A prolific puzzle maker who doesn't make enough! Tom Lensch is a retired engineer living in Dayton, Ohio. He has been collecting puzzles for far more years than he has been making them.
In 1990 he began by making Six-Piece Burrs, Diagonal Stars, Third Dimensions and a few other burrs and well-known puzzles. When he took his
Heart Box, a coordinate motion puzzle, to gatherings of puzzle collectors, he found there was a demand for his puzzles, primarily due to the fine workmanship. Tom's workmanship is considered by most collectors to be about as good as it gets.
Precision is very important when making most of the puzzles you see here. For example, the
Four Corners puzzle is made from six center blocks with an additional block glued to each end giving eighteen pieces. The
Second Stellation puzzle is made by adding twelve more blocks to the ends of the four corners pieces giving thirty pieces. Finally, the
Twelve Point is made by adding yet twelve more blocks giving a total of forty-two pieces.
Through an arrangement with
Bill Cutler, he started making puzzles designed by Bill. Contact with
Oskar van Deventer and
Dic Sonneveld brought new agreements to make some of Oskar and Dic's puzzles. Next he tackled
Stewart Coffin designs. And finally, he is making puzzles of his own design including the Open Side Coin Bank and
Boxed Burr.