The Origami Forum

I clearly don't know the secret to cutting a good square. 41 years old and I can't accomplish this?

Are there secrets to this apparently fine art?

Big bump for interest. This seems to be the hardest part of origami for me as the paper sizes I use get larger and larger.

Look on YouTube

Cool... is it just me or does that video have no sound? Too bad, it would be great if it did!

It has sound, just barely.

fncll wrote:I clearly don't know the secret to cutting a good square. 41 years old and I can't accomplish this?

Are there secrets to this apparently fine art?

This is what I do, and I get good results from it. Just need to make sure all the folds are good and as tight as possible and the edges are aligned well...

Paper square -1 by mummykicks, on Flickr


Paper square -2 by mummykicks, on Flickr

mummykicks wrote:

fncll wrote:I clearly don't know the secret to cutting a good square. 41 years old and I can't accomplish this?

Are there secrets to this apparently fine art?

This is what I do, and I get good results from it. Just need to make sure all the folds are good and as tight as possible and the edges are aligned well...

Paper square -1 by mummykicks, on Flickr


Paper square -2 by mummykicks, on Flickr

This method will produce a rhombus if you do not measure; most likely not what you are looking for (Error of the angle is doubled for measuring a 45 degree angle vs a 90 degree one as well, in addition to 90 degree measures typically being the easiest to find). My method might not be the best, but it works for me. I have a 3"x36" quilting rule to get all edges straight and the paper rectangular (the 3" width lets it act like a T-square). Then, I have a 20"x20" quilting ruler that I cut squares with. Simply get the corner along the diagonal, which is marked, and make sure the edges are straight, and it will produce a square. The quilting rulers are awesome because they are clear with a very tight grid on them. I cut using one of those utility knives with the edges that break off, since the cutting wears down the blade rather quickly

fold diagonally and buy a really good paper cutter

Suggestions for a really good paper cutter? And seeing the folding diagonally method made me slap my forehead... why didn't I think of that?

And thanks for all the advice on the cutting and tools... I'm getting a quilting ruler, etc. this weekend.

This method will produce a rhombus if you do not measure

Not enough of one to matter (again if done right) and the error will be smaller than one that relies on measurement. Mainly because you can align it on the entire length of the grid, and the foreshortening of the edges due to the paper thickness is smaller than you can measure...

I do have a paper cutter but it's too small though It can only fit until 12 inches

I don't own one but go to office depot or a store like that and they have paper that cuts about 2 feet of paper. When I had to cut a four foot square I just used scissors.(It didn't turn out perfect though)

What I do when I have homemade paper or handmade paper is I fold it in half diagonally, and cut out a rough square. Then I unfold that, fold it in half vertically, and cut off about 1/3 of an inch off both sides of that, unfold, turn 90 degrees, and repeat that.

There are several strategies that involve creasing references that can create a fairly accurate square, although I would say that it will typically not be a perfect square due to paper creep. I also generally like to avoid unnecessary creases, so if the diagonals are not going to be part of the model I would rather cut a different way.

I think about this topic a lot, and I think there are several factors that have to be considered. (Sorry if this seems a little disjointed and random.)

Tools
You have to know the tools you are working with and understand their limitations and how much trust you have that they can produce accurate results. Some of that is incumbent upon the tool, but some is up to the skill of the user.

As others have suggested, a well made square acrylic template, a quality cutting mat, and a good carefully applied handheld rotary cutter can yield good results. I find this a little too limited, however, because it requires a template for every size square you want to create. It also requires careful and consistent use of the cutter.

There are a variety of other cutting options available. My personal preference is for a rotary bladed paper trimmer with a large base. There are a number of considerations here, and a great variety in terms of options and quality. Features to consider are:
* Cutting width (this is one of the primary limits on what you can cut)
* Capacity (generally you want to avoid approaching the maximum capacity of the cutter, as results will decline in accuracy)
* Base width (many "portable" cutters/trimmers have a swing arm for sizes larger than around 6 inches, this is a bad thing if you want to cut squares accurately at any size beyond the stable base size)
* Measurement marking quality and accuracy (Is the cutting blade square with the grid and guides of the cutter? If you are using the built in measurement guides on the cutter, you have to be sure they are reliable enough for you to use accurately)
* Build/design quality (This is sort of a catch all including how well put together the whole thing is, but also any other features or shortcomings that will impact the results. For example, a cutter I tried recently had a protective coil on the inside of the blade assembly that put pressure on the paper as it cut causing very inaccurate results every time. Or another cutter which had a guide bar that was not perpendicular to the cutting blade.)

And those are just some of the considerations for a rotary trimmer. I generally avoid the guillotine style cutters as the blade usually causes significant paper creep unless great care is taken to avoid it.

It is also important that the paper be flat during the entire process. (I had to go back and add this line because it is part of my basic assumptions.)

Also, blades and cutting mats/strips are consumable. That is to say that they will eventually wear out and degrade, reducing the quality of the squares you cut and will need to be replaced.

Skills
Patience and practice are probably two of the more important things in developing skill at cutting a square. If you are in a hurry, you are likely to make mistakes both small and large. This fall under the "measure twice, cut once" manta.

Practice is going to teach you what to look for and how to do things. For example, some cutters will wobble if you apply too much pressure to the blade, but not making a clean first cut usually causes problems as well, as any drift between the first and second pass can ruin the result. Practice is how you learn the limits of your tools and yourself so you can operate within them and get the results you want.

References
What do I mean by references? This isn't a job interview... no, I'm talking about one of the fundamental components of cutting a square. Everything revolves around the reference points you choose.

Start by thinking about the result you want. A perfect square. That means four perfectly straight, perfectly perpendicular edges that are all the same length. With this goal in mind, I never trust the pre-cut edges of the paper I am working with. Most commercially cut paper does not have 90 degree corners, and there is no guarantee that the side is a straight cut either!

Since I do not trust the starting shape of the paper, I always start by making my own cut across one side using the best tool I have for the paper size. I then follow this by lining that new cut edge against a perpendicular reference on the cutter that I trust to make the next cut on an adjacent edge. Then I use whatever measurment tool I am using to measure the desired width and line one of the freshly cut edges against the perpendicular guide again to get the third then fourth cuts.

When done carefully and accuratly with trustworthy tools, this yields a square that is very close to perfect.*

*For the humidity and other conditions around the paper.

For large cuts I have a 23" cutting mat and a 24" Fiskars Rotary Ruler. Apparently they have been discontinued, but it is a rail mounted rotary blade, similar to the ones found on Fiskars paper trimmers, but instead of being mounted on a stationary base, it is mounted to a 6 inch acrylic guide so the entire cutter can be moved to anywhere on the cutting surface.

For paper smaller than 12 inches, I have a couple of rotary trimmers I use. One is an ancient 12 inch Fiskars trimmer that is only about 11 inches wide on the ruled side. This trimmer has served me well for years but they no longer produce cutting mat strips for it. More recently I bought a Carl heavy duty 15 inch (by 12 inch) heavy duty cutter. So far it is pretty impressive in what I can do with it as I have cut 20 sheets of 120gsm paper with a couple of passes, but the cutter holds the paper down so it does not drift much at all.

malachi