ledwatchmanAn enlargement of the classic Ultimate Sphere or Perfect Sphere neodymium magnetic ball shape, with improved sphericity over smaller versions (closeness in shape to a perfect sphere). The basic principle used here is systematically adding double hexagon rings of opposite polarity to the design of a smaller sphere of 80 double hexagon rings, that extend and slightly flatten the curvature, and therefore increase the diameter of the sphere. To make this work properly a modification of the pentagonal vertices was also required, which leaves small gaps that are filled in later with extra magnets. The final result is large and strong, and the most spherical looking sphere I have yet discovered from neodymium magnetic balls. Requirements: Double hexagon rings: 30 edges × 3 (90) + 20 faces × 7 (140) + 12 vertices × 5 (60) = 290 double rings total (290 × 6 × 2) = 3480 magnets. + 12 × 5 × 4 (240) gap filling magnets for the 12 vertices. + 12 rings of 5 (60) magnets for the vertex pentagons, = A grand total of 3780 magnetic balls.
Music track is Oxygen Garden by Chris Zabriskie, from the YouTube free music library.
Expanded Perfect Sphere | Tutorial | 3780 Neodymium Magnetic Ballsledwatchman2018-04-28 | An enlargement of the classic Ultimate Sphere or Perfect Sphere neodymium magnetic ball shape, with improved sphericity over smaller versions (closeness in shape to a perfect sphere). The basic principle used here is systematically adding double hexagon rings of opposite polarity to the design of a smaller sphere of 80 double hexagon rings, that extend and slightly flatten the curvature, and therefore increase the diameter of the sphere. To make this work properly a modification of the pentagonal vertices was also required, which leaves small gaps that are filled in later with extra magnets. The final result is large and strong, and the most spherical looking sphere I have yet discovered from neodymium magnetic balls. Requirements: Double hexagon rings: 30 edges × 3 (90) + 20 faces × 7 (140) + 12 vertices × 5 (60) = 290 double rings total (290 × 6 × 2) = 3480 magnets. + 12 × 5 × 4 (240) gap filling magnets for the 12 vertices. + 12 rings of 5 (60) magnets for the vertex pentagons, = A grand total of 3780 magnetic balls.
Music track is Oxygen Garden by Chris Zabriskie, from the YouTube free music library.
Oxygen Garden by Chris Zabriskie is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0) Source: http://chriszabriskie.com/divider Artist: http://chriszabriskie.comLife-Size Soccer Ball Of Magnets | 12032 Neodymium Magnetic Ballsledwatchman2023-05-26 | This full sized soccer ball shape is also known in geometry as the truncated icosahedron or buckyball. This large model of edge 10 balls is mostly double layered for strength, and is composed of 12032 5mm N35 strength neodymium magnetic balls. Music track is New Land by ALBIS, from the YouTube free music library.
#ledwatchman #Neocube #Neoballs #Nanodots #ZenMagnets #Speks #Buckyballs #NingoBalls #CyberCube #KlikyBallsComplex Geodesic Dome | 150 Triangles | 8656 Neodymium Magnetic Ballsledwatchman2023-04-04 | I based this triangular geodesic dome on an old design for an hexagonal one I have made a tutorial for: youtu.be/35OcaDOKj6g I subdivided the pentagonal and hexagonal faces of that hexagonal geodesic dome into sets of 5 and 6 triangles to produce this more complex looking design.
Music track is Far Away by MK2, from the YouTube free audio library.Ultra Supersized Honeycomb Mountain | 22848 Neodymium Magnetic Ballsledwatchman2023-02-25 | This is the largest magnetic ball shape I have ever built, using almost all my collection. The hexagonal honeycomb pyramid is built from 544 identical subunits of 42 balls each for a total of 544 × 42 = 22848 5mm neodymium magnetic balls. There are a total of 243 hexagonal holes formed in the entire structure, and it weighs over 11kg. Music track is Serenity by Audionautix.
Artist: http://audionautix.comTubular Dual Dodecahedron Molecule Of Mini Icosidodecahedrons | 10800 Neodymium Magnetic Ballsledwatchman2022-09-01 | This shape made from 5mm neodymium magnetic balls consists of two nested dodecahedrons of tubes between I180 (Icosidodecahedron) double layered mini spheres made from 180 balls each. There are 40 of these I180 spheres in the whole shape, with some balls removed from each to enable hexagon ring connections, and 1 very strong core designed by dskiles of reverse polarity of 3 layers: 60 + 60 + 120 = 240 balls. This quite large shape uses a polarity trick of 2 different types of connections at each end of every tube to make both polarities connect strongly throughout the structure. To achieve the dodecahedral geometry of this shape every connection on the I180 mini spheres is between triangular faces of 3 magnetic balls on each sphere. This requires removing these balls from the surface of each mini sphere so the hexagon tubes attach correctly. There are 20 inner spokes of 6-ring hexagon tubes of length 7 balls to the central core for the inner dodecahedron of the two. 30 outer edge hexagon ring tubes for the inner dodecahedron of length 4 balls. 20 hexagon ring spokes from the inner dodecahedron to the 2nd dodecahedron of length 4 balls. 30 outer edge hexagon ring tubes of the 2nd dodecahedron of length 12 balls. Using I180 double layer units = 40 × 180 = 7200 - 20 × 5 × 3 - 20 × 4 × 3 - 40 × 3 - 30 × 2 × 3 = 6360 magnets for the 40 surrounding spheres. 20 × 6 × 7 + 50 × 6 × 4 + 30 × 6 × 12 = 4200 balls for the connecting hexagon tubes, a grand total of 4200 + 6360 + 240 (for the core) = 10800 magnetic balls. Music track is Prelude No.3 by Chris Zabriskie, from the YouTube free music library.
Artist: http://chriszabriskie.comCore Connected C60 Buckyball & Icosahedron of R60 Mini Spheres | 5040/6960 Neodymium Magnetic Ballsledwatchman2022-05-20 | Composed entirely of R60 mini spheres of 60 balls each (the R stands for Rhombicosidodecahedron), this quite large magnetic ball shape shows the relationship between the C60 fullerene or buckyball and the icosahedron. The buckyball of 60 outer mini spheres (decorated with squares of 4 yellow gold balls) is supported by a central core cluster of 12 mini spheres, and a further inner layer of 12 mini spheres of opposite polarity, indicated by the rose gold ring of 5 balls decoration. Adding 12 more spheres of the same polarity as the core spheres (each decorated with a ring of 5 yellow gold balls), 1 to each vertex, transforms the buckyball sphere of spheres into a core connected icosahedron of mini spheres. In the later part of the video I added 20 more spheres of the same polarity (decorated with triangles of 3 yellow gold balls) for an icosahedron of mini spheres with filled in triangular faces. The internally supported buckyball requires 12 + 12 + 60 = 84 R60 spheres for a total magnet count of 84 × 60 = 5040. The core connected hollow icosahedron adds 12 more R60 spheres, 96 × 60 = 5760, and the complete icosahedron with filled in faces adds 20 more R60 spheres, that is a grand total of 116 mini spheres made from 6960 neodymium magnetic balls. The filled in icosahedron can also be built hollow without the internal core structure, which requires 92 mini spheres and a magnet count of 5520: youtu.be/CpFT7oYVOjE Music track is Please by Wayne Jones, from the YouTube free music library.
