origami box dividers
Sep. 25th, 2007 08:19 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
wombat1138Sorry, no pix here; having figured out how to fold a few simple dividers that fit into Tomoko Fuse's standard square boxes, I'm just jotting down the instructions before I forget them again. Both of them start with the same size of paper used for the boxes.
Three compartments (diagonal divider with long central trough)-- this one was mentioned but not diagrammed in Fuse's Joyful Origami Boxes, although she did indicate which two models to interpolate from; her original two-compartment troughless diagonal divider is on p. 43.
1.) Make a long diagonal valley fold. (The side of the paper on the outside of this initial fold will be the visible one when the divider is done and tucked into the box.)
2.) Unfold the long diagonal, mark its center, and blintz the square by bringing all four corners together.
3.) Unfold the two corners of the diagonal itself; leaving the other two corners tucked inside in quasi-cupboard format, refold the long diagonal closed again.
4.) From the outside of the fold, bring each cupboard-type fold up to lie flush along the long diagonal, while untucking the corner from the inside without folding that part of the paper. (Up to this point, the steps are nearly identical to the beginning of the traditional Maeda "rouge container".)
5.) Still keeping the diagonal closed flat (now with the outer corners sticking downward), sharply refold the ends of the long diagonal along the same lines as the earlier blintzing, bringing those two corners back to the center while keeping all of the layers of paper together. (IMHO this comes out better if the corners are both folded in the same clockwise or anticlockwire direction, so that they end up on opposite sides.)
6.) Unfold one diagonal corner, open up the space between the long diagonal fold and the nearest cupboard fold, and reverse-fold the various layers of the diagonal corner into there. Repeat with the other corner.
7.) Turn the shape upside down so the outer corners are sticking up, and open them outward. These become the floors of the large diagonal compartments. The center divider has a long, narrow trough that can be opened up and flattened outward if desired.
Four compartments (adapted from the traditional four-part divider for the equally traditional one-square masu box)-- with this one, the orthogonal dividers need a bit more wrangling once it's boxed, to make sure the compartments stay looking nicely rectilinear.
1.) Pre-crease as if for the preliminary/waterbomb bases. From the side of the paper where the diagonals look valley-folded (which will also be the side that's visible at the end), add further creases by cupboard-folding each pair of edges inward to the center.
2.) Turn the paper upside-down and collapse along the folds to form the waterbomb base. Using the cupboard creases as a guide, bring the center's right angle down to the center of one edge, keeping all the layers of paper together.
3.) While holding the centerpoint against that edge, turn the waterbomb base upside-down and open it out somewhat, into a double-pontooned shape. Continue opening/flattening until the orthogonal crease through the middle of both pontoons can be popped upward into a single mountain fold, collapsing the bottom of each pontoon into a halved self-sandwich.
4.) Holding the sides of the new mountain fold tightly together with the rectilinear center dividers pointing up between your fingers, tamp the entire shape downward to flatten out the outer ends of the original cupboard folds. The floor of each of the four compartments will have a diagonal crease running from the bottom center of the dividers to the outer corner of the paper, which will now also be an outer corner of the divider's floor when it's put into the box.
Individual half-area right-triangle compartments (adapted from the instructions for a shallower dish with a larger footprint)-- the main struggle was trying to find/mark the right point for the end of step #2; I'm still tweaking this one around a bit, and also my contact lens are acting smeary while I do the initial writeup:
1.) Crease the main diagonals in opposite directions. In a blintzlike way, fold two adjacent corners to meet at the center, each one oriented in the opposite valley/mountain direction as the parallel diagonal. Unfold them again.
2.) Divide the remaining unmarked edge into thirds with successive approximation. Once these markers are found, fold one of them across the entire width of the paper, rectilinear with the square's edges, and note where this fold intersects the nearest diagonal.
3.) With the paper oriented to put that diagonal into mountain-fold orientation and the previous step's intersection point at the end pointing away from you, fold the opposite corner up to meet the marked one-third point. The blintz-like pre-creases will help to line this fold up.
4.) The paper should now resemble the inverted profile of a brilliant-cut diamond, with the new fold having created the second layer of a isoceles right triangle sticking upward, and with the original blintzish pre-fold within that triangle showing as a valley crease that's parallel to the main hypotenuse of the present fold. "Roll" the main hypotenuse along the blintz crease to meet the orthogonal main diagonal, then unroll it again. (This establishes the long hypotenuse wall.)
5.) Valley-fold the outer edges of the original square inward to meet the sides of this isoceles (or at least nearly meet-- a tiny bit of extra space here helps the next step fold cleanly.) Yes, the two folds will cross each other at the top. Don't worry about it.
