the wombatcave

I was going to add this to the snowstar notes on dA, but it started getting too wordy. Quick reference pic:



The actual dimensions I listed in the original notes (N = 3") were chosen more for cutting convenience than strict accuracy, although they're reasonably close. I'm also providing a second set of approximate measurements for N = 3.5", since that's what most of my pre-cut paper supply is.

I'm also reverting a bit to the terminology from Lew Rozelle's Origami Ornaments, which I just bought a Kindle copy of and am not entirely happy with-- it leaves out the very useful supplementary table of contents that lists all of the individual modules.

(Hm-- what's with the huge space preceding the table in preview? Guess I'll see if it's still there when I actually post... aha, it's a linebreak artifact.)( Read more... )

Box dividers, really, but still full of failitude-- I've been trying to come up with a single-sheet pattern to create eight compartments inside one of Tomoko Fuse's standard square modular boxes. (No pix, because it's just that faily.) ( Read more... )

Have detoured from tamatebako experiments to playing with hexahexaflexagons. Will have to get hold of some cardstock for more durable models, and/or check effects of paper aftercoats such as Mod Podge-- the pattern probably isn't directly plausible for strung/wired beadage, and I don't think I have the gadgets/skills to mess about with small metal panels/hinges. I don't think it would make a good hat or similar wearable object either-- textile adaptations probably limited to cushions and such.

Have resumed fiddling around with the tamatebako pattern. More specifically, I've been trying to find a flat triangular hinge for the cuboctahedral variant-- Tomoko Fuse has a 3-pocket equilateral triangle in one of her books on modular polyhedra, but there isn't enough internal friction to hold the flaps in place so they pretty much have to be glued anyway, which misses the point.

As an alternative, there're Lew Rozelle's "three-sided bases", but those have their own problems. Because they're pyramidal, the final shape would end up just being a larger cube, albeit more complexly patterned. Their closure method is rather bulky, requiring thin paper with a much thicker internal insert to provide internal structure; the smallest thin-paper squares I have on hand are 3".

And then there's the question of relative paper sizes, although the logistics actually simplify quite a bit inm practice. Starting with an N-sized square for the tamatebako face, the face flap is N/3. This theoretically dictates a 2N/3 square to fold a simple pyramid (reasonably straightforward)-- and for a complex pyramid, a 2N/(sqrt 3) square (somewhat less straightforward; ~(1.155)N ). However, on my usual scale where N = 3.5" or 3", an N-sized square for the complex pyramids is a pretty good fit.

OTOH, the complex pyramids are obviously more complex to fold (not too much-- mostly just a matter of an extra blintz step at the beginning), but while it's not too difficult to measure and cut 2" squares for simple pyramids with N = 3" , it's a bit more fiddly to measure and cut 2-1/3" squares for N = 3.5".

...though if I have to measure and cut 2" squares anyway, it's not that much more of a task to measure and cut 3" squares while I'm at it.

Finally got around to figuring out a stable perpendicular half-divider for Tomoko Fuse's standard modular box-- the dimensions may still need a bit of tweaking, but the concept seems basically sound. It uses the same size of paper square as the box modules.( Read more... )

As an initial subdivider for the rectangular halves, here's one that creates three triangular subcompartments, with the larger middle one flanked by smaller triangles on each side; it's sort of the half-shape equivalent of the five-compartment divider, starting with a half-rectangle:( Read more... )

And a semi-analogue for a diagonal half-compartment; this creates a square quarter flanked by two triangular eighths, partitioned by full-height troughs (the partition itself is continuous but the troughs are in two distinct segments, so it isn't possible to fit a single long L-shaped object atound the square quarter):( Read more... )

Also, archived diagrams for the Magic Rose Cube; I think I printed these out a while back and made a few, but lost track of them since then.

Two modifications of the X/+ 4-compartment dividers into analogous 3-compartment dividers (one half + 2 quarters), a small "2.5" secondary divider for the one of the quarter-sized triangular compartments in an X-shaped divider, and a diagonal subdivider for diagonal halves (or diagonal 2.5).( Read more... )

(also, heap o' kusudama.)

Four-compartment diagonal dividers for Tomoko Fuse's standard square box; they're pretty similar to the rectilinear dividers from before. However, my practice paper is a bit off-square, so the relative dimensions are somewhat wiggly.( Read more... )

Sorry, 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.( Read more... )

Based on recs from Amazon, finally tracked down Lew Rozelle's Origami Ornaments at the local library. It's everything I'd hoped that Tomoko Fuse's Floral Origami Globes would've been (although I've become reconciled to the latter for its own peculiar virtues). Unfortunately, Ornaments out of print and used copies are $$$. Found the author's email address and have asked whether there's any hope of bringing it back into print.

Still no pics of recent kusudama; have been distracted by beadage and need to re-sort the finished pieces piled near the computer so I can straighten out which ones have already been listed and which haven't. Also need to STOP MAKING NEW STUFF for now until the previous items are sorted out.

...as I suddenly realize, "Jeez, I actually do have a page where I can put photos of the origami stuff I've been yakking about instead of trying to dance about architecture."