#ledwatchman #Neocube #Neoballs #Nanodots #ZenMagnets #Speks #Buckyballs #NingoBalls #CyberCube #KlikyBalls #NeoQubeLarge Molecular Octahedron | Tutorial | 6048/6848 Neodymium Magnetic Ballsledwatchman2022-05-06 | Thanks to viewer Witty Welkins for the suggestion of building a molecular version of an octahedron, a shape I had not built in this form before. This is a re-upload of a previous video I did of this shape because I wanted to make a tutorial video instead showing a better way to build it that I discovered recently. Turn on subtitles/captions for extra onscreen tutorial information. The regular or platonic octahedron has 8 equilateral triangular faces and 6 vertices, and is the dual polyhedron of the familiar cube, or regular hexahedron. This fairly large one in the video is made from 7 custom designed sphere subunits for correct geometry, each made of 8 × 18 ball hexagons, 16 × 12 ball triangles, 6 rings of 8 balls, and 6 squares of 4 balls, total 8 × 18 + 16 × 12 + 6 × 8 + 6 × 24 = 408 balls per sphere. For the 6 outer spheres I left out 1 square of 4 balls for the ring of 8 balls that connects by a tube to the central sphere, giving a slightly revised total of 404 balls per sphere. 1 sphere subunit is built with reverse polarity for the core from 408 balls and is decorated with yellow gold, the other 6 outer spheres are decorated with rose gold. To build with reverse polarity, build the same way from the opposite end of the same line of magnets, or wind each piece from the same end of the line of magnets but in the opposite direction, or build from the same end of the same line of magnets but simply turn each piece over as you make it so the opposite sides are facing up before assembling. 6 octagon tubes of 15 rings of 8 balls each connect between rings of 8 on the surface of the outer spheres and the core sphere. 12 octagon tubes of 26 rings of 8 balls attach between 12 ball triangles on the surface of each outer sphere creating right angle joints for the whole octahedron. The tubes interact differently with the spheres at each end of each connection, but both ends bond pinched 2 different ways between the edges of 12 ball triangles: 2 rows of 4 at one end, and 2 rows of 3 with 1 extra ball at either end of the other end. This end bonds less strongly but the overall strength of the connections is sufficient for the whole shape. 6 × 404 + 408 = 2832 balls for the 7 spheres. 6 × 15 × 8 + 12 × 26 × 8 = 3216 balls for the connecting tubes. 4 support pillars of 25 × 8 = 200 × 4 = 800 extra balls for supporting the octahedron on one sphere (vertical orientation). I used a grand total of 2832 + 3216 = 6048 balls for the large octahedron alone, + 800 balls ( 4 support pillars) for the octahedron in vertical orientation = a greater total of 6848 neodymium magnetic balls (5mm diameter).
Music track is High Wire by The 126ers, from the YouTube free music library.Bubble Cluster Of Stars | Tutorial | 1140/6840 Magnetic Ballsledwatchman2022-04-29 | How to build another bubble cluster design I came up with recently. This one uses a star-like subunit of 5 modified triple hexagon rings held in place by a single pentagonal ring of 5 balls. Each star subunit uses 5 × 3 × 6 + 5 = 95 magnetic balls. 12 of these subunits link easily together to make a small sphere of 12 × 95 = 1140 balls. 72 of these star subunits forming 12 hemispheres of 6 units each are required for the larger bubble cluster shape: a total of 6 × 12 × 95 = 6840 neodymium magnetic balls. These subunits have the right angles of connection to fit easily and quickly together, so the larger construction of 12 hemispheres is quite easy to build, as long as you have enough balls to complete it.
Music track is Song of Sadhana by Jesse Gallagher, from the YouTube free music library.3 Large Bubble Clusters Compared | 6840/7560/8064 Neodymium Magnetic Ballsledwatchman2022-04-10 | The first bubble cluster of 12 hemispheres is my own design and is made from 6840 neodymium magnetic balls (5mm diameter): youtu.be/HopbORFduKg The second bubble cluster was designed by KENTAI000 and is made from 7560 magnetic balls: youtu.be/4_cB38poVIw The third bubble cluster is another of my own designs, and is made from 8064 balls: youtu.be/6afyGhv4-qM A grand total for the 3 large shapes on the glass turntable of 22464 magnets, using nearly all of my collection at once. Music track is Impact Moderato by Kevin MacLeod, from the YouTube free music library.
Artist: http://incompetech.comLarge Rhombicosidodecahedron Bubble Cluster | Tutorial | 1344/8064 Neodymium Magnetic Ballsledwatchman2022-03-11 | How to build a large rhombicosidodecahedron bubble cluster shape from neodymium magnetic balls. Turn on subtitles/captions to see additional help on the video tutorial. A rhombicosidodecahedron is a polyhedron with 12 pentagonal, 20 triangular and 30 square faces in a sphere-like form. This magnet version of that geometry is formed from 2 rigid subunits, a quadruple pentagon one and an interlocked square one. 5 of the square subunits go around each pentagonal subunit forming another larger subunit of 5 × 16 + 6 × 5 + 2 = 112 balls each. 12 of these subunits fit together easily to make a smaller complete sphere, 12 × 112 = 1344 magnetic balls required for one of these. The much larger bubble cluster requires 12 interconnected hemispheres of 6 × 112 = 672 balls each, for a grand total of 8064 magnetic balls required to build the large hollow shape. I used 5mm N35 strength neodymium magnetic balls. A total of 72 quadruple pentagonal units and 360 square units forming 72 subunits (of rings of 5 square units around a quadruple pentagon unit) are required to complete the mega shape. The rigidity of the 2 small units and the symmetry of the square ones allows the hemispheres to form strongly but also connect around their edges and retain their shape despite the finished structure being hollow and weighing over 4kg in total. This shape is my variation on a design originally by KENTAI000 which makes use of an ingenious little square unit of 20 balls each, and is one of my favourite magnetic ball constructions: youtu.be/4_cB38poVIw My version here uses a smaller square unit of 16 balls and also a larger pentagon hub unit of 32 balls, for a somewhat greater magnet count but with a closely related design.
