Playing Card Ink Press

Designing for pragmatic manufacture with limited toolset.

Stevenson Streeper, owner of a local Escape room, wanted to have a new puzzle added to his experience; an Ink-Press designed to allow a player to make the 'key' to help their escape in the form of a Playing Card -- specifically a mysterious Tarot Card. His biggest constraint was that as a local entrepenuer, he needed to be able to create and maintain the device with only a hand-saw, power-drill, and access to the local hardware store. This meant that every part I incorporated into the design had a SKU at stores like Home Depot or Lowes, and was part of their typical stock -- No specialty parts. In my design of this device, I actually created virtual wooden planks of a common dimension, and began cutting them as needed and assembling them to make the final device. After I had the body in a format that seemed functional, I began a search for parts like angle brackets to affix segments, or dowels and bolts to function as axels. At the end, I was able to re-assemble the wooden planks to provide a cutting plan for the wood, and designs for a fully metal stamp brace for the print.