Cut & fold
Cut-and-fold Glider
Cut a connected wing, body and tail. Build the front edge with four small folds.
Preparation + 7 numbered steps
Materials
Trimmed rectangle · 8 × 11 inches
Stiff writing paper, at least 8 × 11 inches; ruler, pencil and scissors. No glue. Trim ½ inch from one long edge of a Letter sheet first.
Follow along
PreparationThe interactive guide needs JavaScript. You can always read every illustrated step below.
Help · controls & diagram
Action steps start at 0%: play or scrub to see the action. At 100% it is complete. Drag the diagram to turn the view; this does not make a crease.
Blue and gold mark the left and right parts of one connected sheet. On the cutting step, the orange outline is a cut line; on folding steps, the orange dashed line is the active crease. Gray scraps are discarded. Cutting is a progress illustration, not a scissors simulation.
Cutting, marking and pin/tape placement use a labeled schematic with progressive highlighting or fading. They do not stretch paper into a new shape. Folded panels rotate about their specified hinges. Scraps are removed only by the explicit cutting step. Rigid motion and a plausible image are not proof of physical construction.
With the diagram focused: Space plays or pauses, ←/→ change steps, and Home resets. Other controls retain their native keyboard behavior. Sources & validation notes
Draw the full-size template
Use a ruler; the screen diagrams are not full-size print patterns. All coordinates below are in inches. Start at the midpoint of the front edge: x is negative to the left, positive to the right; y runs toward the tail. Mark these points in order, join them with straight lines, and join the last point back to the first. Do not cut the centerline. Internal coordinates identified in the source note as adaptations are modern choices.
| Point | x (in) | y (in) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | -4 | 0 |
| 2 | 4 | 0 |
| 3 | 4 | 2 |
| 4 | 1.5 | 2 |
| 5 | 0.5 | 8 |
| 6 | 2 | 8 |
| 7 | 2 | 11 |
| 8 | -2 | 11 |
| 9 | -2 | 8 |
| 10 | -0.5 | 8 |
| 11 | -1.5 | 2 |
| 12 | -4 | 2 |
Every step, at a glance
These are end-state diagrams: compare your paper after each action. Blue and gold mark the left and right parts of one connected sheet. On the cutting step, the orange outline is a cut line; on folding steps, the orange dashed line is the active crease. Gray scraps are discarded. Cutting is a progress illustration, not a scissors simulation. All steps remain readable without JavaScript.
- 0. Prepare the blank
- 1. Draw the cutting outline
- 2. Cut out the connected shape
- 3. Turn the front edge over: 1 of 4
- 4. Turn the front edge over: 2 of 4
- 5. Turn the front edge over: 3 of 4
- 6. Turn the front edge over: 4 of 4
- 7. Your cut-and-fold glider
PREPARATION · Figure 66B; paper preparation
Prepare the blank
Measure an 8 × 11 inch rectangle of stiff writing paper. Place an 8-inch edge across the top; this will be the front. Have a ruler, pencil and scissors ready. The original gives no paper weight.
Layers: One sheet, still flat. Blue and gold are not separate pieces.
Check: The blank is 8 inches wide and 11 inches deep, not an untrimmed Letter sheet.
Explore this step ↑STEP 1 · Figure 66B; unnumbered widths explicitly adapted
Draw the cutting outline
Use the full-size template coordinate table: measure x left or right from the center of the front edge, and y toward the tail. Connect the listed points in order, then close the outline. Keep the first 2 inches full width. The body tapers from 3 inches to 1 inch wide over the next 6 inches; the last 3 inches form a 4-inch-wide tail.
Layers: Pencil marks only; do not cut the central connection.
Check: The two sides match. The tail starts 8 inches from the front and ends at 11 inches.
Explore this step ↑STEP 2 · Figure 66B
Cut out the connected shape
With scissors, follow only the outside outline. Remove the gray side scraps. Leave the wing, tapered body and rectangular tail connected as one piece. The animation traces a cutting guide and then hides the scraps; it does not simulate the scissors.
Layers: Cut through the single flat sheet only. No central slit.
