Because the Lazy Susan is the oldest version I know of the kaki lock, I keep coming back to it. Here, I just keep the central compartment — hence, the name — and turn the other four into Argentine pleating. (Robert Harbin says such pleating comes from Argentina and I will not argue with him.) […]
I like this model because it traps very little paper to very good effect. I was going to figure out how much of the surface area was hidden, but then thought, who cares? It’s a beautiful spring, finally. Man is the animal who measures, but also the one who doesn’t have to. Me, I’m no […]
Our hundredth post is pointed at a lovely rosebud by Rudolf Deeg, who is, like so many of the original folders, a professional magician. His website has a selection of lovely renditions of the the available origami roses, but when I saw this photo in the Foldingfreaks pool, I recognized something immediately. Although the nether […]
I wasn’t going to blog this idea, it being so manifestly impure and all, but it showed up on the BOS list and Jeff Rutzky has been having so much fun with it, I just had to write. Some months back, I made a curved surface fold from the traditional cocaine paper and called it […]
I have this longish post about the evils of encroaching copyright, but it keeps boring me to death and I still haven’t finished it. So, while we’re all waiting for that little gem of wisdom to roll off the presses, why not take a whack at a simpler version of the Frangipani Box? This is […]
Dang, that sounds a little outré. But I really am referencing Chinese food. The sides bulge over the base, giving it that bun appearance. This is, of course, just a variation of the Smart Waterbomb, but it’s one I like. The small radius of the octagon is one-quarter the radius of the circle. Steamed Bun […]
It has been said that high school football is the state religion in Texas. I would disagree — the Texan religion has a darker, more pagan flavor to it. Texans are good and decent people, the ones I’ve met, but there’s something about Texas. It’s a mirrored globe — it is like the US, but […]
Earlier today, I went to reach into my briefcase and hit the back of the chair it was sitting on with my hand, driving a splinter of veneer half an inch (hmm, 13mm) under the fingernail of my left middle finger. Oh, the wanton vulgarity that followed — for a couple minutes, I was channeling […]
These are Persimmon Boxes, so named because of a paper by Naoko Takeda which discusses, among other things, self-locking kaki folds. Kaki, you see, is Japanese for persimmon. A good read, that. I’ve been experimenting with these kaki folds this week and decided I had been using them for a while now, but it’s good […]
Balanced on the blades of my shoulders, with my kneecaps seeking to level with my ears, it occurred to me that in spite of my years and gray beard, I remain highly suggestible. In my youth, I was sought out by missionaries, magicians and pathological liars because I was such a manifest mark. My credulity […]
