Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to another tutorial! For starters, YES, the origami Rubik's Cube will be made entirely of paper and YES, it will work! If you want to see this, watch the video below or the gif in step 10.
Be that as it may, I don’t want you to think that we are building a DIY speed rubik’s cube that you can use to set a new world record. While it's surprisingly durable considering it's made from plain paper, this cube is paper... and as such needs to be used with care and gentleness.
The main reason I made this cube was because I've always been interested in how they work, and I thought it would be an interesting challenge for me to figure out how to make a rubik's cube out of paper. If you have the same curiosity and patience to build it, I can assure you that the moment you connect the last part and see that it actually works will be absolutely worth the effort!
For this tutorial, I created an original design, a Minecraft design, and a clean design so you can get creative and make your own cool bricks. I can't wait to see what you come up with!
As a visual aid for this project, I created and included a video tutorial. Check it out above!
How to solve a Rubik's cube: clear diagram and formulas
- Scheme for collecting the first layer.
- Middle layer collection scheme.
- Scheme of collecting the third layer.
Polymer clay cube
Polymer clay gives a lot of room for imagination. You can make multi-colored figures from it; its softness is slightly harder than plasticine.
There are two types of polymer clay - the kind that dries naturally and the kind that needs to be baked in the oven to harden. If your work uses clay for the oven, then you need to purchase additional baking sleeves for it, otherwise you will not be able to use the oven for cooking after working with clay.
The baking temperature should be the same as on the packaging with the materials. If this marking is not present, it is better to refuse the purchase.
When baking, the following safety precautions must be observed:
- the room should be well ventilated;
- be sure to wear gloves and a respirator;
- remove all food products from the room where the product is baked (so that steam does not reach them. For example, in the refrigerator);
- It is strictly forbidden to bake polymer clay and food products at the same time;
- Upon completion of work, the oven must be disinfected and washed thoroughly.
It is very easy to make a polymer clay cube. This shape can be easily sculpted by hand or cut with a knife. In its soft form, pieces of polymer clay are easily connected to each other. From multi-colored pieces you can make a Rubik's cube, or make original dice, and even earrings.
These are just a few materials suitable for making cubes. Products can also be sewn or knitted, glued together from plastic fragments.
The originality of the product depends solely on the imagination of the manufacturer.
Making origami
There are two options for making origami-style cubes:
- Simple.
- Difficult.
To complete the simple version, you will need 6 sheets of A4 paper. Each of the sheets must be turned into a square, that is, the excess part of the sheet must be cut off. It is necessary to make a blank from each sheet. It is performed in several stages:
- Bend the square sheet into 4 equal parts.
- The upper right and lower left corners must be folded so that they touch the adjacent fold line.
- Fold the edges of the workpiece towards the center, and tuck the upper and lower corners into the resulting pockets.
- The resulting workpiece in the form of a parallelogram must be turned over and bent along the lines.
- The resulting blanks must be connected to each other.
- Each module has special pockets. It is into them that neighboring modules must be inserted.
This craft option is very simple. It will take you no more than three minutes. There is another option for making the cube. It's more complex. The point is that there are a lot more steps and it's very easy to get confused. A beginner can spend 10-15 minutes on this version of the cube. To complete this you will only need a square sheet of paper. So, step-by-step instructions for executing this cube:
- Take a square piece of paper and fold it diagonally. Then you need to fold it along a different diagonal.
- Take the edges of the half folds and pinch them together. Your diagonal folds should end up on the edge and the paper should become triangular.
- Press the resulting workpiece so that it is flat.
- Turn the workpiece with the open part towards you.
- Take one bottom corner and fold it over to the top edge.
- Repeat this step for all four corners.
- You will get 4 small triangles.
- It is necessary to bend the top of each of them towards the center line of your workpiece.
- Take the corner bent towards the top. Bend it down. Is this necessary for this? so that later you can tuck it into the pocket, which we got in the lower triangle.
- Repeat this step for all four corners.
- Open up your workpiece. If you look at it from above, you should see the letter x.
- Blow into the hole and your cube will inflate.
Jessica Friedrich Method
Jessica Friedrich's method is one of the fastest methods for solving a Rubik's cube.
In 1981, Jessica Friedrich developed her own assembly plan, which has all the same main points and has no fundamental differences, but it significantly speeds up the process. You just have to learn “only” 119 rules. If you want to break the record, you'll have to use your brain.
If you are just starting out and spend two minutes or more on assembly, then this method is not for you yet; practice using the eight-step instructions.
- This method begins with the same assembly of a cross with edges on the sides. In English, the name of this step sounds like Cross and translated means cross.
- The second stage involves assembling two layers of the cube at once and is called F2L (an abbreviation for the phrase First 2 Layers, which literally translates as the first two layers). Algorithms describing this path are given below:
Assembly steps
- The OLL stage means solving the top layer of the Rubik's cube. It will be described by 57 formulas.