Music track is Tratak by Jesse Gallagher, from the YouTube free music library.DNA-Like Double Helix of R60 Mini Spheres | Tutorial | 2520+ Neodymium Magnetic Ballsledwatchman2022-02-18 | How to build a large molecular structure that resembles a strand of double helix DNA from neodymium magnetic balls. This molecule is made entirely from a simple repeating pattern of interconnected mini spheres of 60 magnetic balls each that I call R60 spheres, because they each have the same structure as a small Rhombicosidodecahedron - 12 pentagonal, 20 triangular and 30 square faces on each little sphere. All connections on this build are either between interlocked pentagonal rings of 5 balls on 2 spheres of different polarity, or between square faces of 4 balls on 2 spheres of identical polarity. The coloured triangles of 3 balls on each sphere simply indicate which polarity (direction of winding during construction) the sphere was built with: yellow gold indicates 1 polarity and rose gold indicates the other. As you can see in the video the double helix pattern is formed by an alternating polarity structure of a subunit of 6 R60 mini spheres each. Every rung in the helix is structurally identical, but every 2nd rung is made with each polarity in the spheres forming the subunit reversed from the previous rung in the twisted ladder design, as indicated by the 2 different coloured triangles, to help you see for yourself the pattern required. A chain of 7 of the 6-sphere subunits completes a 360° rotation of the double helix, therefore every rung in the helix rotates it by 60° from the previous rung. This requires 7 × 6 × 60 = 2520 magnetic balls. The double helix built in this video is rotating from left to right looking down the length of it forming a right handed helix, similar to most real DNA. The large completed structure on the glass turntable is made from 13 rungs which completes 2 rotations or 720° of the double helix. A total magnet count for this large strand of 13 × 6 × 60 + 2 × 60 (2 extra mini spheres for symmetry at both ends) = 80 R60 mini spheres and 4800 magnetic balls.
Music track is Virtues Inherited, Vices Passed On by Chris Zabriskie, from the YouTube copyright free music library.
Virtues Inherited, Vices Passed On by Chris Zabriskie is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Artist: http://chriszabriskie.comLarge Molecular 2V Geodesic Sphere | Tutorial | 13660 Neodymium Magnetic Ballsledwatchman2021-12-18 | This is a display and tutorial video of a true 2V geodesic sphere made with 5mm neodymium magnetic balls from sphere and tube subunits. You can turn on subtitles for this video to see extra tutorial info onscreen of how I built this shape. The 2V geodesic sphere has 42 vertices in total and 120 edges of 2 different lengths, forming 80 triangular faces all around it. 20 of the triangles are equilateral, formed between 30 hexagonal hubs, and the other 60 are isoceles, with 1 edge between hexagonal hubs and 2 slightly shorter edges each formed by connection to 12 pentagonal hubs. I used a fundamental mini sphere subunit of a reinforced double layer icosidodecahedron of 180 balls each when complete (I call it an I180 for short), with 12 pentagonal ring faces of 5 balls and 20 triangular faces of 3 balls each. 30 hexagonal hub spheres of 1 polarity (here decorated with yellow gold and white) and 12 pentagonal hub spheres of opposite polarity (here decorated with rose gold) are required. Each hexagonal hub sphere has 2 attachments points for nonagon tubes (rings of 9 balls 6 balls long) capped at each end with filled 12 ball triangles. The attachment points are made by removing 2 triangles of 3 balls from 2 faces forming the correct angle on the spheres as shown in the tutorial part of the video. They also have 4 hexagonal tubes (rings of 6 balls 4 balls long each) attached at geometrically correct points on the mini spheres to help produce the large geodesic sphere once interconnected. These attachment points are made by removing 4 pairs of 2 balls between pentagonal and triangular faces on the surface of the mini spheres as shown. Each of 12 rose gold pentagonal hubs has 5 attachment points in a circle around it, made by removing 5 triangular faces of 3 balls each. One end of the nonagon tubes will bond strongly to the hexagonal hub I180 spheres and the other end of opposite polarity will bond equally strongly to the pentagonal hub I180 spheres. 80 triangular faces are formed in the whole large sphere: 20 equilateral triangles of 3 hexagon tubes, and 60 isosceles triangles of 2 nonagon tubes and 1 hexagon tube. A total magnet count required to build this large sphere for yourself of: 180 - 2 × 3 - 8 = 166 × 30 [edge connecting I180 spheres decorated in yellow gold], 180 - 5 × 3 = 165 × 12 [opposite polarity I180 vertex spheres decorated with rose gold] , 60 × (6 × 9 + 6) [nonagon tube connectors, capped with 12 ball filled triangles at each end] , 4 × 6 × 4 × 30 [hexagon tube connectors] , a total of 13440 neodymium magnetic balls for the complete sphere. To form a stable base I also added base supports of 5 × 4 × 10 + 2 × 10 = +220 for 6 decagon tubes of 10 ball rings around downward facing rings of 5 balls on the 6 lowest I180 spheres: 5 of length 4, and 1 on the lowest central sphere of length 2 balls, for a grand total of 13660 neodymium magnetic balls.
Music track is We Always Thought the Future Would Be Kind of Fun by Chris Zabriskie, from the YouTube free music library.
We Always Thought the Future Would Be Kind of Fun by Chris Zabriskie is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Artist: http://chriszabriskie.comSupersized Octahedral Icosahedron And Dodecahedron | Tutorial | 10800/16200 Neodymium Magnetic Ballsledwatchman2021-12-03 | Large magnet shapes made entirely from a repeating octahedron subunit of 36 neodymium magnetic balls each (5mm diameter ones). The unit is made from 4 rings of 9 balls simply pinched into triangles at each end as shown. All units should be made and connected with the same polarity, that is wound in the same direction from the same end of the same line of magnets. Turning a unit upside down so the opposite open triangular side is visible on top will reverse its polarity, so keep them all the same way up as you make them. The open icosahedron without its pentagonal vertices is made from 20 × 12 = 240 units, which is 8640 balls. The filled in icosahedron of edge 5 units is made from 20 × 15 = 300 units, and 10800 balls. The larger dodecahedron dome is made from 15 subunits of 30 octahedrons, so 15 × 30 = 450 octahedrons × 36 = 16200 balls. A complete sphere of 20 subunits at that scale would collapse under its own weight, but the large dome is well supported. The geometry of these pentagonal designs with octahedrons is approximate and not exact, as the angles between octahedrons don't form the pentagonal rings exactly but leave a small gap that is mostly closed by the magnetic force, but still detectable if you look closely enough.
