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Hingesmith
Studio
Open Studio

Butterfly living-hinge box

Four wings spread wide. Garden gifts, memorial keepsakes, a girl’s birthday box.

Four wings. The wall is one strip of plywood with a living hinge cut into it, so the whole outline wraps from a flat sheet. Set the size in millimetres, pick a hinge pattern and a lid, watch it fold in 3D, then export the cut file for your laser.

Open the Butterfly in the Studio See Pro pricing

Pro shape: preview and fold it free, export from $9 a month or $149 once.

Butterfly box: a 3D render of the laser-cut living-hinge box in Baltic birch with its scored lid drawing

At the suggested size

184 × 131 × 80 mm on 3 mm plywood

These numbers come from the same engine that makes your file, built at the size the Studio suggests with the Straight Lattice hinge. Change the size, stock or pattern and they update live.

parts
6
on 2 sheets of 420 × 297 mm
of cutting
26.5 m
787 hinge cuts
wall length
576 mm
in 2 strips that butt-joint
tightest bend
R19 mm
rounded to suit 3 mm stock
hinge load
92%
of the safe twist limit
lid art
Scored
a matching line drawing on the lid
Butterfly lid as the laser sees it: red cut outline and blue scored lid art
The lid, as the laser sees it. Red is the cut, blue is the scored lid art. Turn lid art off in the Assembly tab for a plain lid.
Three lids

Drop-in, Snap-lock, Magnetic Lip. Every lid works with every shape.

Three stocks

3 mm, 4 mm, 6 mm. Hinge spacing and corner radii follow the thickness.

Kerf-compensated

Tabs grow and slots shrink by half your kerf, so parts press-fit without sanding.

Hinge patterns

Hinges that suit a butterfly

Any of the 21 patterns works on this shape; the cut spacing adapts to each curve of the wall. These four suit the Easter and St. Patrick's Day collection. Each link opens the Butterfly with that hinge.

Leaf Vine cut layout: red cut lines and blue score lines
Leaf VinePro
Mirrored arcs form leaves
Basket Weave cut layout: red cut lines and blue score lines
Basket WeavePro
Mirrored waves
Fish Scales cut layout: red cut lines and blue score lines
Fish ScalesPro
Arched dashes
S-Curve Sine cut layout: red cut lines and blue score lines
S-Curve SinePro
Wavy S-curves

Leaf Vine: Mirrored arcs that close into leaves on a vine. Botanical and wedding boxes, spring and autumn collections.

Before you cut

From file to finished box

Import the SVG at 1:1, give the blue layer a light score pass and the red layer a full cut, score first, then cut. The guides cover settings by machine and material, assembly, and selling what you make.

More like this

Easter and St. Patrick's Day, and neighbours

Egg lid: red cut line with its scored lid art in blue
EggPro
Narrow top, full base
Lucky Clover lid: red cut line with its scored lid art in blue
Lucky CloverPro
Four round leaves
Bunny lid: red cut line with its scored lid art in blue
BunnyPro
Round head, tall ears
Hatching Chick lid: red cut line with its scored lid art in blue
Hatching ChickPro
Chick peeking out of its shell
Tulip lid: red cut line with its scored lid art in blue
TulipPro
Bloom, stem and leaf
Carrot lid: red cut line with its scored lid art in blue
CarrotPro
Tapered root, leafy top
Shamrock lid: red cut line with its scored lid art in blue
ShamrockPro
Three heart-shaped leaves
Sun lid: red cut line with its scored lid art in blue
SunPro
Twelve rounded rays
All shapes in Easter and St. Patrick's Day Browse all 100 shapes

Questions about the butterfly box

Is the Butterfly box free to export?

You can design it, change every setting and fold it in 3D for free. Exporting its cut file needs Pro: $9 per month, $59 per year, $149 one-time. The Rounded Box, Curved Cylinder and Hexagon export free, so you can test your laser settings before you buy.

What size can a butterfly box be?

Anything from 60 to 400 mm across and 30 to 250 mm tall; the suggested size is 184 × 131 mm. Picking the shape keeps your current scale and applies its proportions, then you can set the width and length to the millimetre. Curves need a minimum radius for the hinge to bend (8 mm on 3 mm stock, 10 mm on 4 mm, 15 mm on 6 mm), and the studio warns you if a size is too small for your stock.

Which lasers and software can cut it?

Any laser whose software imports SVG or DXF at 1:1 in millimetres: LightBurn (Omtech, Monport, Ortur, Atomstack, Creality, K40 and most CO₂ and diode machines), xTool Creative Space, Glowforge (SVG), LaserGRBL and Inkscape. The file has a red cut layer, a blue score layer for the lid art and fold marks, and a black sheet boundary.

What material should I cut it from?

3, 4 or 6 mm flat sheet stock. Baltic birch plywood bends best; poplar plywood and MDF work for gentler curves. The hinge spacing is sized for the thickness you pick, and the free bend test strip tells you how far your particular sheet will go.

Can I sell butterfly boxes I make with it?

Yes. Boxes you cut from your exports are yours to sell, on Etsy, at fairs or anywhere else. What you may not do is resell or share the cut files themselves as a template.

Fold a butterfly box in your browser

No account, no download to install. The design opens ready to size.

Open the Studio