Sunday, April 24, 2022

A STEM Project: Resizing a Slice Form Sphere

After making the slice form sphere with a pop-up base.  I tried to insert the pop-up into an A7 envelope.  Much to my disappointment, it was too big by 1/4 inch.  Typically, slice forms can not be resized because the slits in the paper need to accommodate the thickness of a piece of paper. 

The slice form was 1/4 inch too big for the A7 envelope.

I looked at the original size of the slits of the slice form sphere and they were .02 inches wide.  The slits in the slice form base were a little smaller at .17 inches wide. I know that the slits can be as tight as .15 inches wide (not optimal but it does work). Resizing the design would be easy with the Silhouette software, so there is no harm in trying this method before redoing the slice form models. To resize the 4 inch slice form sphere to a 3 3/4 inch sphere.  I calculated that I needed a .9375 scaling factor.

3.75/4 = .9375 scaling factor

In the Edit function, select all.  This will put a bounding box around the entire design.

In the Transform function, under scale, use a .9375 scaling factor.  After the entire design was rescaled, I determined the smallest slit was .17 inches and that is an acceptable slit width. 

The point of this blog posting is that while conventions might indicate that something won't work.  Try it anyway, I had nothing to lose except a few minutes of time.  This is one of the reasons I like designing with paper.  It is quick to experiment and the cost of the paper is reasonable.  I typically make the same model over and over again until I am satisfied with the results. I have high standards and will not concede. In this case, it was a simple solution of rescaling the design.

My resized pop-up slice form now fits in an A7 envelope.

Saturday, April 23, 2022

A STEM Project: Making a Pop-Up Base For A Slice Form Sphere

I have always wanted to create a pop-up mechanism for my slice forms.   I think this rubber band mechanism achieves my goal. 

Slice form base with a rubber band pop-up base attached

When the side is depressed, the base lies flat.

In this blog posting, I will make a pop-up base for the slice form sphere that was created in a previous blog posting,  https://papercraftetc.blogspot.com/2020/10/a-stem-project-how-to-make-slice-form.html#comment-form The entire design, slice form sphere, slice form base and pop-up base can lay flat as a two dimensional object and then it can be expanded into a three dimensional model with the help of a rubber band.

Here is the PDF.  I used 65 lb. cardstock. A one inch rubber band is required for the pop-up base. (The rubber band is similar to the rubber band that is used on a Rainbow Loom.) 

Here is the .Studio file.

The slice form sphere file and directions are in this blog posting, https://papercraftetc.blogspot.com/2020/10/a-stem-project-how-to-make-slice-form.html#comment-form 


The pop-up base consists of a two inch square with a diagonal going across the square.  This diagonal is cut into two lengths which equal the entire length of the diagonal.  A rubber band keeps the two diagonal pieces together. 

The rubber band expands when the base is pressed down at the corner that is opposite to the diagonal.  When the side pressure is released, the expansion tension on the rubber band is released and the rubber band returns to its natural state  This phenomenon allows the slice form to deploy and become three dimensional.

Here are the calculations that I used to create the paper strip.  One strip creates a right triangle.  Two strips create a square with a diagonal in the middle. 
Pop-up base Calculations


Make the Pop-Up Rubber Band Base

There are two sides to the rubber band base. Each side is folded over to create a two-ply base. Crease the paper as shown above.  

Glue the folded sides together.

Glue the tabs together. Make sure that the slits are going in the same direction.

Slide the one inch rubber band into the slit and align the rubber band with the round hole in the base of the slit.

Apply glue to the diagonal as shown above.

Adhere the other side of the diagonal.  Make sure that the slits on the long side of the diagonal align.

Slide the rubber band onto the slit on the long side of the diagonal.

This rubber band base can now fold flat when the corner opposite the diagonal is pushed down.

Make the pop-up columns by creasing the paper into a square and gluing the tab together. Repeat for the other column.

Apply glue to the side of the column that has a tab. Attach this side to the right angle that is opposite the diagonal.  Repeat for the other column.


Make the Slice Form Base

Arrange all of the slices by size.  Take the largest slice and slide them together as shown above.

Continue sliding the pieces with the upward facing slits onto this assembly.  

Slice the downward facing slits onto the assembly to finish making the slice form base.


