Cardbored Clips

What to do when you're sitting at home, well to me that answer is clear. I want to build stuff! And when it comes to building stuff at home I love to use cardboard or 3D printing, so why not both. So I wanted to create a modular system to connect cardboard I all kind of ways.

And so, Cardbored Clips were born! Now you can make crazy thing with cardboard as well and easier than ever. You could use it to build a fort with your kids, a tabletop game, a race car, etc.

The Clips

*All short clip variations including a medium sized wheel.*

I created two types of clips, short and long clips. The later was first designed with large structures in mind. But after some testing the short clips seem to do the work just as fine. I still included the long parts for if your planning to mainly build large thing. For each size the clips come in to variants as well. Edge pieces with a closed side that can be mounted on the corners of a cardboard sheet. For a nice sleek look. and there are more versatile middle pieces with open ends. I tried the clips out with different boxes and it should work with cardboard from 3 to 2 mm. Usually one flute (corrugated layer) but even when it's thinker you could flatten the ends a bit and then it would also fit.

For now there are 7 types of clips for no, but I’m planning to expand to specialized clips.

• I = 180 degree straight connector
• L = 90 degree connector
• T = T connector with 90 degrees steps
• X = cross connector with 90 degrees steps
• J = connector with 120 degrees bend
• Y = three point connector with every 120 degrees
• H = hinge with a range from 0 degrees 270 degrees

The files are named with the size first, then the positions, and then the type: [size]_[position]_[type].stl e.g “short_mid_L.stl”

besides those, there are also some extra parts that have a different naming scheme. They are quite obvious so no explanation is needed

Designs

You didn’t expect me you leave you with just the clips, did you. Well I already made some designs and I happy to share them with you as well. I’m planning to make more designs available over time. But for now Ill give this beautiful Racecar

Racecar

*An easy to make toy Racecar using the Cardbored Clips.*

I uploaded an DXF file with a template for the cardboard parts (I couldn’t upload a PDF). Import that into illustrator or Inkscape and print it out on two sheets of paper. You can use this just as a template or glue it on to the cardboard and colour in beforehand, on the computer or by hand. I’ll let you figure out how to place all the clips. Tip: place all the L pieces on the bottom peace first. So, for the Racecar you need the following parts.

• 5x short_mid_L
• 4x short_mid_Axis
• 4x wheel_M
• 1x short_mid_H
• 3x cardboard pieces from template

Suggestions?

If you have any suggestions on the parts, for improvement, or maybe you think a part is missing. Please let me know in the comments. Ideas of design you would like to see are also welcome, I always like a challenge.

UPDATE

I did not have as much time for this project as i thought so I added an .STEP file of a single Clip so you can make a custom clip yourself. Good luck and enjoy it.

**A short disclaimer. I came up with this idea and immediately started designing and modelling for printing. Afterwards I took the chance to google it, and yes there were some similar designs, but this is my own take on the concept. It’s not my intend to copy anyone.**

Print instructions

All parts can be printed with the standard 0.3mm DRAFT profile of Prusa, no support needed. There is one exception for the hinges. Those need to be printed with 0.2mm SPEED or QUALITY. I included .3mf files of some setups

I had some problems with the orientations of some models, but ill fix that in the future. For most parts the best print orientation is clear, except for the hinges, surprise. The open hinge model can be printed with the axis of the hinge vertical. This result is a tight but smooth hinge. The closed hinge can be printed with the axis horizontally, and with the clip opening facing down. This result in a loose hinge. Check "Hinges_0.20mm.3mf" for an example