Artist: http://incompetech.com5 Large Molecular Polyhedrons of Icosidodecahedrons | Part Tutorial | Neodymium Magnetic Ballsledwatchman2021-11-19 | Large tube and sphere versions of 5 different polyhedrons from 5mm neodymium magnetic balls, and all made from the same spherical icosidodecahedron subunit. Various different connecting struts were used in different ways to produce the correct geometry for each shape.
0:15 Tutorial for the icosidodecahedron used in each shape, 672 balls each. To build this subunit sphere with opposite polarity, build both pieces required the same way but from the opposite end of the same line of magnets, or build the pieces by winding in the opposite direction from the same end of the same line of magnetic balls.
1) 1:23 Molecular Tetrahedron of Icosidodecahedrons - 5 spheres. 2 different length connecting struts were used which are triangular tubes of alternating 12 ball triangles and 9 ball rings, 6 of length 26 rings around the outside, 4 of length 11 rings connected to the core sphere. Localised reversal of polarity at one triangular face at one end of every tube connection was used to make the tubes bond equally strongly at both ends. A total magnet count of: 5 × 672 + 10 × 13 × 12 + 10 × 13 × 9 + 3 + 4 × 7 × 12 + 4 × 4 × 9 = 6573 magnetic balls.
2) 2:42 Molecular Hexahedron (Cube) of Icosidodecahedrons - 9 spheres. 12 outer edge hexagonal tubes of length 19 rings, an 18 ball hexagon at both ends. 8 inner diagonal hexagonal tubes to the central core sphere of length 14 rings, 2 types: 4 with an 18 ball hexagon at one end and an 18 ball double circle for the core connection at the other end, and 4 with an 18 ball hexagon at one end and an 18 ball triangle for the core connection at the other end. Localised polarity reversal at 4 of the triangular face connections on the core sphere were used to make the double ring ends of the tubes to the centre bond strongly. To form the cubic geometry of this shape, 3 right angled connections on each outer sphere are created by removing 16 balls per attachment region, to accommodate the hexagon shaped ends of the 12 outer tubes. The 8 outer spheres are also alternating in polarity from corner to corner, so that the outer and inner tubes connect the same way to the outer spheres with 18 ball hexagons at every connection. A total magnet count of: 9 × 672 - 8 × 16 × 3 + 12 × 19 × 18 + 8 × 14 × 18 = 11784 magnetic balls.
3) 3:54 Molecular Icosahedron of Icosidodecahedrons - 13 spheres. 42 simple decagon tubes of rings of 10 balls, 30 of length 12 rings and 12 tubes to the central sphere of length 11 rings for correct geometry. The single core sphere was built with opposite polarity to the outer spheres to accommodate the 12 odd number length tubes of 11 rings each to the centre. Localised polarity reversal of the pentagonal vertices of the 12 outer spheres was used at one end of each of the 30 connections between the outer spheres. This creates an equally strong bond at each end of those connections. A total magnet count of: 13 × 672 + 30 × 12 × 10 + 12 × 11 × 10 = 13656 - 12 - 12 × 6 (missing vertex centre balls of interconnected vertices) = 13572 magnetic balls.
4) 5:18 Molecular Rhombic Dodecahedron of Icosidodecahedrons - 15 spheres. 32 hexagonal tubes of 18 balls per ring, and all of length 12 rings. One end of each strut is 18 ball hexagon shaped and the other is an 18 ball double circle ring. The double circle ends bond strongly to 4 polarity reversed triangular faces on the surface of each of the 8 spheres connected to the core sphere, while at the other end the hexagon ends of every tube bond strongly to unmodified triangular faces. 3 polarity reversed faces on each of the 8 core connected spheres are also connected by the tubes to the 6 outer vertex spheres. All spheres were otherwise built with the same polarity. A total magnet count of 15 × 672 + 32 × 12 × 18 = 16992 magnetic balls.
5) 5:59 Molecular Dodecahedron of Icosidodecahedrons - 21 spheres. 50 interconnecting enneagon tubes of simple rings of 9 balls, 20 of length 14 balls towards the centre and 30 of length 6 balls between the outer spheres. The same local polarity reversal trick of the triangular faces was used at one end of all 30 connections between the outer spheres. Every sphere was otherwise built with the same polarity. A total magnet count of 21 × 672 + 20 × 14 × 9 + 30 × 6 × 9 = 18252 magnetic balls.
Music track is The Sun is Scheduled to Come Out Tomorrow by Chris Zabriskie, from the YouTube free music library.
The Sun is Scheduled to Come Out Tomorrow by Chris Zabriskie is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Artist: http://chriszabriskie.comSeamless Star Sphere Bubble Cluster | 6056 Neodymium Magnetic Ballsledwatchman2021-08-07 | Inspired by the work of HYPRKLSTRKMPLX, who first discovered this type of cluster shape: youtu.be/J6iAvYgLAC4 The bubble cluster in the video is made of 12 radius 5 seamless 1 layer thick rhombic triacontahedrons (482 balls each), each of which is a polyhedron with 30 identical diamond or rhombus shaped faces in a sphere-like form. These 12 surround a core of a smaller seamless (also 1 layer thick) radius 4 rhombic triacontahedron (272 balls), for a total of 6056 5mm neodymium magnetic balls. An alternative core of a seamless icosahedron edge 6 (252 balls) also fits nicely in the centre of the cluster, as shown in the video. See my seamless polyhedron tutorial and the video description underneath it for more details of building these types of seamless and scalable 1 layer shapes: youtu.be/ju_KY0eDcX4 Music track used is Viree Nocturne by Kryptic.
