How to Make A Regular Decagon (or Pentagon, Whatever) from a Square
Both Eric and Eduardo were asking, how do you make accurate decagons out of a square?
Well, when I’m after accuracy, I draw a decagon in my creaking, ancient CorelDraw 8 install and print it out. But this lacks…authenticity. I’m way big on authenticity.
The method for making a decagon from a square is not difficult and is easily memorized. It is derived, I believe, from an old Japanese method, developed for a folk art called monkiri or crest-cutting. Monkiri involves folding paper in various ways and then cutting out designs in it. When unfolded, the cut paper reveals a surprising image, like an idealized cherry blossom or waves on water. American children do similar things to create snowflakes and paper dolls. The great folder, Bob Neale, once gave me a fascinating kid’s book on monkiri. It’s around here, somewhere.
Of course, once you have trapped the wily and elusive regular decagon, what do you do with it? Well, you could do something simple, like the above waterbomb – you-all know how to make a waterbomb, don’t you? Or, you could get all jiggy with it and make a Puff Star. Kind of up to you, the faithful reader.
The How to Make a Regular Decagon (or Pentagon, Whatever) from a Square file.
Later on — some more on monkiri —
Whenever I use Google Language Tools on a Japanese site, I sing this Red Housepainters’ song,
it’s not that simple
this dictionary never has a word
for the way i’m feeling
it’s nothing plain for me
of a different god and moral
what if i laid my head down on your stomach
or put my mouth to your hand
i cannot translate
japanese to english
or english to japanese
Don’t get me wrong – Google provides me with that middle voice feeling, that sense of being on the wrong side of my brain, that I’ve come to expect from trying to put Japanese concepts into the American mind. It’s all good. Check it out:
[…] You can get the diagram instructions from his website. (As he pushes the limits of sane blog header lengths in the process. What a URL!) […]
July 5th, 2006 at 3:07 pmThank you for sharing this method, I’ve found also useful this method from Darren Abbey to n-sect a square that is a common thing in your designs!
July 6th, 2006 at 2:07 amN-secting can be fun! Especially when you broaden the idea to rectangles.
You also might want to check out:
July 6th, 2006 at 6:07 amhttp://www.origami.gr.jp/People/CAGE_/divide/index-e.html
and Robert Lang’s excellent article:
http://www.langorigami.com/science/hha/origami_constructions.pdf
About later on :
Google Translate et Babelfish sont peut-être les poètes surréalistes de notre temps.
July 9th, 2006 at 3:07 amChaque siècle a ce qu’il mérite…
Hmm, that suggests that if we feed in Rimbaud, Google Translate and Babelfish would turn his work into symbolic logic of striking clarity.
With black, E white, I red, U green, O blue: vowels,
July 9th, 2006 at 5:07 pmI will say some day your births latent:
With, black hairy corset of the bright flies
Who bombinent around the cruel stinks,
Gulfs of shade; E, franknesses of the vapors and the tents,
Lances of the proud glaciers, kings white, shivers the ombelles ones;
I, crimsons, spit blood, laughter of the beautiful lips
In penitent anger or intoxications;
U, cycles, vibrements divine of the verdant seas,
Peace of the sown rough grazings of animals, peace of the wrinkles
That alchemy prints with the great studious faces;
O, supreme Bugle full with the strange strideurs,
Silences crossed of [Worlds and of the Angels]:
– O the Omega, purple ray of [Its] Eyes! purple ray of [Its] Eyes!
I’m not able to decide if it is more clear in english…
I prefer the french original.
Cultural bias, indeed.
Since childhood, I see vowels in color when I’m reading, but not the same as above :
July 10th, 2006 at 8:07 amA blue, E grey, I yellow, O red and U green.
I have a similar feeling with certain songs – some sequences of harmonies taste like tangerine juice to me. I noticed this around age 4 and I still get it, time to time.
Today, I saw this on Solresol.
July 11th, 2006 at 2:07 pm[…] No? Okay, newbie – here?s how to make a decagon. […]
September 3rd, 2006 at 11:09 amHow happy I am to find your blog!
I was completely intrigued with monkiri, bought a “kit” here in France (via the internet), it is completely in Japanese and… sadly, I don’t speak it, or read it.
I had trouble finding links about it, and you have helped me tremendously!
February 23rd, 2007 at 12:38 pmThank you!