Timbrel Vaulting Using Cardboard Formwork

Lara Davis, Matthias Rippman and Philippe Block from the Swiss BLOCK Research Group at the ETH Zurich University have taken the centuries old timbrel vaulting technique one step further by incorporating high-tech design tools (software and CNC fabrication) and low-tech materials (cardboard boxes and wooden palettes).

Find pictures and the research paper here or see the summary below.

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Cardboard Box Bass

Cardboard bass “The ‘Bogdon Box Bass’ represents a reduction of technology and the simplification of needs. By demonstrating that a quality sound can be achieved by using unconventional material components at an extremely low cost, a cardboard bass guitar places the least demand on resource technology and encourages people to shift their preconceptions about the ‘typical novice instrument’.

Cardboard is not a traditional product material, however the introduction of innovative bonding, cutting and structural techniques has provided the opportunity to consider this lightweight and recyclable material in a more creative fashion. Works with or without an amplifier.”

Available as a do-it-yourself kit or fully assembled at Bogdon Music (no free plans). More information on the construction of the instrument here. Related: Shovelman & One string guitar.