Other kinds of materials -different from paper- for origami?

[Gerardo]

Hi guys,

I wanna try doing origami with other kinds of materials -different from paper- like metal sheets (the kind used for embossing) and fabrique (strengthened with white glue). Have you tried doing origami with uncommon materials before? With what? All your experiences can help me try out new ideas and learn a lot from them!

Thanks in advance

[Paper fionn]

I made a simple crane out of a tube of tomatoe purée once..

[Kabuntan]

- József Zsebe, from Hungary, has folded some of his models in rather thick cooper sheets - for instance, his bison or his bear (<- links to his flickr).
IIRC, he even designed those models to have very few layers, in order to be able to fold it with this rather unusual material.

- I can't remember where I saw it (on a non-english speaking forum, I think), but someone folded a sort of pie paste (or croissant paste, or something like that) into not-so-complex models, cooked them and presented them for a meal.

(I guess that pretty much anything that is foldable has been folded by origami enthusiasts. ^_^ )

[origami_8]

For Origami from unusual materials check out the work by Polly Verity (Plastic) and Ilan Garibi (Metal).
Ulrike Krallmann-Wenzel folded some stuff from pure silver.
Eric Gjerde is experimenting to obtain paper like stuff by growing microorganisms and pressing them into thin sheets.
Napkins and cloths have been folded by very many people.
Don't know if this counts too but some artists like for Example Sipho Mabona use casts to produce a big quantity of models in a short time.
Robert J. Lang made some huge sculptures (and solar sails) based on his Origami models, but I'm not sure if this is what you are looking for.

There are also Origami folding sheets available to buy that are not paper, beginning with all the aluminium laminated stuff, plastic up to metal mesh. I think I also heard of someone using very thin sheets of wood that he soaked in water to make them pliable.

Amongst the weirdest stuffs I folded was Won Ton dough https://www.flickr.com/photos/origami_8 ... 3539060127
Not sure whether I ever tried to fold from plasticine, but I've definitely seen videos of someone folding with thin sheets of Fimo, that she first put a few times through a noodle machine to get paper thin sheets.

[HankSimon]

As Anna wrote, you can buy thick metal foils of copper (not too expensive) and silver (and possibly gold) that are flexible enough for folding, as long as the crease aren't too sharp.

Lang and others have also folded models, then had them cast in bronze, etc.

There is a silver clay that can be folded like dough, then fired, leaving behind a model of pure silver. The sheets are expensive, small, and delicate.

Fruit wraps are foldable. As is wax paper, and parchment paper ... both used a lot for baking during this time of year

[Gerardo]

Those are awesome ideas! Thank you guys .

Who else in the forum has experimented with other materials?

[ahudson]

I folded a crane from a plastic bag once. And at PCOC 2009, they had a design challenge to fold something from a toilet seat cover

[Gerardo]

From a plastic bag? What kind of plastic? I can't understand how you were able to do that .

[Kundalini]

...Wait with a plastic bag? Maybe he uses temperature to do a creace.