#ledwatchman #Neocube #Neoballs #Nanodots #ZenMagnets #Speks #Buckyballs #NingoBalls #CyberCube #KlikyBalls #NeoQubeSupersized Honeycomb Mountain | 22770 Neodymium Magnetic Ballsledwatchman2021-07-30 | A giant version of my Honeycomb Mountain or Honeycomb Pyramid shape from 5mm neodymium magnetic balls. I used a larger version of the triangular subunit that creates the hexagonal pyramid pattern, and built it with 13 layers including the single unit peak. 235 units + 18 extra units to support the base were required for this large magnet shape. The single repeating subunit uses 3 rhombuses of 30 balls each, so the total magnet count for this construction is 253 × 90 = 22770 magnetic balls, which weighs over 11kg. This is the largest magnet structure I have ever built, both by physical size and the number of magnets used. My old tutorial for how this pattern can be built can be found here: youtu.be/r1anQGBOXy8
Artist: http://chriszabriskie.comLarge Icosidodecahedron Bubble Cluster | Tutorial | 1092/8712 Neodymium Magnetic Ballsledwatchman2021-07-23 | Another version of a bubble cluster of 12 hemispheres from magnetic balls. The sphere used is made from 2 subunits: a double layer triangular unit made from 36 balls each, and a single layer pentagonal unit made from 31 balls each. A pretty simple construction in principle, but fitting together the 12 hemispheres of 15 triangular and 6 pentagonal units each can be a bit tricky, and is not fully shown in the video. I built it with 4 layers of 3 bubbles, and I supported the low 2nd layer of 3 bubbles with 3 plastic Neoballs Tesseract Cassette containers as scaffolding to carefully connect all the other bubbles without collapsing the structure. A single sphere is very easy to build however as fully shown: it requires 12 × 31 + 20 × 36 = 1092 balls. The large complete bubble cluster requires 15 triangular units and 6 pentagonal units per bubble, ie (15 × 36 + 6 × 31) × 12 = a grand total of 8712 neodymium magnetic balls. Music track is Malmo Sunrise by The 126ers, from the YouTube copyright free music library.
#ledwatchman #Neocube #Neoballs #Nanodots #ZenMagnets #Speks #Buckyballs #NingoBalls #CyberCube #KlikyBalls #howto8 Large Polyhedrons From A Quasi Rhombic Dodecahedron Subunit | Tutorial | Neodymium Magnetic Ballsledwatchman2021-07-16 | A variety of 8 large polyhedrons that are all made from interconnected quasi rhombic dodecahedron subunits. I call them 'quasi' because a true rhombic dodecahedron has 12 completely flat diamond faces, but these ones have slightly concave ones, actually composed of 24 trapezoidal faces, but they still illustrate the way the rhombic dodecahedron fills 3D space and can form many different geometric shapes. I built 51 inner edge 4 quasi rhombic dodecahedron subunits using almost my entire magnet collection, 12 fully reinforced using 480 balls each, with a 3rd internal layer of 12 × 3 × 2 = 72 balls, the other 39 used 432 balls each, only reinforced top and bottom during construction, with just 3 × 4 × 2 = 24 balls used in the innermost 3rd layer. Several of these builds are made from all 51 units, have a total magnet count of 22608 neodymium magnetic balls (5mm diameter), and weigh over 11kg.
3) 1:25 Edge 5 Square Pyramid - A complete hollow version that used 50 units. A fully solid cluster requires 55 units.
4) 1:58 Edge 6 Tetrahedron - I used 49 units. A fully solid cluster requires 56 units.
5) 2:15 Quasi Cubic Solid Cluster - 51 units.
6) 2:34 Edge 3 Cuboctahedron - I used 51 units. A fully solid cluster requires 55 units.
7) 2:55 Edge 5 Rectangular Pyramid - I used 49 units. A fully solid cluster requires 55 units.
8) 3:25 Edge 3 Truncated Tetrahedron - I used all 51 of my units in a hollow construction. A fully solid cluster requires 68 units.
3:49 Tutorial - shows how I built the inner edge 4 reinforced stabilised quasi rhombic dodecahedron subunit - both a fully reinforced version (480 balls each), and a top and bottom only reinforced version (432 balls each).
Artist: http://chriszabriskie.comDeath Star Of Magnetic Balls + DESTRUCTION!! | 7080+ Neodymium Magnetsledwatchman2021-02-12 | I finally destroyed one of my magnet shapes on camera - well I had to, it was the evil Imperial Death Star! Made from my own supersized ultimate sphere design, a big expansion of the classic neocube double layered hexagon based sphere shape of 1860 balls, that uses a whopping 7080 balls instead. I modified it with a super laser dish and an equatorial trench, and decorated it with electroplated silver and black neoballs as well as the standard nickel to try and match the look of the original iconic Star Wars design. The soundtrack was edited with music and sound effects from the 80s Star Wars arcade games - fair use and no copyright infringement intended.
#ledwatchman #StarWars #Neocube #Neoballs #Nanodots #ZenMagnets #Speks #Buckyballs #NingoBalls #CyberCube #KlikyBalls #NeoQubeGiant Cluster Of Rhombic Dodecahedrons Of Rhombicuboctahedrons | 14400 Neodymium Magnetic Ballsledwatchman2021-02-05 | Each rhombic dodecahedron in the cluster is made from 50 little 24 ball rhombicuboctahedron units in an alternating polarity pattern. I used rose and yellow gold neoballs on each unit to help me indicate polarity and orientation and construct them correctly. This cluster of 12 leaves a gap in the middle the exact shape of a 13th rhombic dodecahedron, as this polyhedron has the property of filling or tessellating 3D space fully, as cubes do. The little units I used are too fragile for the mega cluster of 12 rhombic dodecahedrons (of 600 units in total) to rest on a hard surface, so I used a memory foam cushion this time to display it. Also once these r.d.s are bonded together you can't separate them again with cards without damaging them, so this structure was pretty tricky to work with, and uses the highest magnet count for any of my magnet shapes to date: 50 × 24 × 12 = 14400 5mm neodymium magnetic balls.
Music track is Prelude No. 6 by Chris Zabriskie, from the YouTube free music library.
Artist: http://chriszabriskie.comCuboctahedrons Of Octahedrons | Neodymium Magnetic Ballsledwatchman2021-01-29 | The cuboctahedron is a polyhedron related to the cube and the octahedron, with 6 square and 8 triangular faces. These ones of neodymium magnetic balls (5mm diameter) are made by connecting many little octahedron units along their edges. The 2 smaller constructions use rhombicuboctahedron units of 24 balls each, (they can also be seen as small octahedrons). 36 and 68 units were required for these 2 cuboctahedrons, giving magnet totals of 864 and 1632 balls respectively. The 2 bigger versions are made with larger octahedron units of 8 × 6 = 48 balls each. 92 and 162 units respectively were required for building them with filled in square faces, giving magnet totals of 4416 and 7776 balls.
Music track is Prelude No. 23 by Chris Zabriskie, from the YouTube free music library.
Artist: http://chriszabriskie.comGiant Modular Icosahedron Hemisphere Cluster Fractal | 12996 Neodymium Magnetic Ballsledwatchman2021-01-22 | 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.
