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6.W.5. SIX PIECE BURR WITH IDENTICAL PIECES
One form has six identical pieces and all move outward or inward together. Another form with flat notched pieces has one piece with an extra notch or an extended notch which allows it to fit in last, either by sliding or twisting, but this is not initially obvious. This form is sometimes made with equal pieces so that it can only be assembled by force, perhaps after steaming, and it then makes an unopenable money box. This might be considered under 11.M.
Edward Hordern's collection has a version with one piece a little smaller than the rest from c1800.

Crambrook. 1843. P. 5, no. 5: Maltese Cross 6 [pieces], three sorts. Not clear if these belong here or in 6.W.2 or 6.W.4 -- ??

C. Baudenbecher catalogue, c1850s. Op. cit. in 6.W.7. This has an example of the six equal flat pieces making an unopenable(?) money box.

F. Chasemore. Some mechanical puzzles. In: Hutchison; op. cit. in 5.A; 1891, chap. 70, part 1, pp. 571 572. Item 5: The puzzle box, p. 572. Six U pieces make a uniformly expanding cubical box.

Hoffmann. 1893. Chap. III, no.33: The bonbon nut puzzle, pp. 104 & 138 = Hoffmann Hordern, pp. 102-103, with photo. One piece has an extra notch to simplify the assembly. Photo on p. 103 shows an example, almost certainly by Jaques & Son, 1860-1895.

Burnett Fallow. How to make a puzzle money-box. The Boy's Own Paper 15 (No. 755) (1 Jul 1893) 638. Equal flat notched pieces forced together to make an unopenable box.

Burnett Fallow. How to make a puzzle picture-frame. The Boy's Own Paper 16 (No. 815) (25 Aug 1894) 749. Each corner has the same basic forced construction as used in the puzzle money-box.

Benson. 1904. The bonbon nut puzzle, p. 204.

Bartl. c1920. Several versions on p. 306.

Western Puzzle Works, 1926 Catalogue. Last page shows 20 Chinese Wood Block Puzzles, High Grade. Some of these are of the present type.

Collins. Book of Puzzles. 1927. The bonbon or nut puzzle, pp. 137-139. As in Hoffmann.

Iona & Robert Opie and Brian Alderson. Treasures of Childhood. Pavilion (Michael Joseph), London, 1989. P. 158 shows a "cluster puzzle which Professor Hoffman [sic] names the 'Nut (or Six piece) Puzzle', but which is usually called 'The Maltese Puzzle'."