A Conversation with Lisa Lee, restorer, maker and collector

I hope you enjoy getting to know Lisa a little better. Contact her at [email protected] to request a custom puzzle or puzzle repair. Italics and all mistakes are mine.

When did you start repairing puzzles? I started repairing my own TUCO puzzles and then repairing TUCO puzzles for others because the webmasters’ photos of incomplete puzzles made me a little crazy. Someone asked me if I repaired wooden puzzles and I hadn’t. I didn’t own a wooden puzzle or even a saw at that point. I cut everything with an exacto knife.

My family and parents weren’t puzzlers and I didn’t really have a lot of time for puzzles, as I was busy raising kids. However, life has a way of blindsiding your plans and I was in a car accident when I was 34 years old that put me in a wheelchair. After about 10 years of feeling sorry for myself, I bought a little saw at an auction. One speed and totally uncontrollable. The first few puzzles I cut were ridiculous. I wanted to cut like the Pastime cutters. I knew I could be good at it, but just could not understand why I wasn’t! I went to a tool store. What an experience. I tried to explain to the men what I wanted. They practically patted me on the head and sent me on my way. Haven’t bought a thing from them since. 3 days later, a Dewalt showed up on my front door, courtesy of my son, who very much encouraged me to focus my energies on something other than pity. I realize there are better saws out there, but the Dewalt is perfect for me.

Did anyone teach you how to repair puzzles? No one taught me how. I made it up as I went along. My son, Justin, went to art school and advised me on what pencils to use, how to get the colors deeper, what finishes were available, etc. I always tried to use matching wood and gray paper, to imitate the old paper. After a lot of trial and error, I discovered that if I turned everything upside down and traced the missing piece that way and cut it upside down as well, it would end up fitting a lot better than if I traced it picture side up.

What was the first puzzle you repaired? The first wooden puzzle I repaired [~15 years ago] was a Chagrin Falls puzzle of George Washington at Valley Forge. It had so many tiny knobs broken that I didn’t know how I’d do it…. so I used… play doh! Then I painted it. It looked great. But I always felt so guilty about that, that a couple years ago I recontacted the owner and asked him to send me the puzzle again so I could fix it right. It looks even better now.

Do you ever consider a puzzle not worth repairing and have you ever given up on repairing a puzzle? Most of the time, when I consider whether or not a puzzle is worth fixing, I ask myself if it would cost more to repair that the puzzle is worth. A man once paid me $800 to repair a $100 puzzle his grandfather had made. My husband says, if someone wants to pay to have a puzzle repaired, I should be willing to try. And yes, I have given up a few times. When the paper eating bugs have damaged every piece, so I have to recolor every piece, or every piece has a broken knob, I have given up, even though the owners were not happy. I have repaired as many as 300 knobs on one puzzle.

What is the hardest puzzle repair that you’ve done? Again, that first puzzle, the Chagrin Falls puzzle, was right up there with the hardest repairs. Then I did one of an old sea captain, where the puzzle had gotten wet. I took apart, sanded, glued and pressed more than half of the pieces. Ugh! It looked pretty good, too.

How many puzzles are in your to repair stack? In my piles and stacks of puzzles to be repaired ‘some day when I have time’ there are about 40. In the stack of puzzles to repair for other people, there are about 20 parcels at the moment. I am slightly overloaded.

How long does it take you to make a replacement piece at this point? Cutting a new piece takes less than half an hour; it’s the easiest for me- I pretty much have it down to a science. Coloring, not so much. Coloring it right, to my satisfaction, takes anywhere from 10 minutes to a whole day, depending on what I’m supposed to be drawing. Blue is never just one color blue. yellow is not just picking up a yellow pencil and scribbling something. And if I don’t know what the scene is supposed to be, that totally throws me for a loop. Knobs are always harder to replace than a whole piece. I never get them to fit perfectly and it’s a very long, tedious process.