6.) Unfold one of the square's edges; with the other one, "roll" the fold inward over that leg of the right triangle, then unroll it to leave the square's edge clearly touching the triangle's original shape. Repeat with the other edge. One of these "roll" folds should correspond with the rectilinear one-third crease from step #2. (This establishes the two rectilinear walls of the triangular dish.)
7.) The paper should now resemble the inverted profile of a brilliant-cut diamond with a flatter table than before, with two long rectangles bordering the isoceles right triangle's legs. This step is a bit tricky to describe w/o diagrams, but bring the isoceles' hypotenuse flush against the outer edge of one of those rectangles and pinch the nearest side of that fold, which should crease one of the paper's original corners into the right angle of a smaller triangle pointing up and outward from the rectangular border. Repeat on the other end of the isoceles' hypotenuse.
8.) The inmost corners of these small triangles should be very close to the blintz pre-crease; using those corners as pivots, valley-crease the rectangles onto themselves. Using the ends of the blintz crease as pivots, valkey-crease the isoceles' hypotenuse onto itself. (This establishes the collapse points for the dish walls to form the 45-degree angles.) Unfold everything to start putting the walls into place.
9.) Refold the "rolled" valley creases along the isoceles' legs; from their meeting point at the isoceles' right angle, extend a mountain fold out to the nearest corner. (The mountain fold should be pre-creased from one of the original diagonal folds in step #1.)Tuck this small double-layered vertical right triangle against/into one of the vertical walls being formed, while tucking the outer valley creases around and over to meet the isoceles' legs again. This is easier if you hold the vertical triangle in place with the thumb of your dominant hand.
10.) Do stuff with the creases from step #8. (I'm still finding this step awkward-- the key is to make sure that the leg walls initially collapse along the proper creases that're perpendicular to the paper's original edges.)
11.) Holding the isoceles right triangle tucked along its original valley-blintz crease, bring the underside of that crease over the angular underpinnings from step #10, then open the valley-blintz to lay down the inner surface of the dish's floor.
Tweakage notes: I think that optimally, one of the "blintz" creases in step #1 (the one that marks the hypotenuse of the floor liner that's laid down at the end) should be moved a bit, so that the corner doesn't quite reach the center but is instead a few millimeters away from it. Wish there was a cleaner way to formulate that, but otherwise the walls don't quite meet up at the acute corners, which are tricky enough as they are; the problem may also be that I'm using smallish paper with a relatively large relative thickness, increasing the error rate with successive folds.
Three compartments (diagonal divider with long central trough)-- this one was mentioned but not diagrammed in Fuse's Joyful Origami Boxes, although she did indicate which two models to interpolate from; her original two-compartment troughless diagonal divider is on p. 43.
1.) Make a long diagonal valley fold. (The side of the paper on the outside of this initial fold will be the visible one when the divider is done and tucked into the box.)
2.) Unfold the long diagonal, mark its center, and blintz the square by bringing all four corners together.
3.) Unfold the two corners of the diagonal itself; leaving the other two corners tucked inside in quasi-cupboard format, refold the long diagonal closed again.
4.) From the outside of the fold, bring each cupboard-type fold up to lie flush along the long diagonal, while untucking the corner from the inside without folding that part of the paper. (Up to this point, the steps are nearly identical to the beginning of the traditional Maeda "rouge container".)
5.) Still keeping the diagonal closed flat (now with the outer corners sticking downward), sharply refold the ends of the long diagonal along the same lines as the earlier blintzing, bringing those two corners back to the center while keeping all of the layers of paper together. (IMHO this comes out better if the corners are both folded in the same clockwise or anticlockwire direction, so that they end up on opposite sides.)
6.) Unfold one diagonal corner, open up the space between the long diagonal fold and the nearest cupboard fold, and reverse-fold the various layers of the diagonal corner into there. Repeat with the other corner.
7.) Turn the shape upside down so the outer corners are sticking up, and open them outward. These become the floors of the large diagonal compartments. The center divider has a long, narrow trough that can be opened up and flattened outward if desired.
Four compartments (adapted from the traditional four-part divider for the equally traditional one-square masu box)-- with this one, the orthogonal dividers need a bit more wrangling once it's boxed, to make sure the compartments stay looking nicely rectilinear.
1.) Pre-crease as if for the preliminary/waterbomb bases. From the side of the paper where the diagonals look valley-folded (which will also be the side that's visible at the end), add further creases by cupboard-folding each pair of edges inward to the center.
2.) Turn the paper upside-down and collapse along the folds to form the waterbomb base. Using the cupboard creases as a guide, bring the center's right angle down to the center of one edge, keeping all the layers of paper together.
