Joining things together
Design & Technology · Early Years · The School
Ways to join
Tape, glue, staples, string, split pins, slots. Each behaves differently: tape is fast and weak, glue is slow and strong, a split pin lets a part turn. Choosing a join is a real design decision, not an afterthought.
Matching the join to the job
If the two parts must MOVE, tape and glue are the wrong answer — you need a split pin or a slot. If they must never move, glue is better than tape. Ask 'does this part need to move?' before you reach for anything.
Testing it
Pull gently. Does it hold? A join that fails while you are testing is a small problem; one that fails when the model is finished is a big one. Testing early is not a sign that the work is bad — it is the work.
Join two strips of card three ways: with glue, with tape, and with a split pin. Now test each. Pull them apart — the split pin holds longest. Bend them back and forth twenty times — the glue cracks first. Wet them — the tape lets go. No join won every test, which is the point: choose the join for what the thing has to survive, not for what is nearest.