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How to make Snapology Origami

by Cartermarquis on March 1, 2009

Table of Contents

How to make Snapology Origami . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Intro: How to make Snapology Origami . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Step 1: Materials/Tools Needed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Step 2: Choosing Your Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Step 3: Making Your Face Pieces Part 1(cutting) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Step 4: Making Your Face Pieces Part 2(folding) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Step 5: Making Your Connector Pieces Part 1(cutting) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Step 6: Making Your Connector Pieces Part 2(folding) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Step 7: Unfolding Your Pieces! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Step 8: Putting it All Together . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Step 9: Variations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Related Instructables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Comments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-make-Snapology-Origami/
 Author:Cartermarquis
I like making things, and I like showing people how to make things.

Intro: How to make Snapology Origami

Snapology is a type of unit origami created by Heinz Strobl which requires the folding of strips of paper to produce amazing origami pieces. Unit Origami can be done by
nearly anyone, as long as you have time and patience. I learned this type of Origami from a friend, who in turn learned it from this site . The folding instructions can be
found there as well as a gallery of different models, which is a good place to start when making your own.

Image Notes
1. Snub Cube, the subject of this 'ible.
Image Notes
1. Snapology egg, my latest project.

Image Notes Image Notes

1. Snub dodecahedron, very tight, very awesome. 1. Rhombicubodecahedron.
2. Mistake in the folding. oops!

http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-make-Snapology-Origami/
 Image Notes Image Notes
1. Truncated dodecahedron. The pentagonal holes are the faces. 1. Some kind of Dodecahedron, don't remember what kind. The purple areas are
the "faces"

Image Notes
1. Icosahedron made from note cards. This thing is indestructible.

Step 1: Materials/Tools Needed

Materials needed:

Paper (enough for your model),

Time,
Patience.

Tools needed:

Cutting surface,
Ruler (for measuring and a straightedge),
X-acto knife (or scissors if you can cut really straight)
Pencil,
Pencil Sharpener,
a 1cm wide piece of plastic,
flat pliers (Ones without teeth, so as not to mark up your paper)
small needle nose pliers(i picked up a set of pliers here for $6, which has flat pliers in it as well)
some stiff wire or a bamboo skewer(optional)

http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-make-Snapology-Origami/
 Image Notes Image Notes
1. 1 cm wide plastic piece 1. Colored paper, a couple bucks at Walmart.
2. sharp pencil 2. metal ruler
3. sharp X-acto 3. Macbook and laptop stand, I would make an ible on it but personally i think the
4. needlenose pliers design sucks so.... yeah...
5. flat pliers
6. small piece of plexiglass my dad had over from a project, perfect for small
cutting.

Step 2: Choosing Your Design

For this 'ible, Im going to show how to make a snub cube. While this isn't the simplest model that can be made, its pretty easy to make and doesn't require that many
pieces to make (6 squares, 32 triangles, 60 connector pieces). Feel free to make your own design, because Snapology scales up really easily. When choosing your
model, consider the angles between pieces(the pieces that stick out from the model). Angles of 90 degrees or more won't hold because the connector pieces will pop out.

There are two types of pieces here: Face pieces and connector pieces. The face pieces make up the faces of the piece (I know, right?). Connector pieces connect the
face pieces together (seriously?). For this model i chose blue for the face pieces and yellow for the connector pieces. I find that using contrasting colors in a model makes
it look more awesome.

Image Notes Image Notes

1. Snub dodecahedron, very tight, very awesome. 1. Rhombicubodecahedron.
2. Mistake in the folding. oops!

http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-make-Snapology-Origami/
 Image Notes Image Notes
1. Truncated dodecahedron. The pentagonal holes are the faces. 1. Some kind of Dodecahedron, don't remember what kind. The purple areas are
the "faces"

Image Notes
1. Snub Cube, the subject of this 'ible.

Image Notes
1. Icosahedron made from note cards. This thing is indestructible.

http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-make-Snapology-Origami/
Step 3: Making Your Face Pieces Part 1(cutting)
For the snub cube, there are 6 square faces and 32 triangle faces. The basic formula for making the face pieces is 1:2n, with n being the number of sides in that shape.
So for the square faces, you'll need a 6 strips of paper that are 1(unit)x8(units), and for the triangle faces you'll need 32 strips that are 1(unit)x6(units). For my models use
centimeters, which makes most completed pieces just smaller than my fist. I have made several pieces and have noticed that if you make the strips 9.5mm wide instead
of 1cm wide, you get a tighter piece overall, which holds its shape much better.

To cut the strips I start with a large piece of paper and make a grid of 1x8cm (or 1x6cm for triangles). I then cut lengthwise with a ruler and x-acto knife. Then i simply
separate the individual strips from eachother(if you wish to cut down the strips to 9.5mm, you should do that while they are still in long strips).

Image Notes Image Notes

1. 1 cm marks 1. cut for length of strips.
2. more marks, kinda hard to see. 2. separate strips from extra paper.
3. the length of these strips is 8 cm.