Artist: http://chriszabriskie.comLarge Rhombic Lattice Tube And Sphere Dodecahedron | 11640 Neodymium Magnetic Ballsledwatchman2021-01-08 | This is my largest shape to date by magnet count, and one of my largest by physical size. It uses 122 R60 spheres (Rhombicosidodecahedron 60 ball spheres), and 240 hexagonal tube connectors of 6 x 3 balls each, for a grand total of 122 × 60 + 240 × 18 = 11640 neodymium magnetic balls (5mm diameter). 60 of the R60 spheres are of opposite polarity to the others to enable the hexagonal tubes of 3 rings in length to connect them all with the proper orientation. All connections on the structure are between triangular faces of 3 balls on each R60 sphere, which function here as little icosahedrons. I based this structure on a geometric computer graphic by channel 88625652: youtu.be/IMtsMqEzWNY I made use of the outer layer of this model but replaced many of the icosahedrons in it with tubes to create a giant rhombic (diamond) pattern hollow dodecahedron of spheres and tubes.
Music track is Cylinder Two by Chris Zabriskie, from the YouTube free music library.
Artist: http://chriszabriskie.comCluster Complex of Truncated Tetrahedrons | 3 Stages | 10720 Neodymium Magnetic Ballsledwatchman2021-01-01 | Made from 2 different truncated tetrahedron units that are semisolid, with an extra internal layer for strength. The first one is made from 112 balls each, (decorated in yellow gold) and the second pointy version is made from 88 balls (decorated with rose gold). The two units were built with opposite polarity to each other so that they interlock very strongly. Stage 1 is a golden core of 20 unit 1 truncated tetrahedrons, 2240 magnetic balls. Stage 2 adds 20 of unit 2 around the outside to form a 20 pointed star, a total of 4000 magnetic balls. Stage 3 adds 12 rings of 5 of unit 1, that is +60 units to form a dodecahedral mega ball of a total of 100 units and 10720 magnetic balls. The geometry of this shape is actually only an approximation and not precisely correct as tetrahedrons do not geometrically form perfectly closed rings of 5 units - in fact they leave a small gap, but magnetic force closes the gaps so this shape still works nearly perfectly with physical magnets. Some small distortions were formed in the final structure, but you have to look closely to find them.
Music track is Cylinder Three by Chris Zabriskie, from the YouTube free audio library.
Artist: http://chriszabriskie.com5 Scalable Seamless Polyhedrons | Tutorial | 127 to 272 Neodymium Magnetic Ballsledwatchman2020-12-30 | A quick video guide to building 5 different seamless and scalable 1 layer polyhedrons made from neodymium magnetic balls. Seamless means all the balls in each shape interlock closely with opposite polarity, instead of lining up in parallel and creating visible seams all over, ('seamed' subunits are better suited for interconnecting into larger structures). Scalable means they can each be built in multiple sizes. Although they are only hollow and 1 layer thick, these are nice and strong and stable once completed with an almost fabric-like quality. It takes a bit of practice and skill to get familiar with these structures, make the pieces to the right size, and fit them together correctly, so don't give up if they seem tricky at first!
1) 0:18 Pentagonal Bipyramid - Edge 6 - 127 balls. Build a pentagon 'hill' of outer edge 6 balls, and a pentagon 'valley' of edge 5 balls. This gives correct polarity from the same end of the line of magnets. Connect the smaller valley to the hill pentagon carefully as shown. To change scale, choose any outer edge length N pentagon hill of magnets and build the opposite side pentagon valley to edge N-1 magnets.
2) 1:31 Rhombic Icosahedron - Radius 4 - 182 balls. This UFO-like shape has 20 rhombic (diamond shaped) faces. Start by building a pentagonal 'hill' of edge 7, and then a pentagonal 'valley' of edge 6, then connect the corner of the valley pentagon to the centre of the odd numbered hill pentagon edge. This produces rhombic edges of 4 balls in the completed shape, which I call radius 4. To build in a different size, you can only choose an odd number for the pentagonal hill edge N, and build a pentagonal valley of edge N-1, to produce rhombic faces of radius (N+1) ÷ 2.
3) 2:41 Rhombic Dodecahedron - Radius 5 - 194 balls. This shape has 12 rhombic (diamond shaped) faces that are somewhat convex, so that it also resembles an octahedron of 8 triangular sides. The radius 5 refers to the number of balls forming each rhombic edge in the finished shape. Build a 4 sided pyramid 'mountain' to outer edge 6, then build 4 edges of 5, 4, and 3 around the outside. Pinch each edge of 3 into vertices. Build a 4 sided upside down pyramid 'valley' to edge 7, and then connect the corner of this into the corner of the mountain and fold the pieces together. Add a magnet to the top and one to the bottom to complete the shape. To scale this shape up or down, choose a rhombic edge radius of R, build a 4 sided pyramid to outer edge R + 1, add edges of R balls to all 4 sides and then keep adding -1 ball edges to all 4 sides down to edge 3, and pinch these 4 edges of 3 balls into vertices. Now build a 4 sided valley to edge 2R - 3, and connect the corners of this valley pyramid to the mountain one as shown. Requires a total magnet count of 12 × (R-1)^2 + 2. Thanks to Boyd Edwards for his excellent tutorial and help with the math for this shape: youtu.be/waE6MvWty_o
4) 5:03 Icosahedron - Edge 6 - 252 balls. Build a pentagonal 'hill' and 'valley' to outer edge 6 from the same line of magnets. Then add 4 rings of 25 balls to one pentagonal pyramid. Add the bottom pyramid so the corners form triangles of edge 6 as shown and complete the icosahedron. To scale up or down, choose an edge N, build a hill and valley pentagonal pyramid of outer edge N, add N-2 rings of 5(N-1) balls, and connect the 2nd pyramid to form triangular faces of edge N. Edge 7 requires 362 balls, edge 8 requires 492 balls. You can also build it smaller (edge 5, 4 or 3).
5) 6:21 Rhombic Triacontahedron - Radius 4 - 272 balls. This shape has 30 rhombic or diamond faces in a sphere-like formation. The radius 4 refers to the number of balls along each rhombic edge in the final shape. Build a hill and valley pentagonal pyramid of outer edge 7 from the same line of magnets. Add a ball to the centre of each edge of the pentagonal hill pyramid and slightly pinch. Then complete 2 zigzag layers of 30 balls each. Carefully attach the 2nd pentagonal pyramid (the valley one) by corners into zigzag centres as shown. To scale up or down, you can only choose an odd number for the pentagonal pyramid outer edge. Edge odd number N produces a rhombic triacontahedron of radius R = (N + 1) ÷ 2. The odd number edge N required = radius 2R - 1. The number of zigzag layers required between pyramids = (N - 3) ÷ 2, or R - 2. The number of balls per zigzag layer is 5(N - 1). Edge 9, radius 5 requires a total of 482 balls. edge 11, radius 6 requires 752 balls. A smaller one is edge 5, radius 3, which requires just 122 balls.
