Cardboard is excellent for project construction because it is easy to cut, bend, fold, and drill, yet has quite a high strength to weight ratio. This strength is due to the stable arches inherent in the fluted corrugated inner wall.

Effectively, a standard sheet of cardboard is made from 3 components. These are a sheet of corrugated or “fluted” material in the centre, placed between 2 layers of paper – the outer and inner liners.

Each side of the fluted material is glued to the flat paper liner during manufacture. The glue fixes the flutes in position and adds rigidity and stability to the papers.

There are a number of different thicknesses of corrugated fiberboard made. The most common are designated by the fluting letters ‚A‘, ‚B‘, ‚C‘, ‚D‘, ‚E‘, and ‚F‘. The most common, used in most typical shipping boxes, is ‚A‘ flute, which is 3/16″ (4.8mm) thick.