Bed of Nails Tessellation

Model September 8, 2015 April 18, 2021
…/yoy76M …/ykwj4b …/xqXpXk …/529248080574378 …/Bed_of_nails
Folding instructions: Bed of Nails Tessellation
This is the primary page for this model.
Other folds and variants: Bed of Nails Tessellation (Long Nail Variant)
Paper: Elephant Hide (printed over with inkjet printer)
Type: classic tessellation (implies: abstract tessellation, abstract, geometric, pattern, abstract periodic tessellation, non-recursive periodic tessellation, periodic tessellation, tessellation)
Author: Michał Kosmulski
Colors: gray

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

Angled view from the front of the nails — Images are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License

I was inspired to design this tessellation resembling a bed of nails after a comment from P. Colman on flickr regarding my Fenced Tiling of Fujimoto’s Clover Folding. This tessellation is based on just the “leaves” of the clover, made two-sided and arranged into multiple rows.

A single molecule uses a 6×4 grid and one can vary the borders around them in both directions in order to control the nails’ density. This particular fold is based on a 21×30 grid which results in 3×5 finished nails (7×6 grid for each, so margins are 1 and 2 grid units). One can vary the nails’ length or fold the edges of the nails inside, transforming them into triangular spikes. I also see some potential for creating pixel images, in a manner similar to EZ Tessellation, by bending some of the nails.

Folded from a single sheet of Elephant Hide paper, inkjet-printed for a more metallic look.

In 2016, I came up with an enhancement of this design, Bed of Nails 3D Tessellation.

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