Music track is Passing Time by Kevin MacLeod, from the YouTube free audio library.
#ledwatchman #Neocube #Neoballs #Nanodots #ZenMagnets #Speks #Buckyballs #NingoBalls #CyberCube #KlikyBalls #howtoLarge Molecular Sphere Frame Of Spheres | 9846/9870 Neodymium Magnetic Ballsledwatchman2020-12-28 | Built from 42 mini icosidodecahedron spheres, and 60 interconnecting struts. The spheres are 180 balls each when complete and reinforced internally for strength. 12 of the spheres are vertex connectors (decorated with rose gold) of one polarity with 5 attachment points, while the other 30 are of opposite polarity (decorated with yellow gold) with 2 attachment points each. Alternating polarity like this is essential to make strong interlocking connections throughout the structure. All attachment points on the spheres are across triangles of 9 balls, with 3 inner balls removed from each attachment point to make strong bonds. 3 more struts are added to the base for support in holding it up on one triangular face. I also oriented it in the video vertically, which required 5 tubes of 3 rings of 10 added to the 5 yellow gold connecting spheres around a single rose gold vertex sphere at the bottom. A total magnet count therefore of: 165 × 12 [vertex spheres] + 174 × 30 [edge spheres] + (9 × 4 + 6 = 42) × 63 [hex/triangle connecting struts], an extra 3 for the base = 9846 magnets. Vertical orientation total (-3 x 42) + (5 × 10 × 3 = 150) [extra base tubes] = 9870 Neoballs & Neocube magnets (5mm diameter). This large finished structure is a precise geometric form, based on the computer graphic discovery by Kevan of channel 88625652 of a fascinating large icosahedral spherical frame formed from 102 interconnected icosahedrons, which can be seen here: youtu.be/I3MWmg9iP0k
Music track is Cylinder Six by Chris Zabriskie, from the YouTube free music library.
Artist: http://chriszabriskie.comAlien DNA? Hexagonal Triple Helix Fractal | 3 Stages | Neodymium Magnetic Ballsledwatchman2020-09-24 | It's my 10th anniversary since uploading my first magnet video on September 24th 2010, so I'd 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.
Cylinder Seven by Chris Zabriskie is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution licence (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0) Source: http://chriszabriskie.com/cylinders Artist: http://chriszabriskie.comLarge Molecular Diamond Sphere | 8760/9060 Neodymium Magnetic Ballsledwatchman2020-05-08 | Construction Notes: This is geometrically a large rhombic triacontahedron, a sphere like polyhedron made of 30 identical rhombus or diamond shaped faces all around it. I made use of this computer generated design of one built from icosidodecahedrons, but replaced most of them with tubes: youtu.be/_A9PYaf9r3o I used small reinforced icosidodecahedron spheres made from 180 balls each, and tubes of 5 rings of 10 balls to form the complete molecular style frame. There are 32 mini spheres in total, 12 of one polarity with 5 tube attachments, and 20 spheres of the other polarity with 3 tube attachments. A total of 60 tubes are interconnected across only the pentagonal faces of the mini spheres to form the rhombic triacontahedron geometry. Tubes of an odd number of rings of 10 are required to make the spheres line up correctly. I tried building this shape with tubes of length 7 rings, but it was too unstable and collapsed shortly after construction. Length 5 works just right and makes a strong, stable build. It will sit nicely on a face of 4 spheres and 4 tubes, but to orient it with pentagonal sphere points vertical, I added 5 tubes (of rings of 10) 6 balls long to 5 spheres around the pentagonal vertex sphere at the bottom to form a base, which holds the whole structure up nicely. Total use of gold on the surface of the mini spheres was 10 × 12 [pentagonal vertex spheres] and 6 × 20 [triangular vertex spheres] = 240 yellow gold balls. A total magnet count of 32 × 180 [mini spheres] + 60 × 10 × 5 [tubes] = 8760. 5 × 10 × 6 [extra legs] = +300 extra magnets for holding up the sphere vertically, giving another total of 9060 neodymium magnetic balls (diameter 5mm).
Music track is Cylinder Eight by Chris Zabriskie, from the YouTube free audio library.
Cylinder Eight by Chris Zabriskie is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0) Source: http://chriszabriskie.com/cylinders Artist: http://chriszabriskie.comModel of the Coronavirus From Magnets | Magnified × 1.5M | 8931 Neodymium Magnetic Ballsledwatchman2020-04-24 | A stylised geometric representation of the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, that we're told causes COVID-19 disease in susceptible individuals: ie mainly the elderly and the otherwise immunocompromised.
Construction Notes: This was made entirely from 5mm diameter neodymium magnetic balls. The magnet model uses my 2 layer thick expanded sphere design of 3780 balls: youtu.be/cZuElEtqvn0 To this I have added 80 projections, 7 for the reinforced base and 73 smaller ones of 48 magnets each, to hexagon rings on the surface of the sphere. Decorated with yellow gold, these represent the glycoprotein spikes that crown the virus and give it its name (corona meaning crown-like). There are also 69 nodules of 3 rose gold balls each added to the surface of the sphere to represent what are called membrane glycoproteins. I had to build a large strong base of 7 nickel legs to hold up the complete structure. And I'd like to thank and acknowledge my flatmate's girlfriend Jane for the suggestion of a vertical internal pillar that continues through the envelope all the way to the top of the inside of the large sphere. This was the key to making this large shape work, as the sphere was collapsing under the weight of all its extra projections until I tried this. A total magnet count of 3780 (sphere) + 48 × 73 (spikes) + 6 × 126 + 162 (base) + 29 × 18 (internal pillar) + 207 (nodules) = 8931 neodymium magnetic balls (5mm diameter). (This total includes 73 × 6 = 438 yellow gold, and 3 × 69 = 207 rose gold balls.) The diameter of the completed model is close to 18 cm, which with the reported diameter of the actual virus being 120 nanometers, gives a calculated scale of 1.5 million : 1.
Music track is I Am a Man Who Will Fight for Your Honor by Chris Zabriskie from the YouTube free music library.
