Paper Iris Glasses

Iris mechanism glasses out of paper and string.

The above video was made in Autodesk Inventor publisher, and the model was made in Autodesk Inventor.

The attached PDFs are for 11x17 printing, outline of pieces are included to cut out with dimension to scale.
If you have access to a laser cutter there is a dxf ver attached as well.

Time:
3-6 hours
Get your geek on.

Materials:
Ruler
xacto knife
paper glue (i used soba brand)
string - thats thin and strong ( i used book binding string)
Bristol paper- 100lb
hole punch -or something that punches 1/8 in holes or less
Mailing tube - 2 15/16" inner diameter (got mine at fedex)
heavy chipboard/cardstock (mine was 1/32 thick )

print_bristol_11x17.pdf20 KB

print_particalboard_11x17.pdf50 KB

final_drawing.dxf422 KB

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Step 1: Cut your pieces

Everything you need to cut is in the pdf EXCEPT the mailing tube rings--cut two 3/8" high rings out of the tube.
The 36 "leafs" are cut out of bristol paper, everything else (except mailing tube rings) are out of chipboard.
You don't really need a hole punch but having one goes much quicker, and the hole doesn't need to be exactly 1/8in hole, a smaller hole is fine.

shelbeeray says: Aug 30, 2012. 8:24 PM

I know I am old and completely UNCOOL, but what is the purpose of these? Are they just for fun? I know this is a mechanism similar to camera lense functions...but I know I am missing something here...please help a confused old lady....

falcotheimpaler in reply to shelbeerayOct 29, 2012. 8:38 AM

Call it art for art's sake. Conversation piece, etc.

JBantha says: Aug 9, 2012. 7:57 PM

This is great! :D So easy to do, even when I hand cut every part and made the cardboard cylinder. As you can see in the picture the cylinder is a bit more larger than what it needs to be, but that is because of reasons.
The only problem I have with my actual build is that the flaps keep un-flaping every couple of uses (let's say 30 or so), but I think this won't be a problem for the bronze and copper build I'm starting. thanks a lot.

markt1964 says: Jul 5, 2012. 12:39 PM

I'm finding the first part of step a bit confusing... with the pictures in that step as a reference, the "flower ring" appears to be entirely inside of the tube, and not actually glued onto the tube's rim. How do they attach to eachother exactly? Also,

Quiran Pup says: Mar 17, 2012. 6:12 PM

this is really awsome, its the perfect size for the hand thrusters of iron man.
(if you look well in the first movie of iron man 1 you see he closes the thrusters as the enemy uses civilians as a shield)

maybe (not sure) i will do a tutorial on that, but i wont promise anything at all.

anyways, thanks allot for creating this. its awsome

Dhuynh says: Dec 18, 2011. 2:09 PM

Great project. I made just one lens of it. But instead of using a mailing tube I created my own template for one out of paper. Its a little thicker than it need to be but came out great.

marciot says: Oct 28, 2011. 6:55 PM

I just finished making mine just in time for a Halloween party tomorrow! They are so cool; thanks for posting this!

Though I do have to mention, while I wasn't keeping track, I think this took me way longer than 3-6 hours. Cutting out all the parts with blade and scissors is no easy task. This project is a serious commitment if you're doing it without a laser cutter.

midnite17 says: Oct 4, 2011. 6:28 PM

instead of Bristol paper could i use just regular heavy paper?

art.makes (author) in reply to midnite17Oct 5, 2011. 11:16 PM

Dunno, haven't tried it with other paper, but you need a material strong enough for the flap of the blades to keep its form when its being pushed up against the "flower petal" piece.

See the illustration attached to get a better idea of the blade movement. The flap moving against a confined space dictates the proper rotation of the blades, the string connection lets them pivot freely, and the fact that the piece you move is attached to all the blades while the inward flower petal piece stays static, compensates for the amount of distance it travels. A bit confusing to explain/understand, the movement is counter intuitive and why its such an interesting mechanism.

Let me know if you get it to work with other materials

marciot says: Oct 3, 2011. 10:07 AM

The PDF file doesn't have any reference dimensions at all. How do you size the template so that the project comes out the right size?

art.makes (author) in reply to marciotOct 5, 2011. 10:57 PM

i've updated the pdfs with dimensions, the doc is still for 11x17 printing but you can crop as you like, but the frames of the glasses stretch out pass 11". You could always tape the frames together in the middle and up the geek status of this project!

marciot in reply to marciotOct 3, 2011. 11:02 AM

Nevermind, I was able to get dimensions off the DWG using AutoDesk's free DWG TrueView. However, realizing DWG is an AutoDesk proprietary format, is there any chance you can export and upload an DXF? This would be better supported by other CAD packages.

Treknology says: Oct 2, 2011. 6:08 AM

I'm guessing these are the follow-on model from the Joojanta 200 Peril-Sensitive Sun Glasses?

roneisaqt says: Sep 29, 2011. 7:33 AM

Wow this is a great project!!!! I found the PDF file and was looking through it, but saw no templates. I dont have a lazer cutter, is there another way to get the templates? :)

art.makes (author) in reply to roneisaqtSep 29, 2011. 9:10 AM

final_drawing.pdf has the outlines you need to cutout, the file works on my end.

roneisaqt in reply to art.makesOct 2, 2011. 1:02 AM

awesome thanks, i guess it was my computer. :)

EeLeLeCtRiC says: Oct 1, 2011. 10:58 AM

the pdf file is to small

deathnotx101 says: Sep 29, 2011. 5:18 PM

Spray painted mine silver and black. Thanks for the DIY, it's one of the bests I've seen and this is gong into my pile of interesting things.

joppyslow says: Sep 29, 2011. 10:24 AM

I'm having difficulty printing out the pdf file to a proper size. I can print at 200% but some of the leaves aren't complete pieces. I can only use 8.5" x 11" paper. Any suggestions?

art.makes (author) in reply to joppyslowSep 29, 2011. 2:27 PM

yeh i was hoping people could print 11x17. You could break it up in photoshop or wait till this weekend and make a 8x11 version pdf of the pieces.

joppyslow in reply to art.makesSep 29, 2011. 3:35 PM

I saved the pdf file as a Word document and ungrouped the picture. The resulting sub-groups are small enough to move around and resize at will. I have Adobe Acrobat X Pro. I'm not sure if the viewer can save the file as a Word document.

Don H. says: Sep 29, 2011. 2:53 PM

Should be "leaves", not "leafs".

el_seppos says: Sep 28, 2011. 6:00 AM

this is awesome :D
gonna mike it when have time (and a Mailing tube)

art.makes (author) in reply to el_sepposSep 28, 2011. 10:20 AM

yeh you don't really need a mailing tube, if you can make a stiff enough circular wall with a inner diameter of 2.99" you're good to go

el_seppos in reply to art.makesSep 28, 2011. 11:59 AM

okay :)
I'll try to do that

el_seppos in reply to el_sepposSep 28, 2011. 6:21 AM

i mean make instead of mike :)

and a question:
can you use something else instead of a mailing tube?

T3h_Muffinator says: Sep 28, 2011. 9:58 AM

Awesome! Now mechanize it!

McM says: Sep 28, 2011. 9:35 AM

WoW really nice work!

Hitman227 says: Sep 28, 2011. 3:56 AM

Wow. Amazing!

dombeef says: Sep 27, 2011. 5:05 PM

Man! I was working on an updated version of my paper iris that would be thinner and have more leafs in it than my old one.

Good job though! You did a way better job than I was doing, I had not thought of paper because I thought it was too weak, so I was only able to get up to 8 using a thin plastic like material.