How to make a cone of paper or cardboard
Being able to work with paper is important for both children and adults. This is the easiest way to not only develop fine motor skills, but also to awaken the skills of artistic taste. Among the basic necessary knowledge and skills - of course, simple geometric shapes.
How to make a cone of cardboard or soft paper, and where to apply it later? How not to be mistaken with the size?
Paper Cone: Step by Step Guide
First of all, you need to choose a good working material - it depends on the purpose for which you need such an article. In any case, he must have the ability to bend and keep the given shape without being damaged. If you take a normal soft paper, it should not be torn, and the cardboard should not be too hard, otherwise it will be difficult to deform. To check the quality of the material, try to twist the sheet into a tube: if this does not cause you difficulties and does not lead to rupture, you can work.
In order to make a cone of cardboard or paper with your own hands, in addition to the basic material, you will need:
- ruler (length depends on the length of the product);
- pencil;
- compass;
- office knife or scissors;
- glue.
The principle of operation is very simple, the only thing where sometimes difficulties arise is the preparation of the template. The creation of a pyramid of cardboard takes no more than a quarter of an hour, except for the time for drying the glue. If you are in a hurry, you can fix the form with scotch tape (for options when the cone is the base, which is not visible), or with a stapler (for small crafts).
- Decide on the size of the product. Remember that the height of the future cone is the radius of the circle from which the pattern is created.
- It is easiest to draw a circle with a compass, but for large handicrafts this is not always convenient, since the standard school compass has a small step: about 15-20 cm.
- You can use an alternative option: thread a thread through the eye of a thick needle, wrap the free end of the thread around the pencil. Keep in mind that the segment between the ends must be equal to the radius of the circle. After that, insert the needle in the same way as a compass needle - in the center of the cardboard, stretch the thread. Holding the needle with your hand, draw a circle with a pencil. Make sure that the tension of the thread was the same, the needle was scrolled in place, the pencil was going at the same angle to the surface throughout the entire line.
- The cone is made not from the complete circle, but only from its part. Moreover, it can be either half of a circle, or a quarter, or even less - 1/6, 1/8, etc. Remember that the smaller the angle of the pattern, the narrower the cone. If you plan to use the finished crafts as a hat, you need to take into account the girth of the head - it should be equal to the base of the cone, i.e. the length of his arc.
- Having marked the lines separating the segment from the circle, check the length of its sides - it should be the same. After that, the pattern can be cut. Consider that about 1-1.5 cm will be used for gluing, therefore the final degree of the part will not be exactly 90, 60, 45 degrees, etc., but a little less.
- Roll out the cone segment, overlap the edges and process with glue. Fix with clips, press down with a press to securely glue the part.
- Wait until it is completely dry (4-6 hours, depending on the glue) and remove the staples. The craft is ready, you can proceed to its design.
Since the question of using a cardboard cone as a headdress (relevant for children's costumes) was raised, it is necessary to recall how to make the necessary calculations. Of course, if you have the required height of the product, which cannot be changed, you will simply have to postpone the length of the girth of the head along an arc and cut the resulting part. However, if you just need to prepare a sharp cone (when the angle of the template is 60 degrees), you will need to make calculations. The formula of the school program is the length of the arc of a circle with an angle of 60 degrees equal to the product of a radius of 3.14, which is divided by 3. For a 45-degree angle, divide the work by 4.
The resulting cone can be used not only as a rigid form for a hat, which is subsequently covered with a cloth, foil, paper or simply dyed. The cardboard cone is a good basis for a number of handicrafts: a Christmas tree, a paper doll, a space rocket. In the inverted form and with proper design, it will be an excellent basket or horn for a bouquet of chocolates.