Ever since I saw Between the Folds and discovered the genius that is Dr. Erik Demaine (hey, a fellow Waterloo grad!), I've wanted to try out this cool paper trick. The fold-and-cut theorem says that any shape with straight edges can be cut from a single sheet of paper by folding it flat and making a single straight complete cut. These shapes can be polygons, which may be concave, shapes with holes, and collections of such shapes (i.e. the regions do not need to be connected). This means that we can cut out this swan with a single cut! But of course, first, we have to fold it up the right way.
Print this out.
Score the crease pattern with the dull end of the blade. This makes it much easier to fold.
Start folding it up.
With all the creases folded, it doesn't look like much.
Except for its many many layers inside.
Now, the critical step. Make one straight complete cut.
What will it look like? Unfold them to find out...
Gasp! It's a swan (and a swan cut-out).
It's like magic! That was pretty fun.
Remarkable!
ReplyDeleteVery very clever!
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