Practical 3

Cardboard Joinery journey 📦

This week we were introduced to the different ways to join pieces of cardboard together. But before that, we had to get to know our cardboard. Its properties, what it's made of, and the different types of cardboard.

What is cardboard? 🤔

Our pre-session preparation was to research cardboard 🔍, this is what we found:

Cardboard also known as corrugated board gates is made out of 3 components, in this order:

1. 1 layer of paper as the inner liner 

2. A sheet of corrugated material

3. 1 layer of paper as the outer liner

There also different types of papers to choose from. Generally, the type of paper used is Kraft and Test. 

Krafts are strong and easy to print on, thus used as the outer liner. Above is a picture of  Kraft.

Tests are cheaper and recyclable but it's not strong or easy to print on. Thus used for the inside liner. Above is a picture of Test.

It is also important to consider the weights of the paper. Normally, the weight of the paper is 115/125 GSM. 

For heavier items, additional liners can be added for rigidity and strength - fluting sections. Normal cardboard without an additional normally look like this:

Adding 1 layer is known as a 'single wall'. An example is shown below:

Adding 2 layers is known are 'triple walled'. An example is shown below:

The corrugated section types, also known as flute types, vary from fine flutes like ‘E’ for lightweight cartons to coarse flutes like ‘B’ for transit packaging. Combining is possible so it is strong yet aesthetic like ‘EB’. The typical flute weight used is 105 GSM (grams per square meter).

Board grade naming is used to describe the cardboard. For example, 125 GSM Kraft, 125 GSM Test and B fluting are 125K/B/125T.

Actual experiment work 🔨

As a group, we had to produce a visual board 🔤showing as many different ways to join cardboard together as possible. First, our lecturer taught us the different ways to join cardboard together as possible. Some of the ways he taught us were:

1. Flange

2. Slots

3. Holes

4. Zip ties

5. Skewer

6. Score bend

7. Gusset

8. Tabs

Here is a video we referred to that demonstrated how to make these joints. We were also given samples to observe how to make them.

During the process, we did come across a few challenges 😓 as this was our first time working with cardboard. We made a few mistakes at first, but we eventually got there . It was actually very fun to do. After completing our board, we also experimented with the cardboard. We also realised that the cardboard is easier to cut in the direction perpendicular to the squigly lines of the cardboard. 

Here are some pictures of the process:

Here are some pictures of our final product 🚩:

Presentation 📢

Finally, we had to show our visual board and present to the class our favourite joinery. Our group chose the score bend as our favourite as it looked the best and was also very satisfying to make 👍. It was a short presentation but we also got to know which joinery the other groups most preferred. We observed that a lot of the groups also preferred the score bend because of the same reasons.  

Little Assignment 😀

Trisyia 🐌

For this little assignment, we were told to assemble a winged unicorn. We were given a template and a video to follow as shown below: 

This was the process 🔧 of assembling the unicorn:

Template

Parts

I’m alive but I’m dead

Final product! 🐎

Then, we were obstructed to make a mechanism so that the wings 💸 return to its starting position. This is what I did:

Item(s) 📏 used:

- 2 Rubber bands

1. Detach the head 😲 and the front body to ease the process.

                       

2. Hold the inside of the wings 💸 so that the gaps on the tabs are aligned.

3. Wrap 1 rubber band around the gap area until it is tight and can hold itself.

4. Attach another rubber band to the 1st rubber band (in step 1) ☝

5. Use the 2nd rubber band (in step 3) and put it through the hole 🕳 in the leg.

6. Reattach the head and body and done! 👍 Below is a video of my unicorn hehe ~ 

During the process, I realized the most used joint is slot and tabs.

📍 Lastly, we were assigned to sketch a mechanism that will automate the wings of the unicorn flapping. Below is my sketch:

How it would work is the handle would move side to side. It is attached to the wings on each side of the handle. The wings will then move back and forth with the handle.

John 👽

This was how my assembly of my unicorn went.

This was the cardboard template of the unicorn and we had to removed it to assemble it.

These are its parts

It is almost completed here and all that is left is the combining of the parts itself

The unicorn before its final assembly of the wings

Here is the completed unicorn.

From the process of building this unicorn, some joinery that was used were the slot and tab which is the most used one. An example of it is the combining of all the parts into the completed unicorn. Next is the fold which is the folding of the cardboard to form the shape. These 2 are the 2 type of joinery that I have observed when making the unicorn.

The next task is to make use of rubber band/spring to make the wings move. What I did was simple and only consist of 2 steps.

Step 1: Open the front and take a rubber band to tie both wings using 1 rubber band

Step 2: Close the rubber band and pull the rubber band to move the wings

That is it. It is very simple to do.

Now, in order to make the wings move without the rubber band and without any human assistance, this is what I came up with.

Here, there will be a sensor at the side of the unicorn. It can be a light sensor so whenever there is light being shone on it, the wing will move.

There will be gears at that is connected to the sensor, a string/wire and the wings so whenever the sensor detects the light, the gears will move pulling the strings back and forth causing the wings to move without the assistance of a person.

Jessica 🐰

We were asked to assemble the winged unicorn.

What it looked like at the beginning ：）

The most common type of joint I use when I’m making this winged unicorn is called tabs+ slots. When two parts are mated, and small flaps on one half are inserted into corresponding narrow slots of the other half, then bent to secure the connection.

It seems all right

We were then asked to find a way to allow the wings to return to its starting position.

My idea is to use one rubber band and tie the rubber band around the spot I pointed to.

To make my life easier, I detach the head from the body first.

Tie up !

It's finally done.

After that ,we were asked to sketch the mechanism that we will put in to automate the wing flapping. Below is my sketch:

I’m using the same idea as below 

Jun Ying 🚲

This is the assembly of my pet unicorn :)

This is the cardboard left after taking out the parts:

This is my final product(side view):

And this is the isometric view:

Some joinery used in the unicorn was the slot and the flange. An application of the slots is when I had to attach the different parts together. Parts of the cardboard were bent at a 90° angle to form a flange, so that the unicorn would be three-dimensional.

Next, I had to find a way to make the wings move.

What I did was:

Using 1 rubber band, I tied the flanges of the wings together with a dead knot. Removing the head and the front part would make doing this much easier.

Tying it up!

And voila! The wings can now be moved! The user just has to pull the rubber band to make its wings flap.

Look at its wings flap!

Next, we had to find a way to automate the wings. This is what I came up with.

I would use an electric current to make the device connected in the battery pull and then release the rubber band. The circuit would also be programmed such that the device would pull and release the rubber band continuously.

Kevan 🐺

We were asked to design a unicorn model with a cardboard model that was given. There are many folds and joints that are used in the unicorn cardboard model. During the assembling, we found out that there were many joints such as,

1. Tabs Slots

this can be found when inserting the tail of the unicorn and the wings.

2. Brace

this can be found when folding the unicorn to the shape.

This are the following pictures of me assembling the unicorn.

1. This is the body of a horse with its wings displaced

2. This is the head of a unicorn

3. This is the fully assembly unicorn

So to allow the unicorn to fly, we basically use a few rubber bands. So remove the head and open the flap of the body, you will see the wings has a flap that has a gap which is for the rubber band, hence it is used and wrapped around the wings. then you will see there is a small hole at the front of the body, then place the rubber band through it and you will be able to flap the wings.

To automate the flapping of the wing, i decided to use a turbine for the unicorn wings to automate, so basically i sketched out a turbine in a unicorn with a battery and using the turbine to pull and release the unicorn flaps to make the wings flap.