Spent 4 hours on a cardboard prototype for a bird feeder that failed in 10 minutes

I tried to mock up a squirrel-proof bird feeder using just cardboard and tape before cutting any wood. The counterweight arm I designed worked great on paper but collapsed under the weight of a single blue jay in under 10 minutes. I should have tested the pivot joint with something heavy first. Has anyone else spent way too long on a cardboard prototype that broke the second it faced real conditions?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_lee12d ago

That blue jay story hits close to home. I used to think cardboard prototypes were mostly a waste of time, but that pivot joint failing taught me you can learn more from a quick and dirty test than an hour of planning. Did the counterweight just snap or did the whole arm come loose?

the_diana11d ago

@the_lee, the whole arm came loose actually, loose glue joint on the cardboard pivot.