This was my second time making a Zen Cube. The first version was Blocko and Blocko Jr. Blocko had a wooden core inside of it as reinforcement.

I knew I also wanted to reinforce Blockette, but wanted to do it in a different way. So I instead used laminate to reinforce the paper, and then designed a inner core structure that had pieces slotted together with multiple layers in each plane x, y, z.

The first two are easy, just a slit half way down each piece of paper where they meet. The tricky bit was the last layer. On one edge it meets so slits can be used, but for the rest, holes have to be punched through the panels that run across the path.

Then I planned out a box that could be laid out end to end and fold up creating a smooth outer skin.

The other catch is I only had the one piece of paper, so I had to plan out exactly where the parts lined up.

I did a test cut with some normal paper before this one to be sure it would work without losing my material. Then laser cut the parts and assembled. I used some of the extra bits of paper seal the edges of the skin together from the inside and installed the core, then used tweezers, a magnet, and some careful super gluing to seal it closed. (I had to slice it open to take these photos)

It bears a surprising high amount of force on the sides and easily supported my calculus text book which is pretty amazing for a piece of paper and a layer of laminate on each side.

Could be used for product packaging to strengthen the shape and add an extra level of pageantry to opening the box.