Reference
Puzzle terms, in plain English
The vocabulary a buyer needs to read a quotation.
- Peg
- A small cylindrical handle on a puzzle piece, sized for a toddler's fingers.
- Knob
- A larger round handle on a puzzle piece, used on the youngest boards.
- Chunky
- A thick puzzle piece with no handle, for children moving on from knobs.
- Die line
- The cutting outline for a puzzle board or a shaped piece.
- Bevel
- The angled cut on a jigsaw piece edge that makes pieces fit without force.
- Laser cut
- Cutting with a focused beam. Good for shaped pieces and small runs; leaves a square edge that needs sanding.
- Die cut
- Cutting with a steel rule die. Faster for volume boards; needs a tooling cost.
- Plywood
- Layered wood sheet, the default material for flat puzzles.
- UV print
- Printing cured instantly with ultraviolet light; allows full-colour artwork on wood.
- Water-based paint
- Child-safe paint tested to EN71-3 migration limits.
- EN71
- The European toy safety standard. EN71-3 covers migration of certain elements.
- ASTM F963
- The US toy safety standard.
- CPSIA
- US law on children's product safety, including lead and phthalate limits.
- Test report
- The document from a laboratory showing a model passed a given standard.
- Declaration of conformity
- A supplier's formal statement that a product meets a standard.
- Small parts test
- A test of whether a piece fits inside a small-parts cylinder, which sets the age grade.
- MOQ
- Minimum order quantity.
- Carton quantity
- The number of units packed in one export carton.
- FOB
- Free on board: the price including delivery to the named port.
- Lead time
- Production days from sample approval to goods being ready.