Double Helix / DNA Strand | 1904 Neodymium Magnetic Balls @ledwatchman

Uploaded July 2011 | Updated September 2026, 1 hour ago

A stylised DNA chain sculpture from neodymium magnet balls.
Made from 17 identical sub units whose construction is offset creating a 'twist' when interlocked correctly, forming a double helix spiral. You can easily make the helix either left handed (curving from right to left looking down the helix), or right handed (curving from left to right) depending on the direction of the twist you choose. This one happened to be left handed, and was built and filmed before I learned that most real DNA has a right handed spiral. A link to a tutorial for how to build this shape for yourself can be found at the end of this video.
This shape uses 1904 balls total, almost all of 9 standard neocubes (216 balls each). 112 per unit in the chain ,50/50 golden and nickel coloured.
Music is from No Telling Where by New Zealand artist SJD.

#ledwatchman #Neocube #Neoballs #Nanodots #ZenMagnets #Speks #Buckyballs #NingoBalls #CyberCube #KlikyBalls #NeoQube

Double Helix / DNA Strand | 1904 Neodymium Magnetic Balls

$Alien DNA? Hexagonal Triple Helix Fractal | 3 Stages | Neodymium Magnetic Balls Its my 10th anniversary since uploading my first magnet video on September 24th 2010, so Id like to say thanks to all my viewers over the years, and especially to my subscribers, both old and new, for your interest in my magnet art channel ☺️. For this occasion I decided to revisit the concept of magnet helixes and DNA-like forms, but in a new way. Presented here are 3 stages of a fractal pattern based on hexagonal geometry, forming a triple helix instead of the double helix of human and earthly DNA. I used a repeated triangular unit of 42 balls made from 3 rhombuses, with many of the units slightly trimmed using 38 balls each instead. The three helixes intersect with each other cyclically in iteration 1. Rose gold indicates a stabilising core of 3 units halfway between each 360° helical cycle, which make the structure stronger. Iterations 2 and 3 are built successively around the outside of iteration 1, by adding sets of 3 units in a symmetrical pattern. Continuous quasi-helical lines form around the outside of each stage, which I have indicated with yellow gold ball decoration. Iteration 3, the final and largest one, could only support itself in a vertical orientation, and uses about 140 units for a total of around 5500 Neoballs and Neocube magnets (5mm diameter). Music track is Cylinder Seven by Chris Zabriskie, from the YouTube free audio library. #ledwatchman #Neocube #Neoballs #Nanodots #ZenMagnets #Speks #Buckyballs #NingoBalls #CyberCube #KlikyBalls #NeoQube Cylinder Seven by Chris Zabriskie is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) Source: http://chriszabriskie.com/cylinders/ Artist: http://chriszabriskie.com/$

