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Learn the basics

Cardboard parts that fit

Print the templates at 100 %, glue them on cardboard, cut, score and fold: how to make cardboard parts that fit the first time, and what the lines mean.

cut with scissors fold toward you fold away from you the teacher cuts make a hole 5 cm? Then cut.

Cardboard parts that fit

A machine only works when its parts fit: a ramp that is straight, a window that holds the servo. The project's templates are printed at exact size. Glue them on cardboard, cut along the solid lines, score and fold the dashed lines, and parts fit together the first time.

Print at 100 % (actual size), never "fit to page". Measure the 5 cm line before you cut.

More: cut, score, fold and glue
  1. Glue the paper on with a glue stick, all over, and press it flat. Thin parts go on cereal box card, strong parts on corrugated board.
  2. Cut the outlines with scissors. The red windows inside a part are cut by the teacher with a craft knife on a cutting mat.
  3. Score every fold before you fold: press a ruler on the line and draw the back of a blunt knife or a dry ballpoint pen along it.
  4. Fold toward you on dashed lines, away from you on dash-dot lines.
  5. Glue the hatched tabs to the edge with the same letter. Hold it for 30 seconds, or use a clip.
  6. Test at every check in the steps before you go on: a part that does not work now will not work later.

Corrugated board is stronger one way: put its lines (the flutes) along the part that must not bend.