MappSmith — 2 Pieces to the Puzzle

• Can each piece have its own frame?

  Yes. "Each piece framed" gives every piece its own frame band following its outline, knob and socket included, so the framed pieces still fit together. "One frame round both" makes the frame sheet a single piece holding both maps, with the join scored along its middle. "No frame" leaves the maps ...

• Do the pieces really fit? What about the kerf?

  The line between the two pieces is drawn once and both pieces use it, so the knob and the socket are the same curve. With no clearance the laser cuts that line a single time (never twice), and the beam's own width, about 0.1 to 0.2 mm, is the fit: snug, and the knob stays put. Pieces > Fit cle...

• How are the place names made?

  Customize > Lettering, three ways. Raised on the frame: bold letters cut with the frame sheet and standing on the bottom edge of the frame, welded to it so each name glues down as part of its piece; the streets keep clear of the letters. Engraved in the frame: the bottom of the frame widens in...

• How do I make a 2 Pieces to the Puzzle map?

  In the Layers panel, set Product to "2 Pieces to the Puzzle". A board appears straight away, every piece showing where the map is, in the 2D and 3D views, and its card opens under the product. Places: pick 2, 3 or 4 pieces (four can sit two by two), then search a place for each (where you met an...

• Layered, One board or Separate pieces: what is the difference?

  Layered (the default) is three sheets, every one the full size of the board, glued flush into one level piece: a blue backer, one land sheet with every map, the names and the saying engraved on it and the water cut through so the blue shows, and one top sheet with the outer frame, the puzzle fram...

• Nested frames or one frame round them?

  The puzzle frames, the outer frame and the frame style are separate switches. Nested gives each piece its own frame: the knob of one frame sits in the socket of the next, with the fit clearance you choose, and the line between them is cut once. One frame round them welds the frames into one piece...

• What sheets does it cut?

  Layered, bottom to top: the backer (blue acrylic or painted wood), the land (one sheet: every map engraved, the words engraved, the water cut through), and the top (one sheet: the outer frame, the puzzle frames, the main roads welded to them and the raised place names). All three are cut to the s...

• Which places work? Do I get streets outside the US?

  Any place you can search. Our own map covers the US, Canada, the UK & Ireland, Australia and New Zealand, and the streets, water and woods there come from it. In other countries the studio still fetches the streets and the rivers and lakes from OpenStreetMap when you pick the place, so a coup...