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Cardboard door hinge test went sideways, but maybe that's the point?
So I built a quick mockup of a cabinet door hinge out of folded cardboard and tape, just to check the swing radius before I cut real wood. The cardboard flexed way more than I expected, and the door sagged about 2 inches at the bottom corner after maybe 20 openings. I almost scrapped the whole idea, but then I realized the sag actually showed me where the real hinge needs extra support, like a second pivot point or a stiffer plate. That got me thinking, do we use cardboard to just check shape and size, or is the flexing itself a feature that tells us about stress points before we waste plywood? My buddy in Denver swears by testing with flimsy materials on purpose, says it points out weak spots you'd miss with a solid prototype. Has anyone else had a cardboard mockup fail in a way that actually improved the final build, or am I just rationalizing a wobbly mess? What's your take on purposefully fragile test builds over trying to make the mockup feel like the real thing?
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wendy_clark11d ago
Why build a stiff mockup when the floppy one just showed you the exact failure point for free?
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