PVM Octahedral Connector

Images are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License

See other sections of this tutorial for instructions on folding other unit variants.

Octahedral Connector allows the joining of four Vertex Units in a single point, for example in order to create a spiked octahedron.

1. Start with a square piece of paper. Pleat into fourths along both sides of the paper.

2. Fold along one one-fourth crease.

3. Fold along one perpendicular one-fourth crease, creating a triangular flap where the creases meet.

4. Squash fold the flap.

5. Repeat in the other three corners of the sheet.

6. Turn over to the other side.

7. After previous step, the model looks like a small square. Fold the preliminary base from this square, then space the four flaps so they point in four roughly perpendicular directions (the base will not be flat anymore).

8. In order to connect vertex units with the octahedral connector, move the vertex units’ corners into the pockets located on the four sides of the connector unit. Pockets do not have solid internal walls (there is a slit along each one on the inside) but they can still hold the vertex units quite well.