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To make a simple rotating paper Enigma model, print a template at its specified scale, cut out the strips, wrap them around a cylindrical tube, and secure the fixed strips while leaving the rotor ring free to turn. The available designs are teaching models, not complete working replicas: one uses a single rotor and no plugboard, while a classroom handout describes versions for small and larger cans.
Choose a paper model that fits your project
These two instructions describe different templates, so follow one design rather than combining their parts. The FutureLearn / University of York design is a one-rotor demonstration for a tube about 7.5 cm in diameter and 23.5 cm in circumference. The Kyrene School District handout describes a small-can example with one rotor strip and a larger-can example with three rotor strips in the middle section.
| Design | Rotor layout | Plugboard | Scale and purpose |
|---|---|---|---|
| FutureLearn / University of York tube model | One rotor; strips for Reflector B, Rotor I and Input/Output | Not included | Print at “Actual Size”; intended for a cylinder about 7.5 cm in diameter and 23.5 cm in circumference. Simplified letter-path demonstration. FutureLearn instructions |
| Kyrene classroom handout | One rotor strip for its small-can example; three rotor strips for its larger-can example | Not stated in the handout | Describes wrapping strips around a can; print scale and can dimensions are not stated. Classroom model instructions. Kyrene handout |
The FutureLearn page says its model represents genuine wiring from one World War II rotor and uses accurate Reflector B wiring; those claims apply to that template, not to paper Enigma models generally. It also mentions a larger download with additional rotors and a plugboard.
Gather the materials
- Printed strips from the template you chose
- A cylindrical tube or can sized for that template
- Scissors
- Clear tape
- Glue for the FutureLearn rotor tab
The instructions call for ordinary craft supplies; they do not require specialist paper or a particular branded container.
#1 Best Overall
- Make a coded message someone else has to crack: turn the three wooden gears by hand and write down each letter. Enigma II is inspired by the historical Enigma, not a WWII replica.
- Build it into a home escape room or an escape-room birthday party: set your gear order, hide the three-letter keyword as an earlier clue, and the machine becomes the next puzzle to solve.
- Creative Crafthouse props are used in escape rooms around the world. Solid-wood base and laser-engraved gears on alloy steel pins, with no batteries and no lock to jam.
- A holiday gift for the puzzle lover, history buff or code fan in your life: a working machine they can use to write you a coded message back, with three practice messages to decode first.
- Enigma II was the first design in the Enigma gear-cipher series, designed and built by Dave Janelle and Bob Nolet in our Hudson, Florida workshop. 9.4 L x 3 W x 1 H inches.
Assemble the FutureLearn tube model
- Print at the correct scale. In the print dialog, choose “Actual Size,” not “Fit” or “Shrink Oversize pages.” The template is sized for a tube about 7.5 cm in diameter and 23.5 cm in circumference. Changing the print scale can make the strips too large or too small for the cylinder.
- Cut out the strips. Separate Reflector B, Rotor I and Input/Output along their outlines.
- Attach the reflector. Fix the Reflector B strip to the tube with its wires pointing inward.
- Make the rotor ring. Wrap Rotor I around the tube, but do not stick the ring to the tube. Glue its tab so the strip forms a ring that can turn around the cylinder.
- Fix the input/output strip. Attach it to the tube with its grey alignment line matched to the reflector’s line.
- Check movement and alignment. Turn the rotor ring by hand. It should move independently while the reflector and input/output strip stay fixed.
Use the model to trace a letter
Align the letters, follow a letter’s paper path through the rotor and reflector, then trace the return route through the rotor to find the output. The paper paths help show how a rotor-and-reflector circuit can substitute one letter for another; they do not make the paper model a complete electromechanical cipher machine.
The Kyrene handout gives ACE → LBV for its stated setup and instructs users to turn the rotor one step after each output. That result belongs to that handout’s template and settings; it is not a universal Enigma conversion.
Rank #2
- The most powerful of our Enigma Series of Encoders.
- 5 double sided gears can provide 266 billion different possible keys
- Each gear has 37 teeth containing the English alphabet, the digits 0 thru 9 and a decimal point (or period).
- Designed and made in USA by Creative Crafthouse, a small family business in Hudson, FL. Thank you for your support.
What the paper model leaves out
In a real Enigma, an electrical pulse passed through the wheels to a reflector and returned through the wheels by a different route; the corresponding lamp lit to show the encrypted character. Rotor notches stepped other wheels, changing the machine’s state as it was used. Military configurations could also involve three configurable rotors, window settings and a plugboard. With matching settings, encryption and decryption used the same procedure. The National Security Agency’s historical brochure describes this operation in more detail: German Cryptographic Equipment brochure.
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Quick Recap
Rank #4
- Another in our series of Enigma Ciphers, this one with 37 teeth on the gears such that 26 letter, 10 number digits and one symbol can be embedded directly
- Its a beautiful instrument and very functional. 3/4" hickory base and alder or cherry gears
- Designed and made in USA by Creative Crafthouse, a small family business in Hudson, FL. Thank you for your support.
Rank #3
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