According to my memory and spreadsheet records, the looseness and chipped tips were problems right from the beginning for this particular puzzle, so I recently went ahead and pulled apart all of the friction pin joints and added dabs of superglue in there before reassembling it, in an attempt to help it function a bit more smoothly. Even so, it's still not the best example of my craftsmanship at full potential, yet still a lovely artpiece rendered in one of my very favorite woods.