No Score Folding

[John Wagenseil]

I was browsing hardware store shelves and found a 5 pack of 4inch scraper tool refill blades in the painting/wallpaper section for 3 dollars. These are straight blades 4 long by 1/2 inch wide.

Place the paper to be folded on a flat smooth hard surface. Put the blunt side of the blade (or thick steel straight edge or steel block) along the fold line of the sheet to be folded.
You can clamp the straight edge in place with a C clamp if the blade or block is near work surface edge, or hold the straight edge down with one hand. Slide a scraper blade sharp edge first under the paper sheet up to the block and pivot the blade up towards the straight edge folding the paper.
To fold a part with its blank side up, prick the ends of the fold line with a pin, turn the paper over and line up the straight edge with the pin holes.

Hardware stores and cooking stores have lots of things that can be re-purposed as paper modeling tools.

[rickstef]

Can you share a picture of your set up?

[herky]

i have always used the edge of my steel rule for folding rather than scoring paper

[John Wagenseil]

Originally Posted by rickstef

Can you share a picture of your set up?

Rick, I 'd like to but I do not have a digital camera, have been resisting getting one for years.
just imagine a flat work surface, with the paper lying on it, one hand pressing down a straight edge lined up with the fold location, the other hand lifting and pivoting the blade which is under the paper, its edge pushed up against the fold line, from the underside of the paper.

I hope the ASCII art clarifies rather than totally confuses.



Straight edge p paper
-------] p
-------] p
-------] p------- bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb
-------]p ----bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb b=blade,
ppppppp bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb
FLATPLATEFLATPLATEFLATEPLATEFLAT

Slip blade under paper, Push blade sharp edge against straight edge and lift up and pivot blade to bend paper.
Idea is not original, is same as sheet metal bending brake.
I think MicroMark sells a bending jig for photo etch parts at many times the price of a straight blade and what ever piece of metal with a straight edge you happen to have lying around.