SnipFold

Open-frame Greenhouse

A skeletal horticultural greenhouse with 56 real pane openings, pitched glazing frames, folded attachment flanges and a full floor diaphragm.

Materials

  • 220-260 gsm cardstock
  • Craft knife and cutting mat
  • Metal ruler
  • Blunt scoring tool
  • PVA glue
  • Optional clear acetate or cellophane, 0.05-0.1 mm, and clear-film-compatible adhesive; not needed for the paper frame

Finished size: 120 x 80 x 90 mm

Steps

CutValley foldMountain foldGlue area

  1. Print and cut the frame openings

    Print at 100%; measure the 50 mm ruler. Cut all 56 enclosed pane outlines with a knife first, supporting each 4 mm mullion on the mat; then cut outer perimeters. Long walls have ten 18 x 21 mm holes each; ends have six 20 x 21 mm rectangles and two triangular holes each. Roofs have ten 18 x 16 mm holes each. Do not cut score lines.

  2. Optional clear liners

    For optional glazing only, cut clear film: two 112 x 52 mm side liners, two 112 x 42 mm roof liners, and two pentagons with vertices (0,0), (72,0), (72,54), (36,81), (0,54) mm. Center side and roof liners 4 mm inside every frame edge. Set each end liner origin at (4,4) mm on its end frame. Bond to the interior frame faces with film-compatible adhesive, keeping all projecting tabs bare. Omit all film for the illustrated open-frame model.

  3. Score the attachment tabs

    Cut C as 120 x 8 mm and score its center at 4 mm. Score every wall tab at its base. Bend 5 mm bottom and corner tabs inward 90 degrees. Bend the 4 mm long-wall top tabs inward 53.13 degrees from the upward wall extension, so they rise at 36.87 degrees above horizontal. Bend each 4 mm sloped gable tab inward 90 degrees into its roof plane. Mountain-fold C by 73.74 degrees from flat, giving a 106.26 degree interior roof angle.

  4. Anchor both long walls

    Cut F to 120 x 80 mm. Stand S1 and S2 on its opposite 120 mm edges, with 60 mm eave height. Glue their 5 mm bottom tabs onto the top of F, pointing toward the center. Keep wall bases flush with floor edges, vertical and parallel; hold until set. Top tabs point toward the future ridge.

  5. Close and square the gable ends

    Stand E1 and E2 on the remaining 80 mm floor edges. Glue their 5 mm bottom tabs onto F, pointing inward. Glue each long-wall corner tab against the inside of the adjacent gable, overlapping its 6 mm wide side border by 5 mm. Align wall bottoms and 60 mm eaves. The footprint must measure 120 x 80 mm, with equal diagonals about 144.22 mm; let all base and corner joints dry.

  6. Attach the two pierced roof frames

    Place each 120 x 50 mm roof frame with its long eave edge flush to a long wall and its opposite edge at the ridge. Each 50 mm slope spans 40 mm horizontally and rises 30 mm: ridge height 90 mm. Glue the underside of each 6 mm eave border to the 4 mm long-wall top tab. Glue each roof end border onto the two corresponding 4 mm gable slope tabs. Keep all panes open and meet roof edges along the 120 mm ridge; there is no overhang.

  7. Cap the ridge and let dry

    Glue C externally over the ridge, its center crease exactly on the roof seam and its ends flush with the gables. Each wing overlaps a roof by 4 mm measured down the slope, staying on the solid 6 mm ridge rail. Hold the roof at 36.87 degrees to the floor on both sides until set. Let glue dry fully before lifting by the floor; do not lift by mullions. Physical build verification is deferred.

Notes

The 3D model shows each piece in its finished, idealized shape; the exploded view only spreads the pieces apart. It is not a paper-physics simulation: curved shapes are forming guides, not exact physical folding or proof of developability, and intermediate fold shapes are not supplied.