Trigonal Bipyramid (strip folding)

 
Learn to make a trigonal bipyramid (hexahedron) from one strip of paper. No glue or tape needed. This is a traditional design.

Take a strip of paper, almost any size will work. The one shown is 3/4″ x 11″. Fold the paper so it has the repeating crease pattern shown.

1. One way to do this is to fold one end of the paper at a 45 degree angle to form a triangular flap.
2. Make a vertical fold along the edge of the triangle. This gives you the first two creases.
3. Unfold and use the existing creases to keep folding the same pattern across the length of the paper.



 

4. Once the paper has been completely creased, it will be time to fold it into a trigonal bipyramid or a hexahedron.
5. From one end of the paper, fold the paper partially along the creases. Do so with a light touch so the paper forms a 3 dimensional shape somewhat like a gem.
6. Once the geometric shape is made, continue to wrap the strip of paper around until only a short segment of paper is left.
7. Fold the corner of this segment of paper to decrease its width.
8. Wrap the last segment of paper around the gem and tuck it under the existing layers of paper.



 

9. Done! Shown below are different angles of the origami trigonal bipyramid.

 
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Polyhedra Origami Books

Want more? John Montroll has 3 books dedicated to origami polyhedra made from a single sheet of uncut paper.

    Origami Polyhedra Design (book review)
    A Constellation of Origami Polyhedra (from amazon)
    A Plethora of Polyhedra in Origami (from amazon)
    3D Origami Platonic Solids and More (from amazon)