Is there a brand or type of puzzle that’s harder to repair? Par and Falls puzzles are by far the hardest ones to repair because of all the knobs and turns you have to get perfect. If there are 15 turns in one piece, you are bound to mess one up. I’ve thrown out and started over a new piece many times. Of course, push fit are pretty simple. It all depends on the scene. Newer dot matrix puzzle or photo puzzles are almost impossible for me to get right, that’s why I specialize in antique puzzles. You underestimate how easy it is, even to make a push fit piece. I’ve just cut my first successful one and it was far from simple and definitely took me more than 10 minutes.

What supplies do you use? I have some antique Par wood I use to make new pieces for Par puzzles. I have a bunch of balsa wood that I glue and press for others. You can find a huge variation in the thickness of pieces in the same puzzle, so it’s important to check the connecting pieces as I make each new one. I have some cigar boxes that the early one ply puzzles were made from that work very well for some of them. To color, I use Prismacolor pencils. I tried many other brands, but Prismacolor works for me. I use Krylon sprays for layering colors as well as the final finish. The most important thing I use is a halogen light to give me proper colors.

Is there something you think people shouldn’t do when repairing puzzles? The one thing I’ve seen and heard that people do that I would never do is overcut a puzzle. That is when they just cut a new piece over the top of the old area, so they are actually cutting into all the surrounding pieces and changing the puzzle. In the end, it may look ok, but I don’t do that. The first rule is ‘do no harm’ to the original puzzle, right? Right.

What are you working on right now? I am working on a stack of 12 repairs from one lady, whose most challenging piece was matching up a modern wood puzzle with a modern photo of the area and a bright, shiny modern finish that I have not yet mastered to my satisfaction. All shiny finishes tend to darken the finished piece, so I have to start over a lot.

Do you have any advice for people who want to repair their own puzzles? Start with your own puzzles. Practice. Practice. Practice. Then challenge someone to pick out the new piece. If they can find it, you didn’t do a good enough job.

Do you remember your first wooden puzzle or have a favorite puzzle brand or type? I can’t remember the first wooden puzzle I worked, but I very much have a preferred brand, the Picture Puzzle Mart puzzles sold and rented here in NY in the 30s and 40s. Josephine Flood took the best Pastime cutters and had them cut puzzles for her. They are fantastic!

Do you have a signature piece? What type of puzzles do you like to cut? I don’t really have a particular signature piece. I love cutting the little whimsy pieces into my puzzles. I try to cram in a lot of them. I enjoy cutting puzzles on the color lines but find them so difficult to assemble, especially when they are well cut. I think the first puzzles I cut were little Coca Cola ads. Gave them away. They were terrible. I’m not great at cutting tricky puzzles, but when I think of something unique, I try and go with it. I mostly use a lightweight 3ply birchwood, but have cut puzzles made from many different woods. I prefer medium sized puzzles, to keep the frustration level for me at a minimum. So far, the coolest puzzle I’ve cut was from a giant painting my son found in a thrift store. Since it was already about 6 feet long, I took a photo and cut a puzzle. It’s very abstract. I would really like to focus more on cutting puzzles, but it has taken a back seat to all the repairs flooding in daily. I always say, someday, when I get caught up, I can cut more puzzles. Someday hasn’t come yet. But I do take on special orders as often as I can and do customize them for the client. My shop consists of a corner in the back room that I’ve taken over and claimed. But really, the dining room is my preferred place to be for repairs, with a cup of coffee and the wood stove.

What I’ve been working on

Working on this interview with Lisa gave me the kick in the pants I needed to try repairing some of my Pastime Puzzles. I’ve been repairing the boxes. That’s easy for me and at least if the box is solid, more pieces won’t be lost. I cut my first push fit replacement piece that works. Now to color it. I absolutely expect people to be able to pick out which piece is the replacement from a mile away, but at least the puzzle will have all of the pieces in sort of the right colors. I can always redo it later. I’ll post it on IG when I finish, so check there if you want to see.

Puzzle Pages, the reference booklet we produced as part of Puzzle Jam South is now available to read on the website. We have a few copies leftie you prefer a hard copy.

If you need to order winter gift puzzles from any hand cutter, now is the time. Please make sure to let us know if there is a time constraint when you order.

Plant corner