Make the Slice Form Sphere Using the directions from this previous blog posting https://papercraftetc.blogspot.com/2020/10/a-stem-project-how-to-make-slice-form.html



Assemble the Three Parts of the Pop-Up 

Apply glue to the column tabs as shown above.

Slide the slice form base onto the pop-up base.  The tabs of the columns will be glued inside the slice form  base. Flatten the base so that the glue adheres correctly. 

The slice form base is now attached at two spots.  In the photo above, it is attached on the left side.  The right side is not attached as this allows the slice form to fold flat.

Top View

Apply glue to the tabs on the center slice of the slice form base.

Adhere the tabs to the center slice of the slice form sphere. Wait for the glue to dry before collapsing the pop-up.

The pop-up will fold flat.

Rubber Band Pop-Up Base with a Slice Form Sphere

Saturday, April 16, 2022

A Rubber Band Pop-Up Slice Form Easter Egg Card


A Rubber Band Pop-Up Slice Form Easter Egg Card

This rubber band pop-up card is an engineering marvel.  It combines a rubber band mechanism with a slice form egg and base that pops-up when removed from an A7 envelope. The entire design is about 6 1/2 inches tall. The recipient of this card will be astonished when the flat card opens into this amazing three dimensional Easter egg with a bunny inside.

The rubber band expands when the base is pressed down at the seam that is opposite to the internal diagonal.  When the side pressure is released, the expansion tension on the rubber band is released and the rubber band returns to its natural state  This phenomenom allows the slice form to deploy and become three dimensional.

Here is the PDF.  I used 65 lb. cardstock. A one inch rubber band is required for the pop-up base. (The rubber band is similar to the rubber band used on a Rainbow Loom.)

Here is the .Studio file.

Here is the SVG.

There are three parts to this card.  The rubber band pop-up base, a sliceform base and a sliceform egg. The rubber band pop-up base is easy to make. The slice form parts, egg and base, are not hard to make but they do require patience as it takes time to slide the correct slits together. 

Make the Pop-Up Rubber Band Base

There are two sides to the rubber band base. Each side is folded over to create a two-ply base. Crease the paper as shown above.  

Glue the folded sides together.

Glue the tabs together. Make sure that the slits are going in the same direction.

Slide the one inch rubber band into the slit and align the rubber band with the round hole in the base of the slit.

Fold the base so that a square is made with a diagonal in the middle.  Slide the rubber band into the slit and align the rubber band as before. There is a gap in the diagonal.

Apply a Glue Dot into this gap.

Rubber Band Base

Use a glue runner to apply glue to the inside of the base wrap. (Regular glue will warp the paper.)

Attach the base wrap to the rubber band base.

Make the pop-up columns by creasing the paper into a square and gluing the tab together. Repeat for the other column.

Apply glue to the column on the two edges without the tabs. Glue the column inside the rubber band base with the column tabs facing inward.

Repeat for the other column. The base can be flattened when the corners with the columns are pressed inward.


Make the Slice Form Base

Glue and align the blue bunnies onto both sides of the smallest slices. Arrange all of the slices by size.  (The two slices at the top left of the photo are stacked with another slice.) Take the largest slice and slide them together to form a cross.

Continue sliding the pieces with the upward facing slits onto this assembly.  

Slice the downward facing slits onto the assembly to create the slice form base.


Make the Slice Form Egg

There are two bunnies included in my design...a simple bunny with no embellishments.

And a bunny with embellishments.  Decide which bunny that you want. Adorn the one with embellishments as shown above if that is the one that you choose.

Slide the two largest egg slices together.

Slide the upward facing slits onto the assembly.  The upward facing slits will have to be bent inward in order for the slices to be inserted inside the egg. Next slide the downward facing slits.

Slide each of the corresponding downward facing slits onto the egg. The slices will need to be stretched a little so that they can be slid into the corresponding slits. Open and close the egg after you have inserted an entire slice.  This will help align the slits.


Assemble the Slice Form Base and Egg Together 

Apply glue to the two tabs of the slice form base.

Adhere the tabs to the back of the center slice on either side of the slice form egg. Allow the glue to dry before continuing. (tab is in the center of the photo)


Assemble the Slice Forms to the Rubber Band Pop-up Base

Apply glue to the tabs on the columns.

Adhere the slice form base as shown above. Repeat for the other column on the other side of the base. Wait for the glue to dry before deploying the rubber band mechanism.

Top View

Completed Rubber Band Pop-Up Slice Form Easter Egg Card