece of plywood that I could get custom ordered for $300, but even though the mounting and framing cost me $2300, it was well worth it (I got a really nice gilded frame).

Only when I scrolled all the way down did I grasp how big this puzzle really is, huge!

I was surprised too. Some soon-to-be-laid-off-engineers and I worked for days on a 5000 piece puzzle and I thought that was huge. And I found out that 50,000 piece puzzles exist.

(In fact I didn't get laid off — wrote about it here: https://engineersneedart.com/blog/puzzle/puzzle.html)

For some time there has been a race going on between Educa and Ravensburger for the worlds biggest puzzle. Some years ago Ravensburger hired a new designer and I somehow can't stand their style any-more. But Educa is still going strong. Sadly I'm now out of wall space...

Another topic would be how to safely attach a puzzle onto a ceiling... This would add more options.. Putting it on the floor could also work, but adds entirely new requirements for protection... Maybe that path would end up in building a glass floor...

I love building things but puzzles and Lego feel like such a waste of time with no gravitas. I believe it’s because it’s such a guided activity.

It's not something I do often, but I've done a number of puzzles with my family. It's nice to collaborate toward a common goal, and it's fun to watch the picture come together. I find that working on a puzzle puts me in a flow state, and slotting pieces into the correct place is very satisfying. It also really gets me focused on small details of the image like nothing else - small color gradations in the sky, for example - which can bring new perspective and appreciation to a painting or photograph.

We always glue and frame our puzzles when we are finished (using standard off-the-shelf framing kits from Amazon - nothing like the scale of this article) and display them proudly in a common area of the house for a while after we finish.

But I can see why it's not for everybody, which is totally fine. More open-ended projects are also great.

Yeah I understand. The end result is a blocky model made of plastic and that holds no appeal, it kind of ruins the journey as well. I just don’t respect plastic as much as wood or metal.

I find Lego, when building sets rather than free building, is a meditative activity where the journey is more valuable than the destination. Discovering the engineering and complexity enabling modern sets is also fun. Overall, it's about as 'valuable' as watching TV or playing a video game, with the added benefit of having a new, albeit expensive, decoration to add to your shelf. You could also just take it apart and revisit the set later, much like rewatching a film or replaying a game.

As a kid it was more about building your own stuff with Lego.

I know that they had to save the company with licensing etc, but it seems way more about building a particular thing, then never breaking it apart now.

FWIW, I think this is an adult vs. kid thing. I used to be the kind who would build my own stuff, and my kids definitely prefer to design and build their own things. But at some point I transitioned, and it's more about having a built model, not about the creating process. And I think I'm starting to see the same changes in my older kid, where things tend to stay built for longer.

For me I think the change came when I was able to build more real things. I learned how to solder, and then I learned woodworking, and all of a sudden I could make something that's the exact shape I wanted. Once you have those abilities it's a lot harder to go back.

Lego has had sets to build for ages as well as freeform packs which you can still get, both normal blocks and Technics. They even had branded sets way back in the 50s (VW and Esso, for example).

Of course the really cost-effective way to get it remains buying it second-hand by the kilogram.

Adults getting in on the game and dropping hundreds on nostalgia-provoking kits is a relatively newer thing, but it's not preventing access to freeform building supplies.

(author here) I listen to audiobooks a lot and need something to occupy me visually without distracting from listening to the audio. Jigsaw puzzles are perfect for it :)

Ha! In my puzzle loving family gluing a puzzle would have been considered a heresy of the highest order :-P

Nicely done, though :-)

When I was a kid we had what I think was a Ben and Jerry's puzzle we got from the gift shop after the factory tour. It wasn't a lot of pieces, something just under 200, but my brother and I would speed run putting it together until we could do it in under a minute together. We had a few others but not as fun or colorful as that one. We got a 1000 piece but can't remember what happened to that one or if we even finished it, some nature scenery I think (Might have gotten too big for our little table.)

What blew me away with this 9000 piece is the freakin size of it. I had this impression it was maybe 1 meter along its longest edge until the last picture of the author standing in front of it. That is huge and the assembly must require a dedicated space. Then I see people here talking of 13200 and 24000 piece puzzles... Madness!

Kinda want to put together a puzzle now...

The hanging picture with the atrocious wall plugs just ruins the entire article. As a side note - use a laser when hanging anything. They are super cheap nowadays (like 30-40 euro). The only downside is seeing how not straight your walls are (or door frames).

The solving part is fun but the later handling can use some work to be optimized.

Now I'm curious how much it cost to frame - I'm guessing well over a thousand dollars?

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