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Here's a quick paper project I put together for #truelove to make up for me being away for a couple of days. I'm sure she won't mind if I share it. The two nesting boxes are just big enough for a treat size choc and once open one box balances on the other making this interesting sculpture.
If you are a member you can download the parts from the link above, thanks for signing up! I printed out sheet one onto white card and sheet two onto pink. Pick the colours you like.
Carefully cut out the heart shapes. Keep them to one side and you can pop them in with the chocolate later.
Score the dotted lines and carefully cut out the pieces. Pre-crease the fold lines for easy, neat assembly.
Glue the blanking squares onto the back of the heart shaped holes.
Fold up the inner box and glue together the sides.
Add chocolate and fold down the lid.
Make up the outer box in the same way. Drop the inner box into the outer box and fold down the lid.
That's it! The triangle hole in the base serves two purposes.
First it lets you push the inner box out...
...and secondly, it lets you balance the inner box on the inverted outer box. Cute :-)
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This project is an incremental improvement to the crank slider mechanism used in the sssnake model. The modified side pieces in the crank make it easy to change the the throw of the crank and hence the range of movement of the push rod.
These three animations show the three included crank sides. Once the model is assemble the throw can't be changed as the parts are glued together so you need to pick the correct size before you complete the model.
Perhaps a later project could include adjustable crank slide length. For now, this project includes crank sides length 8mm, 16mm and 24mm.
Members can download the project for free. Thanks for signing up!
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| 8mm | 16mm | 24mm |
Print out the parts onto thin card. I've used coloured card here.
Score along the dotted lines, cut out the holes then carefully cut out the parts.
Fold the push rod ends in half and glue them down to make double thickness card. Once the glue is dry cut out the holes and then carefully cut out the parts.
Choose the length of throw that you want then glue up the two parts of that size, in this case the 24mm sides.
Glue together the push rod.
Glue the two push rod ends onto the grey areas making sure that they are lined up.
For each of the three pins; roll them round then glue up the end so that it lines up exactly with the point of the arrows and the edge of the grey area.
Assemble the crank shaft as shown in the picture.
The pin with the green arrows is slightly shorter than the other two. It fits in the middle.
Assemble the handle in three steps.
Glue the two square sections up. Fold one section into the other and glue. Roll round the long tab and glue it down.
Fold the tab at the bottom of the box to make a right angled triangle and glue it down.
Glue the two box parts together. Assemble the slider tube, Glue it to the tab in the box lid. Glue one edge of the box lid into place.
Slide the push rod up through the slider tube. Fit the crank shaft through the holes in the side of the box and glue the box round. Glue the box lid down.
Glue the base tabs into place and then glue the four long tabs to the inside walls of the box.
Complete the project by gluing the handle to the shaft. Use this as the starting point for your own character based projects. Send pictures of what you make!
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So I started watching the new series "Defiance" on the TV when this mysterious glowing space shape thing appeared on the screen. I'm afraid that was as far as I got through the program. When I finally looked up from trawling through the ever fascinating Geometry Junkyard and the Wikipedia pages on 3d shapes Defiance had finished. I'm afraid that happens a lot. I do like to go to the cinema with #truelove. She really doesn't approve if I use my phone to explore internet rabbit holes at the pictures so I tend to be able to watch films right to the end without getting distracted. Just so long as I stay awake.
Anyway, it turns out that the shape is a Rhombicosidodecahedron. It is made from 12 pentagons, 30 squares and 20 equilateral triangles. There is all sorts of fascinating information here on the Wikipedia page. I tried out a few nets before settling on one with five parts spread over two pages. If you are a member you can download the parts and make your own for free. Non-members can join in the fun for £2.50
Score along all the dotted lines (there are loads. Sorry.) then carefully cut out the pieces. Fold along all the crease lines before you start the assembly to ensure crisp creases.
There are a total of five pieces. Two large, slightly different from each other and three smaller pieces all the same as each other. Find the two larger pieces. One has a black dot on a tab, the other has a black dot near an edge. Glue the tab with the dot to the edge with the dot. Line up the parts as accurately as possible.
Accurately glue one of the remaining three pieces to the central pentagon. Use the picture above to help with orientation.
Glue the other two pieces to the central pentagon, again using the picture for alignment.
Starting from the central pentagon, work your way round and up gluing down tabs to make the 3D shape.
Work your way upwards...
...until only the last pentagon remains.
Complete the shape by gluing down the last pentagon. Nice!
The questions remain. Was Defiance any good? Did anyone watch it? Should I go back and try watching it again? What other 3D shapes will distract me if I do?
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Yuck!
After regular use my cutting board is covered in lumpy bits of glue and smatterings of paint. Time for a spring clean.
Immerse the board in cold soapy water. Don't use hot! Hot water causes the board to distort. You'll never get it flat again!
Leave it to soak for fifteen to twenty minutes then vigorously clean of the glue and paint with a sponge.
Dry off with a soft cloth. Don't dry it on a radiator, you'll have the same distortion problem.
And there it is, shiny and clean, ready to go!
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#truelove and I spent the weekend in Glasgow. Very nice it was too. On the train I treated her to a tasty carrot cake which came in this elegant box.
The package opens out and folds flat for storage but becomes remarkably rigid when folded into a box.
Here it is opened out with the hill and valley folds marked out in pen.
On our return home I transfered the the basic design to an Illustrator file and scaled it to fit on a single sheet of paper.
Here's the layout on screen with colours added.
If you are a member you can download the file at the link at the top and make your own.
Score the dotted / dashed lines and cut out the parts.
Glue the sides at the grey blobs.
Fold in the centre tucks...
... then fold down the lid.
Finish the box by adding cakes!