Image Notes
1. cut strips on marks.

Step 4: Making Your Face Pieces Part 2(folding)

Alright, so now you have a bunch of strips, right? Excellent. Now you have to fold these strips into shapes. I'm going to show how to make the squares, because the
triangles are made the exact same way. Follow the pictures if you get confused, but once you know how, you can really speed up and get a bunch done.

First, take the 1cm wide piece of plastic and place a strip perpendicular to the edge. Fold the piece over and line it up with the other side. Then wrap it around the plastic
again. slide the paper off of the plastic piece and use your pliers to give a tight crease. Repeat for all of the strips.

Then, take your semi-folded piece and continue folding the folded part onto the rest of the strip (check out the pictures). Your strip will probably not go all the way across
the edge, but that's fine. Make your folds tight, because the tighter the better. Once you've done this to the rest of the pieces, use your pliers to crease the edges of all
the pieces.

The face pieces are now done!

http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-make-Snapology-Origami/
 Image Notes Image Notes
1. place strip perpendicular and flush the the plastic. 1. wrap around the plastic.

Image Notes Image Notes

1. crease your folds. 1. continue folding piece

Step 5: Making Your Connector Pieces Part 1(cutting)

This step is almost exactly the same as step #3, except these pieces are all the same. You want to lay out a grid of 1x4(units) strips. Again, use the same units as in step
#3. Once you have all of your connector strips cut (60 pieces for a snub cube) go ahead and put away your x-acto and ruler.

Image Notes Image Notes

http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-make-Snapology-Origami/
 1. marks 1 cm apart 1. 4cm long

Image Notes Image Notes

1. cut for length of strips. 1. line up with marks

Image Notes
1. cut 'em up!

Step 6: Making Your Connector Pieces Part 2(folding)

Folding the connector pieces is really easy (if you don't get it, check out the pictures). Take a strip and fold it in half lengthwise. Fold one end so that the end touches the
middle fold. Do the same with the other flap. Now do the same thing for all of the connector pieces.

Congratulations, no more folding!

http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-make-Snapology-Origami/
 Image Notes Image Notes
1. Fold in half. 1. Crease the fold.

Image Notes Image Notes

1. fold one side into the middle, do to the other side. 1. Crease new folds.

Step 7: Unfolding Your Pieces!

Now you have a bunch of folded up pieces, it's time to unfold them! For the face pieces, unfold them all the way , and then fold them back into the shape they are being
made into. Do this to all of the strips and set them aside.

Now unfold the connector pieces so that they look like a "V". Once you've done this to all of the connector pieces, you're done!

http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-make-Snapology-Origami/
 Image Notes Image Notes
1. This is for the triangle faces. 1. fold a triangle...

Image Notes Image Notes

1. Its a triangle! do the same with your longer pieces for the square faces. 1. unfold your connecting pieces so they all look like this.

Step 8: Putting it All Together

This step is going to be slightly different for every model you do, but its just doing the same thing in different orders. I'm going to show how to put the pieces together, as
well as the best way to put a model together. It's best to have a picture of the model to use for reference, and most of the time you only need a picture because the model
repeats itself across the whole face.

To put a model together, start with two face pieces(2 triangles for this model). Push the connector piece through both pieces so that the triangles are on different sides of
the "V". fold the flaps down in between the 2 face pieces. The pieces then will "snap" together, thus the name "Snapology". That's basically how you put pieces together.
Follow the picture and make about half of the model. Make the rest of the model using the same method, so that you end up with two halves.

When you go to put the halves together, make sure you have something that fits through the triangles (a piece of wire or needle nose pliers works well. "Sewing" the 2
halves together takes some practice, but once you get the hang of it, you can do it like a pro. I'm going to separate this part into two parts, pushing and pulling. In the
pictures for this part, i'm going to use a non completed piece so that you can see whats going on inside the model, kind of like x-ray vision)

Pushing: Flatten out the connector piece and push it through one of the remaining unconnected face pieces. from the other side of the model, use some wire or a bamboo
skewer to push the flap through the adjacent piece. Once it's in the "V" position like the other pieces, fold the flaps down like all the other ones. Be careful to fold them
over on the folds you made, it will help hold the pieces together.

Pulling: Flatten out the connector piece and push it through an edge piece like in the pushing method. Then use pliers to grab the flap and pull it through the adjacent
piece. Fold the pieces over and you're done!

Image Notes
1. triangle faces
2. connector pieces, I usually unfold them as I need them.
3. 6 square faces.

http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-make-Snapology-Origami/
 Image Notes
1. for this model I made a bunch of these modules, which makes it easier to
put together.

Image Notes Image Notes

1. the two halves of the model. 1. pretend that this joint here is between the two halves. push the connector
2. last of the connector pieces. most of the way in.

http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-make-Snapology-Origami/
 Image Notes Image Notes
1. Hard to see, but i'm grabbing the connector and pushing it into the other 1. and it looks like this! Push it all the way out and fold down the flaps.
triangle piece.

