Steampunk tennis rackets

Step 3 Curl up the ends of the strips

To make the scroll work pattern it is useful if the card is already curled up (it makes sticking them down so much easier). To curl them up, wrap them round your finger tip and press the card down. If it's corrugated card, then you will be crushing it slightly. If it's corrugated card its also best to make sure that the strips are cut across the flutes. Not only do they bend much easier this way, but from a composite material point of view, the end result is also much stronger, because when stuck in position the flutes will be acting like 100s of tiny columns, which are very strong in compression... exactly what you need on the face of a bat or racket, where surface stiffness is important to transmit the most force to the ball during the stroke.