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Hingesmith
Studio
Open Studio

Interlocking Hex living hinge

Mirrored zig-zags that lock into a field of hexagons.

Best for: A honeycomb look on hexagon and round boxes, and a stiffer feel in the hand than straight slots. It is a flexible pattern.

Open the Interlocking Hex in the Studio All 21 patterns

Free hinge: export it on the free shapes with no account.

Interlocking Hex living hinge: a window onto the wall strip of a 150 mm round box, red cut lines and blue score lines
A window onto the wall strip of a 150 mm round box, 80 mm tall, on 3 mm stock. Real cut lines.

Measured, not guessed

Tightest bend by stock

The Studio lays the Interlocking Hex out on a test strip at every spacing it can use and measures how far each link twists per unit of curvature. At its densest spacing the pattern bends to these radii without passing the wood's 1.2% shear-strain limit. The right column is the tightest corner any catalog shape asks for on that stock.

StockBends toTightest corner used
3 mmR5.4 mmR8 mm
4 mmR4.6 mmR10 mm
6 mmR7.5 mmR15 mm

On a 150 mm round box

What the laser cuts

hinge cuts
452
in 181 columns round the wall
total cut path
16.5 m
base, wall, lid and hinge
hinge load
92%
of the safe twist limit, worst link
wall height
80 mm
on 3 mm stock, default kerf

Cut time depends on your machine: at 10 mm/s that path takes about 28 minutes. Dense patterns cost more time than open ones, and the Studio shows the cut length live as you change size and pattern.

Try it on

The Interlocking Hex on eight shapes

Each link opens that shape in the Studio with the Interlocking Hex hinge already selected.

Heart Shell lid: red cut line with its scored lid art in blue
Heart ShellPro
Cardioid shell, filleted cleft
Pumpkin lid: red cut line with its scored lid art in blue
PumpkinPro
Five soft lobes
Curved Cylinder lid: red cut line with its scored lid art in blue
Curved CylinderFree
Round or oval, even wrap
Fox lid: red cut line with its scored lid art in blue
FoxPro
Big ears, fluffy cheeks
Seashell lid: red cut line with its scored lid art in blue
SeashellPro
Ribbed scallop shell
Snowman lid: red cut line with its scored lid art in blue
SnowmanPro
Three snowballs and a top hat
Cupcake lid: red cut line with its scored lid art in blue
CupcakePro
Swirled frosting, cherry on top
Rounded Box lid: red cut line with its scored lid art in blue
Rounded BoxFree
Hinges only at the corners

Other patterns

Next in the catalog

S-Curve Sine cut layout: red cut lines and blue score lines
S-Curve SinePro
Wavy S-curves
Voronoi Mesh cut layout: red cut lines and blue score lines
Voronoi MeshPro
Seeded organic cells
Serpentine cut layout: red cut lines and blue score lines
SerpentinePro
Long meander, most flex
Stepped Lattice cut layout: red cut lines and blue score lines
Stepped LatticePro
Three-phase stagger

Questions about the Interlocking Hex

Is the Interlocking Hex hinge free?

Yes. The Interlocking Hex is one of the two free hinge patterns: use it on the free shapes and download the SVG with no account.

How tight can the Interlocking Hex bend?

At its densest spacing the Interlocking Hex bends to about R5.4 mm on 3 mm plywood, R4.6 mm on 4 mm and R7.5 mm on 6 mm, measured by the same model that spaces the cuts. The Studio never asks it to bend tighter than 8, 10 and 15 mm on those stocks, so every shape in the catalog stays inside its limit.

Does the pattern change how strong the box is?

A little. Patterns that cut more wood away per column feel softer in the hand; the Serpentine is the softest, the Stepped Lattice and Morse the firmest. The base, lid and the solid bands at tabs and seams give the box its rigidity, so all of them make a box that holds its shape once assembled.

Can I use it on any shape?

Yes. Every one of the 100 shapes works with every pattern; the Studio spaces the cuts for each curve of the outline and checks every link against the wood's twist limit before you export.