Image Notes Image Notes

1. start with the triangle-to-triangle connections, then do the squares. since the 1. A Snub Cube, the subject of this 'ible.
squares are larger openings they are easier to connect.

Step 9: Variations
Snapology is great for changing the design and making it your own. The size ratio of pieces can be changed and could produce cool results (the faces could stick out
from the model a lot or be very large). The problem sometimes is that the model can be squishy and lose its shape. This can be avoided by changing the width of the
strips so that there's less slack. I would love to see a model made from carboard boxes or something, so the whole model ends up to be like 5 feet tall! Have fun and
make some awesome models!

Check out This website for some masterpieces from Heinz Strobl himself. He uses ticker tape for the strips, which means he just has to cut lengths.

http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-make-Snapology-Origami/
 Image Notes
1. Snub Cube, the subject of this 'ible.
Image Notes
1. Snapology egg, my latest project.

Image Notes Image Notes

1. Snub dodecahedron, very tight, very awesome. 1. Truncated dodecahedron. The pentagonal holes are the faces.
2. Mistake in the folding. oops!

Image Notes Image Notes

1. Some kind of Dodecahedron, don't remember what kind. The purple areas are 1. Rhombicubodecahedron.
the "faces"

http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-make-Snapology-Origami/
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Comments
18 comments Add Comment

St Jimmy says: Jan 23, 2011. 10:17 PM REPLY

To make the grid easier, use this: http://incompetech.com/graphpaper/asymmetric/
Make sure you alter BOTH the large and small lines to be the same weight, and for the 1x6 strips use 0.166 as the horizontal

rrockwel says: Jan 2, 2011. 5:30 PM REPLY

Hi Cartermarquis (and everyone else),
As I was about to post a similar instructable I thought I'd check to see if anyone else had posted one already...and I stumbled upon yours :) Your pieces are
very stunning. I went to an origami convention this past summer and I met a woman who did the same thing..except with a plastic(ish) ribbon!
They turn out just as well but without all of the pre-cutting strips. That saves a lot time. Happy folding :)

Cartermarquis says: Jan 2, 2011. 11:33 PM REPLY

Interesting! I've seen models made with ticker tape, which makes the process easier because all you have to do is cut it to length.

Void Schism says: Jan 5, 2010. 7:35 AM REPLY

I cut my strips on a guilloteen after folding the paper in half.
If you take 2 of these strips and interleave them you can easily fold them into a "hexentrappe" and then unfold. i find this is faster and more accurate

http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-make-Snapology-Origami/
 Cartermarquis says: Jan 5, 2010. 9:32 AM REPLY
If I had a guillotine when i did this project, I probably would have done something similar.

corndawg49 says: Apr 1, 2010. 4:15 PM REPLY

ghajini

unbentcrayfish says: May 18, 2009. 9:42 AM REPLY

holy crap man you + paper = waaaaa?????!?!?!?!?!? huhuhuhuhuhuuuuh....
my brain hurts

corndawg49 says: Apr 1, 2010. 4:14 PM REPLY

what?????????

Cartermarquis says: May 18, 2009. 5:57 PM REPLY

haha Thanks i think.

shiftnfun says: Mar 18, 2010. 8:57 AM REPLY

i <3 this article. another way to fold the strips is just make long strips ( such as 11x17 paper 1/16 long ways) and just fold them, it doesn't matter about the
excess.

lyssaelaine says: Jul 26, 2009. 7:35 PM REPLY

how many blue stripes and yellow strips do i need to cut out? i get soo confused on that. other then that i would love to make this. ive tried to find a vid for
this everywhere but i couldnt find it. Please get back to me on how many strips i need, please. -Lyssa

Cartermarquis says: Jul 27, 2009. 11:29 AM REPLY

To make the ball in this 'ible, you would need 6 blue strips that are 1x8cm, 32 blue strips that are 1x6 cm, and 60 yellow pieces that are 1x4cm. You can
change the units to make it larger of you wish, but the ratio needs to stay the same.If you're just starting, I would recommend using a bigger unit, maybe
make the pieces twice as big (2x12cm instead of 1x6cm, for instance). I hope this helps.

lyssaelaine says: Aug 1, 2009. 12:20 AM REPLY

omg i luv you. thank you so much. ill post a pic when i finish it, you made this like so much easier on me.
Thank you =]

Cartermarquis says: Aug 1, 2009. 6:35 AM REPLY

Haha no problem.

rafi_pancu says: Jun 2, 2009. 7:03 AM REPLY

Pictures are blurry. You should use "macro" for pictures taken this close.

Cartermarquis says: Jun 2, 2009. 8:32 AM REPLY

The pictures were taken with a cell phone camera, as i don't have a digital camera at school. I'll work on getting some better pictures soon.

inergy says: May 25, 2009. 6:30 PM REPLY

extremely awesome!

Cartermarquis says: May 25, 2009. 7:13 PM REPLY

Thanks!

http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-make-Snapology-Origami/