Springfold Paper/All plans/Printable templates/2026-10
Quilling Strip Master Sheet: Eight Strips With No Burr
Most quilling failures are a cutting problem, not a rolling problem. A burr on one edge of a strip makes the coil spiral off-centre, and burrs come from cutting 120 gsm paper with a dull blade in a single pass. This sheet is a production jig rather than a craft template.
Set the trimmer to 5 mm and check it against a strip, not the scale
Paper trimmers are printed scales, and printed scales drift. Cut one strip, measure it with a steel rule in three places along its length, and adjust the stop until all three read between 4.85 and 5.15 mm. A trimmer that is 0.3 mm out produces strips whose coils spiral visibly.
Check the alignment of the trimmer's fence as well by cutting a strip from each end of the sheet and laying them side by side. If they form a wedge, the fence is not square and every strip will taper.
Cut with the grain, which means cutting across the short edge
Most 120 gsm paper has its grain running along the long edge of the sheet. Strips cut parallel to the long edge — which means running each cut across the short edge — curve smoothly when rolled. Strips cut the other way kink at the first tight turn and the coil comes out pentagonal.
Test the grain by tearing a 20 mm strip from each edge of a spare sheet: the direction that tears in a straight line is the grain.
Take the burr off with a second, lighter pass
After cutting all eight strips, draw each one once, edge-first, between your thumbnail and forefinger along its full length. This is not a decorative step: it removes the whisker of fibre left by the blade, and that whisker is what makes a coil open unevenly three days later.
For the same reason, cut the strips from the middle of the sheet where possible and leave a 15 mm margin at each edge — the outer 15 mm of a sheet is where the cutting burr is worst.
Store flat, under a card backing, in a sealed bag
Lay the eight strips on the 155 × 215 mm backing card, slide the whole stack into the resealable bag, and press out the air. Strips stored loose curl at the ends within a day; strips stored flat stay straight for months.
Bundle the strips in the order they were cut rather than mixing them. If one strip is slightly thicker than the rest, you want to find that out when you roll it, not when it is already glued into a bloom.
Specification
| Output | 8 strips at 5 × 297 mm per A4 sheet, plus 2 special widths |
|---|---|
| Paper | 120 gsm — 90 gsm tears, 160 gsm will not roll under 20 mm |
| Grain | Cut along the long grain; strips cut across it kink instead of curving |
| Tolerance | ±0.15 mm. At ±0.4 mm the coil visibly spirals off-centre |
| Working time | 30 minutes for a full sheet, enough for about three blooms |
| Blank size | 297 x 51 mm |
| Pieces | 72 |
| Assembled | coils from 5 mm strips |
Fold order
| Line | Kind | Angle |
|---|---|---|
| No folds — the master sheet is cut, not folded | none | — |
| Optional crease at 148 mm if you want half-length strips from the same sheet | valley | 180° |
Cut list
- Eight strips at 5 mm across the short edge — cut along the long grain
- One 12 mm calyx strip and one 20 mm base strip per sheet
- Tick marks every 33 mm printed on the sheet, not cut
- Four 6 mm registration holes for a comb binding punch
Check the plan against the object
What goes wrong
- Cutting across the grain, which produces coils that go pentagonal rather than round.
- Using a dull blade and taking a single pass, which leaves a fibre burr along one edge.
- Storing strips loose in a drawer — the ends curl and every coil starts with a visible flat.
Keep it clean
- 120 gsm paper takes on humidity. A sealed bag is not optional in a kitchen or a bathroom-adjacent room.
- Recut rather than re-roll a strip whose burr was not removed; the coil will spiral again.
- Keep the master sheet itself in the bag and print a fresh one if it cockles — a cockled sheet cuts strips that are not straight.
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