Tetrahedral Hexagon Pyramids | Neodymium Magnetic Balls

$7 Assorted Sphere Designs | Tutorial | 480 to 1440 Neodymium Magnetic Balls This is my 100th published video, and my 99th magnet shape video (as one of my older ones was of an LED watch collection). A big thank you to everyone who has viewed, liked, and commented on my channel and videos over the years 😀 This is my longest ever video, an all-in-one guide to building 7 of my favourite different spheres that I have discovered working with neodymium magnetic balls. The spheres are all related by icosahedral geometry, that is, variations on the 12 vertices and 20 faces of an icosahedron, yet they look quite distinct from one another. There are a range of numbers of magnetic balls required, to suit different sized magnet collections. Spheres 1, 2, 4, 5 & 6 appear in my other videos as hemispheres in a cluster of 12, and sphere 3 has appeared in my Expanded Perfect Sphere video, but not how to build it. All subunits should be built with the same polarity (that is, with the same direction of winding from the same end of the same line of magnets), except where noted below. Also - turn on subtitles for this video to see added onscreen details of how to build each shape. 1) Hollow Icosidodecahedron Sphere - 480 balls 0:20 20 interlocked double layered triangle/hex pieces required, of 12 × 2 = 24 balls each. See here for my tutorial video using this design in a bubble cluster of 12: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ml0f_VDJVEo 2) Hexagon/Triangle Duo Sphere - 720 balls 1:15 12 sets of 5 rings of double hexagon rings, (12 × 5 × 12), the bottom ring of each double ring pinched into a 6 ball triangle. See this design used in a tutorial for a bubble cluster of 12 hemispheres here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQ05k-8OHCQ 3) Double Hexagon Sphere - 1020 balls 2:07 80 double rings of 6 (12 rings of 5 double rings = 60, + 20 more to fill the gaps between rings of 5 double rings of 6), + 12 rings of 5 magnets for the vertices (12 × 5 × 6 × 2 + 20 × 6 × 2 + 12 × 5). See how to expand this design to build a much larger and highly spherical sphere here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZuElEtqvn0 4) Seamless Modular Icosahedron Sphere - 1116 balls 3:46 The pentagonal pieces must interlock with triangle/hex pieces of the opposite polarity, but you can just turn a triangle/hex piece over to change its polarity. The pentagonal pieces should all be made the same way, but in the opposite direction of winding to the triangle/hex pieces, or in the same direction from the opposite end of the same line of magnets. 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See this design in a tutorial for a bubble cluster of 12 domes here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=07gw1SAxoOY 6) Rhombic Triacontahedron Fractal Sphere - 1272 balls 7:21 This shape exhibits quasi self-similarity of the 6 small pieces in each mini hemisphere to the 12 mini hemispheres with each other, a fractal property. (12 × 21 solid pentagonal pieces and 12 × 5 × 17 outer solid square pieces). See this design in a fractal mega cluster of 72 mini hemispheres here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJvS-UJjY1w 7) Octahedral Rhombicosidodecahedron Sphere - 1440 balls 8:40 Each octahedron (or rhombicuboctahedron) must be built exactly as shown, with the rings of 4 balls top and bottom of the 2 rings of 8, and only with the polarity that interlocks with the rings of 8, but then is placed to line up in parallel. The polarity of these little octahedrons is also orientation specific, so they must first be connected carefully as shown into identical triangular subunits of 3, and then they will bond correctly with each other (20 × 3 octahedrons × 24 balls each). Music track is Unfoldment, Revealment, Evolution, Exposition, Integration by Chris Zabriskie, from the YouTube free music library. #ledwatchman #Neocube #Neoballs #Nanodots #ZenMagnets #Speks #Buckyballs #NingoBalls #CyberCube #KlikyBalls #howto Unfoldment, Revealment, Evolution, Exposition, Integration by Chris Zabriskie is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) Source: http://chriszabriskie.com/reappear/ Artist: http://chriszabriskie.com/$

Giant 2V Geodesic Dome Of Magnets | 8020 Neodymium Magnetic Balls

$Modular Icosahedron Hemisphere Cluster Fractal | 12996 Neodymium Magnetic Balls The modular icosahedron structure used in this large bubble cluster shape is made from the 2 subunits shown. The 72 pentagonal pieces are 88 balls each, and the 180 triangle/hexagon interlocking pieces are 37 balls each, giving a total magnet count for the 12 hemisphere mega structure of 88 × 6 × 12 + 37 × 15 × 12 = 12996 5mm neodymium magnetic balls. This is my largest shape by magnet count to date. The complete structure also has the fractal property of quasi self-similarity between the pentagonal pieces in each hemisphere and the hemispheres in the overall cluster. Music track is But Enough About Me, Bill Paxton by Chris Zabriskie, from the YouTube free music library. #ledwatchman #Neocube #Neoballs #Nanodots #ZenMagnets #Speks #Buckyballs #NingoBalls #CyberCube #KlikyBalls #NeoQube But Enough About Me, Bill Paxton by Chris Zabriskie is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Source: http://chriszabriskie.com/dtv/ Artist: http://chriszabriskie.com/$

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