Skip to content
Hingesmith
Studio
Open Studio

Zipper living hinge

Interlocking square teeth.

Best for: Sewing and fashion gifts, toolboxes, a playful look on kids’ boxes. It is a flexible pattern.

Open the Zipper in the Studio All 21 patterns

Pro hinge: preview it free on every shape, export from $9 a month.

Zipper 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 Zipper 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 mmR5.2 mmR8 mm
4 mmR4.5 mmR10 mm
6 mmR7.3 mmR15 mm

On a 150 mm round box

What the laser cuts

hinge cuts
400
in 160 columns round the wall
total cut path
16.2 m
base, wall, lid and hinge
hinge load
94%
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 27 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 Zipper on eight shapes

Each link opens that shape in the Studio with the Zipper 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

Braid cut layout: red cut lines and blue score lines
BraidPro
Three-strand plait
Straight Lattice cut layout: red cut lines and blue score lines
Straight LatticeFree
Staggered slots, even flex
Interlocking Hex cut layout: red cut lines and blue score lines
Interlocking HexFree
Mirrored zig-zags
S-Curve Sine cut layout: red cut lines and blue score lines
S-Curve SinePro
Wavy S-curves

Questions about the Zipper

Is the Zipper hinge free?

Previewing it on any shape is free. Exporting a box with the Zipper hinge needs Pro ($9 per month, $59 per year, $149 one-time). The Straight Lattice and Interlocking Hex export free.

How tight can the Zipper bend?

At its densest spacing the Zipper bends to about R5.2 mm on 3 mm plywood, R4.5 mm on 4 mm and R7.3 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.