By running the blade up and down (hooray, power tools) and moving wood through it, you can cut fine patterns into wood. ... Mass-produced commercial jigsaw puzzles are made of cardboard.

The very first jigsaw puzzle is said to have been made by London mapmaker John Spilsbury in the 1760s. "He pasted a map onto a thin piece of wood, and he used a scroll saw to cut it up; ...