3.) While holding the centerpoint against that edge, turn the waterbomb base upside-down and open it out somewhat, into a double-pontooned shape. Continue opening/flattening until the orthogonal crease through the middle of both pontoons can be popped upward into a single mountain fold, collapsing the bottom of each pontoon into a halved self-sandwich.
4.) Holding the sides of the new mountain fold tightly together with the rectilinear center dividers pointing up between your fingers, tamp the entire shape downward to flatten out the outer ends of the original cupboard folds. The floor of each of the four compartments will have a diagonal crease running from the bottom center of the dividers to the outer corner of the paper, which will now also be an outer corner of the divider's floor when it's put into the box.
Individual half-area right-triangle compartments (adapted from the instructions for a shallower dish with a larger footprint)-- the main struggle was trying to find/mark the right point for the end of step #2; I'm still tweaking this one around a bit, and also my contact lens are acting smeary while I do the initial writeup:
1.) Crease the main diagonals in opposite directions. In a blintzlike way, fold two adjacent corners to meet at the center, each one oriented in the opposite valley/mountain direction as the parallel diagonal. Unfold them again.
2.) Divide the remaining unmarked edge into thirds with successive approximation. Once these markers are found, fold one of them across the entire width of the paper, rectilinear with the square's edges, and note where this fold intersects the nearest diagonal.
3.) With the paper oriented to put that diagonal into mountain-fold orientation and the previous step's intersection point at the end pointing away from you, fold the opposite corner up to meet the marked one-third point. The blintz-like pre-creases will help to line this fold up.
4.) The paper should now resemble the inverted profile of a brilliant-cut diamond, with the new fold having created the second layer of a isoceles right triangle sticking upward, and with the original blintzish pre-fold within that triangle showing as a valley crease that's parallel to the main hypotenuse of the present fold. "Roll" the main hypotenuse along the blintz crease to meet the orthogonal main diagonal, then unroll it again. (This establishes the long hypotenuse wall.)
5.) Valley-fold the outer edges of the original square inward to meet the sides of this isoceles (or at least nearly meet-- a tiny bit of extra space here helps the next step fold cleanly.) Yes, the two folds will cross each other at the top. Don't worry about it.
6.) Unfold one of the square's edges; with the other one, "roll" the fold inward over that leg of the right triangle, then unroll it to leave the square's edge clearly touching the triangle's original shape. Repeat with the other edge. One of these "roll" folds should correspond with the rectilinear one-third crease from step #2. (This establishes the two rectilinear walls of the triangular dish.)
7.) The paper should now resemble the inverted profile of a brilliant-cut diamond with a flatter table than before, with two long rectangles bordering the isoceles right triangle's legs. This step is a bit tricky to describe w/o diagrams, but bring the isoceles' hypotenuse flush against the outer edge of one of those rectangles and pinch the nearest side of that fold, which should crease one of the paper's original corners into the right angle of a smaller triangle pointing up and outward from the rectangular border. Repeat on the other end of the isoceles' hypotenuse.
8.) The inmost corners of these small triangles should be very close to the blintz pre-crease; using those corners as pivots, valley-crease the rectangles onto themselves. Using the ends of the blintz crease as pivots, valkey-crease the isoceles' hypotenuse onto itself. (This establishes the collapse points for the dish walls to form the 45-degree angles.) Unfold everything to start putting the walls into place.
9.) Refold the "rolled" valley creases along the isoceles' legs; from their meeting point at the isoceles' right angle, extend a mountain fold out to the nearest corner. (The mountain fold should be pre-creased from one of the original diagonal folds in step #1.)Tuck this small double-layered vertical right triangle against/into one of the vertical walls being formed, while tucking the outer valley creases around and over to meet the isoceles' legs again. This is easier if you hold the vertical triangle in place with the thumb of your dominant hand.
10.) Do stuff with the creases from step #8. (I'm still finding this step awkward-- the key is to make sure that the leg walls initially collapse along the proper creases that're perpendicular to the paper's original edges.)
11.) Holding the isoceles right triangle tucked along its original valley-blintz crease, bring the underside of that crease over the angular underpinnings from step #10, then open the valley-blintz to lay down the inner surface of the dish's floor.
Tweakage notes: I think that optimally, one of the "blintz" creases in step #1 (the one that marks the hypotenuse of the floor liner that's laid down at the end) should be moved a bit, so that the corner doesn't quite reach the center but is instead a few millimeters away from it. Wish there was a cleaner way to formulate that, but otherwise the walls don't quite meet up at the acute corners, which are tricky enough as they are; the problem may also be that I'm using smallish paper with a relatively large relative thickness, increasing the error rate with successive folds.