Simplified assembly diagram
- The final, fourth stage is called PLL and means placing all the elements in their places. The last stage can be described by these algorithms:
Final stages of assembly
Designation of turns
Faces are rotated by 90 degrees and are identified by the name of the face that needs to be rotated.
L - rotate the left side 90 clockwise. P - rotation of the right side.
B — rotate the top face 90 clockwise. N - rotation of the bottom edge.
F - rotate the front face 90 clockwise.
‘ — a stroke indicates that the rotation is directed counterclockwise.
Other types of paper crafts
From the resulting cubes you can make various three-dimensional crafts:
- Garland. It can be assembled from a large number of colored cubes. These cubes can be assembled either according to a template or in origami style. The main thing is to pierce them and put them on a string, and then you will get a very beautiful garland.
- Dice is very simple to make. It is necessary to make a small cube using one of the proposed methods. And then you need to draw points on each side of your cube.
- The robot is also very easy to make. You need to make 2 cubes - large and small. The large cube will serve as the head of the robot, and the small one will serve as the body. You also need to make 4 volumetric rectangles. We need them to make arms and legs for our robot. To make your robot move, connect all its parts using a toothpick.
Surely very few people know that you can make a paper Rubik's cube with your own hands. To do this you will need the following items:
- Colored paper.
- Ruler.
- Pencil.
- Scissors.
- Transparent tape.
Stages of executing a Rubik's cube:
- Take 6 sheets of colored paper with different colors.
- From each sheet, cut out 8 squares measuring 4*4.
- On each square you need to draw a center line and fold its edges towards the center.
- On the resulting workpiece, also draw a center line and bend the edges of the workpiece to this line.
- You need to collect the first cube. Arrange the colors in the order you like.
- Collect a cube from six blanks of different colors.
- Repeat this step for the remaining pieces.
- Make 8 resulting cubes into 4 pairs.
- The color that is at the top of the first two pairs should be at the bottom of the next two pairs.
- Glue each pair so that the cubes can move.
- Take two pairs and turn them on their sides. Glue the top two faces of the cubes together.
- Do the same on the reverse side of the glue.
- Do the same with the remaining two pairs.
- You now have two main parts of your product. Now they need to be connected.
- To do this, place them in the same order as they lay before gluing.
- The two central pairs must be glued together.
- Next, fold them into a cube, and glue the sides that you see directly in front of you.
You have a transforming cube. It can be solved like a Rubik's cube and can also be turned into a rectangle.
Now you know how to make a paper cube with your own hands and you can make it yourself without any problems. Your child will be pleased, because all the shelves in his playroom will be filled with various crafts. I wish you success!
Collecting the second cross
Now that 2 layers of the cube have already been assembled, let's try to make the 4 outermost elements of the top white. You need to focus exclusively on the edge particles, avoiding the corners.
So, if the first 4 white ribs are already at the top, move on to the next step. But if there are only a few, use the instructions below and pay attention to how they are located relative to each other. It all depends on whether they are next to each other or opposite: adjacent edges, opposite edges are white, not a single snow-white square is right. If you try to fold a cross using one of the methods described above, then if there is not a single light square at the top, the result will be 2 finished squares. Depending on the combination received, choose your action option, it can be the first or second plus the 4th step. The second cross is ready. To make the side parts match the color scheme of the center, repeat the steps in the fifth section. Turn the top of the cube until two edges match the color of the center. The second cross is in place.
Puzzle Solving Basics
If you want to know how to solve a Rubik's cube, we have a special diagram for beginners. Set a goal for yourself and let the elements fall into place. Concentrate on the center, only the cubes do not change their position there. For example, an edge between red and green is red-green. Take a rule as a guide: there must be an edge of the same color near the green one.
Scheme 1. Correctly arranged particles are depicted in blue, those that can be changed in green, and those on which action is performed in yellow. The corner should not be overlooked; it is always three-colored and placed between the central elements of the colors that correspond to it.
Secret assembly technology
Those who want to cope with the task in a time equal to or less than a minute should learn a few simple rules.
- White and yellow colors will be an excellent solution for starting the build.
- Many precious seconds are spent turning the Rubik's cube in your hands, which, of course, negatively affects the temporary results. That is why they begin the assembly by assembling the cross on the bottom edge of the puzzle. This way you will save time on turning the toy over in confusion.
- The size of the 3*3 cube is good for the hand and its surface is already quite slippery and rotates well, but for greater success you can purchase a special, not very expensive lubricant for such objects.
- Always be one step ahead: at the moment when mental stress has already subsided and you are completing one of the algorithms that will definitely lead to success, it’s time to think about the next step.
- Use all your resources: all your ten fingers. This is what will lead to new records in solving the cube.
