Papercraft Toolbox Prototype

For this papercraft prototype, I chose the toolbox design from the previous post. It was based on a wooden toolbox I put together in grade 6, and later in this post I will provide a side-by-side of the prototype and the original object for comparison.

Using Rhino, I turned the toolbox design and plan into printable sheets (as shown across the top in the image). There were not originally this many sheets as I tried to start small.

Starting small was not a good idea for this design. The object could have worked well at this size with the rectangular base and taller faces on the sides, however, the dimensions made it very difficult to construct the post. It was incredibly hard to glue the tabs to the post on the big object I ended up making, and nearly impossible for a first-time papercrafter like me to be able to do such a thing with this tiny piece.

As well, I initially had problems folding the cardstock. By using the paperclip to score I ended up not getting the lines I wanted and, because I was using coloured paperclips, some of the colour would rub off onto the paper.

Unhappy with the lack of progress, I switched to larger dimensions and found an easier way to score the paper. I found I like using the backside of the hobby knife much better as its duller than the blade but the point still drives a decent enough dent into the paper that makes folding easier.

The second time around, I made the plans large enough that the biggest pieces fit the majority of the cardstock.

After cutting out the cardstock pieces, I began assembling the toolbox starting with the rectangular base.

To attach the handle to the base, tiny tabs were glued to the interior walls.

This is the finished prototype (right) beside the original toolbox (left).

The papercraft toolbox did not end up as detailed as i had planned. This was due to my early struggles folding and gluing as well as the challenge of putting together the handle. The exterior walls of the base not connected to the six sided polygon are more rounded and floppy than I would like and some sort of support to make them more rigid will likely be needed going forward. As well, a sturdier solution to the handle tabs might be in order. Even though the small tabs worked this go round they were very difficult to put in place and could prove unreliable.