Check: One connected piece remains: a broad front wing and a smaller rectangular tail linked by the taper.
Explore this step ↑STEP 3 · p. 104: four folds; ¼-inch spacing is adapted
Turn the front edge over: 1 of 4
Mark a line ¼ inch behind the front edge. Fold that narrow strip onto the upper face of the wing and press it flat. Keep the wing and tail on the table.
Layers: Move all 1 layer in the front packet together. The rest of the wing, body and tail stay still.
Check: This crease is 0.25 inch from the original front edge. After this turn, the 2-layer band lies between 0.25 and 0.5 inches on the original blank.
Explore this step ↑STEP 4 · p. 104: four folds; ¼-inch spacing is adapted
Turn the front edge over: 2 of 4
Without unfolding the earlier turns, turn the entire narrow front packet over onto the same upper face by another ¼ inch. Do not alternate sides as in an accordion. Press the whole packet flat.
Layers: Move all 2 layers in the front packet together. The rest of the wing, body and tail stay still.
Check: This crease is 0.5 inch from the original front edge. After this turn, the 3-layer band lies between 0.5 and 0.75 inches on the original blank.
Explore this step ↑STEP 5 · p. 104: four folds; ¼-inch spacing is adapted
Turn the front edge over: 3 of 4
Without unfolding the earlier turns, turn the entire narrow front packet over onto the same upper face by another ¼ inch. Do not alternate sides as in an accordion. Press the whole packet flat.
Layers: Move all 3 layers in the front packet together. The rest of the wing, body and tail stay still.
Check: This crease is 0.75 inch from the original front edge. After this turn, the 4-layer band lies between 0.75 and 1 inches on the original blank.
Explore this step ↑STEP 6 · p. 104: four folds; ¼-inch spacing is adapted
Turn the front edge over: 4 of 4
Without unfolding the earlier turns, turn the entire narrow front packet over onto the same upper face by another ¼ inch. Do not alternate sides as in an accordion. Press the whole packet flat.
Layers: Move all 4 layers in the front packet together. The rest of the wing, body and tail stay still.
Check: This crease is 1 inch from the original front edge. After this turn, the 5-layer band lies between 1 and 1.25 inches on the original blank.
Explore this step ↑STEP 7 · Figure 66C; construction only
Your cut-and-fold glider
Check the four closed turns at the front and the flat, connected body and tail. Leave the rest of the sheet flat; this version has no center-body fold and needs no glue. The tutorial ends with construction.
Layers: The front band has five paper layers after four turns; the remaining wing and tail are single-layer.
Check: No wing or tail has been detached. Real-paper follow-along of these adapted dimensions is still pending.
Explore this step ↑
Sources & notes
A. Frederick Collins, The Magic of Science: A Book of Scientific Amusements. New York and other cities: Fleming H. Revell Company, 1917, pp. 103–104; Figure 66 B/C.
Dimensions, p. 103 ↗ · Instructions, p. 104 ↗ · 1917 copyright page ↗
The reconstruction source is this specific 1917 publication, public domain in the United States. This is not a worldwide rights claim or permission to reuse modern tutorial media.
Adaptation: The original labels the 8-inch span, 2-inch wing depth, 6-inch body segment, 3-inch tail depth and 3-inch body root, and asks for four leading-edge folds. It does not number the tail span, narrow body end or fold spacing. This adaptation specifies a 4-inch tail span, 1-inch narrow end and four ¼-inch roll folds. These are new construction parameters, not recovered historical dimensions.
English instructions, diagrams and code were newly produced with AI assistance from the historical construction. No source scan, modern photograph or modern tutorial wording is bundled.
Validation notes
Real-paper follow-along, including paper weight: not performed. Screen preview approval is not a physical folding result. Diagrams are zero-thickness illustrations, not physical simulations or performance predictions.
Original-page review and an explicit dimensioned adaptation. Cutting is a staged schematic; edge folds use zero-thickness rigid packets. Thickness, contact, exact overlap during motion and real-paper follow-along remain unverified.
The renderer uses simplified depth order. Thickness, layer contact, collisions and precise occlusion are not simulated.