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The co-axial crank slider mechanism is designed to be a starting point for your own projects. As the handle is turned the outer tube moves up and down 90 ° ahead of the inner tube creating an organic, fluid motion which can be harnessed for your own character designs.
Members can download the parts for free, thanks for signing up! Non-members can download the project for the usual £2.50.
Print out the parts onto thin card (230 micron / 67lb) Score along the dotted and dashed lines and cut out the holes before carefully cutting out the parts.
There are four paper pins that need to be made. Pre-curve the pieces round a pen or pencil then roll them round so that the edge exactly meets the points of the red arrows. Apply glue to the inner surface and glue the pin together.
Make up the two crank centre pieces as shown.
Glue the two crank centre pieces together. Notice that the square holes are facing in opposite directions.
I'm pleased with the new design for the crank sides. They are each made from a single piece of paper and their size and therefore their throw, can be changed very easily. Make up the two crank sides as shown.
I'm planning to create a single crank slider project using this design shortly.
Fold over the push rod ends and glue them down to make double thickness card. Once the glue is dry, cut out the centre holes then carefully cut out the pieces. there are four push rod ends.
Make up the short push rod as shown. Notice the triangular section tube. This give rigidity to the piece.
Glue two of the push rod ends into place using the grey areas for alignment. Push one of the pins through the holes in the push rod ends and make sure that the pin is at 90° to the shaft before the glue dries.
Fit the other push rod ends to the other push rod in the same way.
Glue the ends of the pins into the crank middle as shown. Make sure none of the glue gets onto the push rod ends.
Glue the crank sides and remaining pins to complete the crank shaft.
Assemble the slider tube and glue the slider tube end into place as shown.
Thread the slider tube over the long push rod then glue the tab on the long end of the short push rod between the two tabs on the end of the slider tube.
Fold up and glue down the tabs on the bottom edge of the two box sides to make right angled triangle tubes.
Glue the two box pieces together along one edge. Fold up the box and fit the crank assembly into place.
Fold the box round and glue it closed. Glue down the two flaps on the box base stand the box on a flat surface as the glue dries to make sure that everything is square and flat. Fold the long tabs into the box and glue them down on the inside walls of the box.
Assemble the outer slider tube and glue it to the hinge on the box top.
Assemble the handle in three steps. Glue up the two square tube.
Fold up and glue one tube into the other.
Roll round and glue down the long tab.
Glue the handle to the pin.
Complete the model by threading the lid down over the push rod and gluing it to the box.
This is just the starting point. Use this mechanism to bring your own characters to life!
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I'm almost done with this co-axial crank-slider, just the assembly photographs to process. A crank slider mechanism uses a crank, the rotating bit at the bottom, and a slider tube hinged onto the top of the box to convert rotary motion into an up and down, back and forth motion.
The co-axial part means that two sliders share the same axis to make a more interesting motion.
In this project there are three tubes nested one inside the other. The longest tube, 6mm on a side, is fixed to the right crank, the middle tube, 7mm, is fixed to the left hand crank and moves 90° ahead of the innermost tube.. The final tube is 8mm on a side and is hinged onto the top of the box.
This is a promising looking mechanism which I'm hoping will be useful for all sorts of paper projects. The 90° lag in the motion makes for an interesting, organic looking movement.
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I've been creating parts for my forth coming gear zine. If you've been following along you'll know I'm planning to use photographs of paper gears to illustrate how different types of gear mechanism work. I'm also planning to provide links so that readers can make their own gears to try them out first hand.
It turns out that the design process for bevel gears is an interesting process and will be rewarded with its own blog post shortly. I settled on an 18/24 teeth gear set.
Shown here are the inner supports holding up the cone of the 24 tooth gear.
...and here are the actual teeth.
The two parts fit together to make this rather satisfying gear.
Both gears meshing together. I'll be putting together a downloadable project of these parts shortly.
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Friend of the website Cathy Fulton writes from an island in the Puget Sound situated at the top left of the US of A
Where she lives they see Orcas swimming past in the sea! She has recreated the spectacle in paper using a crank slider mechanism. If you look closely at the picture she sent you can also Mt. Rainier in the background. What a fantastic looking place!
Cathy also sent through an animation of her splendid Orca model in action. Spurred on by interest from visitors to her stall at the local farmer's market Cathy has created a simpler downloadable version with a single Orca, again based on a crank slider mechanism.
Now anyone with access to the internet and $5.95 can download and make Cathy's design. Very nice it is too. Thanks Cathy, I've got mine printed out and ready to go!
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The scales texture in the sssnake! project was created with the aid of a splendid new tool from Astute Graphics. Collider Scribe is a £10 add-on for Adobe Illustrator designed to help lining up and arranging objects in your illustrator projects. It make short work of arranging these various sized circles so that their edges are accurately touching. Here's how.
Create a long thin shape for the snakes body. Draw out some circles of decreasing size. These will be used as a the scales. I used the same fill colour as the body and a lighter colour set at 2pt for the stroke.
<Shift> drag a row of the larger circles up the centre of the body. This is where the Collider Scribe tool comes in. As I shift drag a shape it snaps into position onto any shapes it comes near, This makes it really easy to position shapes so that they are just touching.
Use the Collider Scribe tool to fill in the remaining shapes positioning larger circles in the centre and smaller shapes towards the edges. Let Collider Scribe snap them into position for you!
Once the body is full of circles it is time to change their hues. I used this free script to change the colours randomly. Download it and save it to your computer. Select all the circles, but not the background then select File -> Scripts -> Other Scripts and select the Vary Hues script from your computer.
This is the result after running the script with and input value of 25.
Complete the snake skin by adding a clipping mask to trim off any excess circles.
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