Force and Motion

From pegboard to cardboard

The basic problem in transferring a mechanism from pegboard to cardstock and/or cardboard is to decide where the holes for the pivots should go. Here is a way to do this by using one-to-one correspondences.

Set the pegboard outputs in a vertical position
Lay a cardstock (or cardboard) strip next to the input and mark each floating pivot location.
Lay a cardstock strip next to each output. Mark the floating pivot location and the fixed pivot location.
Punch the holes for the pivots in the input and output strips.
Place the cardstock strips over the corresponding pegboard strips to see if the holes line up with the pivots. If so, insert fasteners through the floating pivot holes and attach input to outputs.
Place the assembled cardstock input and outputs over a cardboard base. Set the outputs in a vertical position. Mark the fixed pivot hole for each output on the cardboard base.
Punch the holes for the fixed pivots in the base.
Trim the base to any desired shape as long as it accommodates all the fixed pivot holes.
Attach the outputs to the base with fixed pivots.

Transfer a Mechanism from Pegboard to Cardstock.doc