Aluminum Micro Origami Star
In my last Instructable, Micro Origami Throwing Star, the challenge was presented to make a Micro Origami Star out of scrap aluminum. So i decided to give it a try. Using a leftover piece of aluminum foil, ruler, pair of scissors, and a pair of tweezers i went about folding a Micro Origami Star.
Along the straight edge of the foil i folded a 3mm wide strip to give me a reference line. Then i carefully cut the strip out with the pair of scissors. Since the foil is a bit stiffer and harder to control i had to use a pair of tweezers to get handle and fold the strip. Fortunately the angle of the tweezers is about 45 degrees which worked out perfectly for the folds.
Since the aluminum folds almost perfectly flat it almost acted like a single thickness sheet making it more difficult to handle. When the paper was folded up there was a bit of added bulk to help with handling the piece. I can't count the number of times i dropped both half of the aluminum star before i was able to get the first end tucked into place. Of course the hardest part of the whole thing was the final end. The start was pushed so flat by then i had to break out an exact-o knife to spread the pocket open so i could tuck the last end in.
Even though the Aluminum and paper stars where made from a strip of 3mm wide material the aluminum star ended up slightly smaller then the paper star. But only by 2mm tip to tip. If you can get a good grip on it and a decent release without the tips hanging up on your fingerprint it almost flies as well as a full sized paper Origami Throwing Star. I can throw it about 6 to 8 feet but the release isn't as good as i'd like since the tips get stuck in my fingers too easily.
Along the straight edge of the foil i folded a 3mm wide strip to give me a reference line. Then i carefully cut the strip out with the pair of scissors. Since the foil is a bit stiffer and harder to control i had to use a pair of tweezers to get handle and fold the strip. Fortunately the angle of the tweezers is about 45 degrees which worked out perfectly for the folds.
Since the aluminum folds almost perfectly flat it almost acted like a single thickness sheet making it more difficult to handle. When the paper was folded up there was a bit of added bulk to help with handling the piece. I can't count the number of times i dropped both half of the aluminum star before i was able to get the first end tucked into place. Of course the hardest part of the whole thing was the final end. The start was pushed so flat by then i had to break out an exact-o knife to spread the pocket open so i could tuck the last end in.
Even though the Aluminum and paper stars where made from a strip of 3mm wide material the aluminum star ended up slightly smaller then the paper star. But only by 2mm tip to tip. If you can get a good grip on it and a decent release without the tips hanging up on your fingerprint it almost flies as well as a full sized paper Origami Throwing Star. I can throw it about 6 to 8 feet but the release isn't as good as i'd like since the tips get stuck in my fingers too easily.