I Am a Man Who Will Fight for Your Honor by Chris Zabriskie is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)Dr Source: http://chriszabriskie.com/honor Artist: http://chriszabriskie.com2 Large Molecular Star Forms | 8640/6520 Neodymium Magnetic Ballsledwatchman2020-04-17 | Construction Notes: The first star molecule is similar to a stellated icosahedron with 20 atom points or stellations, except the points are 'floating' on the 12 icosahedron vertices with no edge tubes underneath. I used 32 double layered icosidodecahedron spheres of 180 balls each, but triangles of 3 balls were removed from them to produce anchoring points for 60 tubes of rings of 9 balls of length 6 balls each. 12 of the spheres are icosahedron vertices with 5 connection points, and are opposite polarity to the 20 stellation spheres with 3 connection points each. All connections are made between triangular faces on each little icosidodecahedron. The finished structure is strong enough to pick up carefully without breaking. A total magnet count of 60 × 9 × 6 [tubes of 9-rings] + 12 × 165 + 20 × 171 [32 icosidodecahedron spheres of 180 balls when complete] = 8640 neodymium magnetic balls of 5mm diameter.
The second star molecule is a rhombic hexecontahedron with 20 atom points again but also 60 diamond or rhombus faces formed by the pentagonal tubes, 3 around each point. This one has an internal matrix structure of 3 layers, a central 60 ball sphere surrounded by tubes of 5 rings 4 balls long, to 12 spheres of opposite polarity, then a layer of 30 more spheres each of the first polarity with 2 similar tubes each, finally an outer layer of 20 spheres of the opposite polarity again to the core with 3 tubes each. I colour coded each type of sphere with rose gold for the first polarity and yellow gold for the opposite polarity R60 spheres (R stands for Rhombicosidodecahedron). 5 extra tubes of 5 rings of 4 were used at the base to stabilise. The whole shape is therefore composed entirely of rings of 5 balls, as each R60 mini sphere is made of 12 rings. This structure can also be lifted and moved around carefully without crushing. A total magnet count of (1 + 12 + 30 + 20) × 60 [R60 spheres] + (12 + 30 × 2 + 20 × 3 + 5) × (5 × 4) [pentagonal tubes length 4] = 6520 magnetic balls.
Music track is Cylinder Nine by Chris Zabriskie, from the YouTube audio library.
Cylinder Nine by Chris Zabriskie is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0) Source: http://chriszabriskie.com/cylinders Artist: http://chriszabriskie.comSierpinski Dodecahedron Fractal | 9000 Neodymium Magnetic Ballsledwatchman2019-12-14 | A Sierpinski dodecahedron is a geometric fractal object made by taking a single dodecahedron of 12 regular pentagonal sides and replacing it with 20 smaller dodecahedrons at each corner, interconnected along their edges, creating the self-similarity of a large hollow dodecahedron made out of 20 small ones. This is iteration 1, and further iterations can be made by replacing all the new dodecahedrons with 20 more for each one, making 400, then 8000, and so on. My magnet shape here corresponds to iteration 1, a large dodecahedron of 20 smaller ones. It has a resemblance to iteration 2, or much higher iterations, because of the holes in each face of the small dodecahedrons, and because it was necessary to remove some magnets from their edges to make them bond very strongly. Included in the video is footage of a large single dodecahedron to contrast as the starting point for iteration 1 of the fractal, and there's a little video magic you may spot partway through. 10 magnetic balls were removed from each of 3 edges of the outside of every small dodecahedron during construction. They are also reinforced with a 120 ball core of reverse polarity within to make them semisolid, and strong enough to hold up the weight of the whole structure. I used 5mm N35 strength Neocube and Neoball magnetic balls. The large single dodecahedron uses 12 × 571 (double layer pentagon faces of outer edge 13) + 271 (base reinforcement) = 7123 magnets. The Sierpinski dodecahedron uses 20 × (120 (double layer core) + 12 × 30 (small pentagon faces edge 4) - 30 (removed from edges)) = exactly 9000 magnets. 180 bright gold Neoballs were used to highlight the corners of the edges, and one of the small dodecahedrons was made completely out of new Neoball additions to my old NeoQube brand collection.
Music track is Is That You or Are You You by Chris Zabriskie, from the YouTube free music library.
Is That You or Are You You by Chris Zabriskie is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0) Source: http://chriszabriskie.com/reappear Artist: http://chriszabriskie.com7 Assorted Sphere Designs | Tutorial | 480 to 1440 Neodymium Magnetic Ballsledwatchman2019-07-26 | 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: 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: 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: 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. If you make a mistake in building them you can flip their polarity also by removing the point from one side and putting it on the other, as they are otherwise symmetrical. (Mine were gold decorated on one side, which is optional of course). (12 × 53 ball pentagonal pieces + 20 × 24 ball triangle/hex pieces). See this design scaled up larger in a giant cluster of 12 hemispheres here: youtu.be/ZBKcAXesTDI
5) Seamless Bucky Sphere (Soccer Ball) - 1232 balls 5:26 Also known in geometry as the truncated icosahedron. The double triangle pieces must interlock with opposite polarity to the pentagons to join correctly. The pentagonal pieces can just be turned over to reverse their polarity to bond correctly with the triangles, but all the triangular pieces must be made with the same polarity, ie wound in the same direction from the same end of the same line of magnets. (12 × 51 pentagonal pieces + 20 × 19 gap filled double triangles). See this design in a tutorial for a bubble cluster of 12 domes here: 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: 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.
Unfoldment, Revealment, Evolution, Exposition, Integration by Chris Zabriskie is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0) Source: http://chriszabriskie.com/reappear Artist: http://chriszabriskie.comRhombic Fractal Hemisphere Mega Cluster | Part Tutorial | 7632 Neodymium Magnetic Ballsledwatchman2019-07-19 | This large hollow cluster shape is built from 5mm neodymium ball magnets and uses 2 fundamental units: a solid interlocked pentagonal one of 21 balls (in gold) and a solid interlocked square one of 17 balls. 5 of the square units fit around the pentagonal unit to make each mini hemisphere subunit of 106 balls, 6 of which interconnected form each of 12 larger hemispheres. These 12 hemispheres interconnected in turn form a mega cluster sphere. A total of 6 × 12 = 72 pentagonal units, and 5 × 6 × 12 = 360 square units. A total magnet count of the 72 mini hemisphere mega cluster of: 17 × 5 + 21 = 106, 106 × 6 × 12 = 7632 magnetic balls. 2 large hemispheres of 6 subunits each can be easily connected as shown to make a smaller sphere of 12 × 106 = 1272 balls. The full 72 mini hemisphere cluster is a lot trickier to build but once completed it is very strong, because the units used to make it are solid (in compact form). If you look closely at this structure you can find fractal quasi self-similarity (partial but not exactly identical) among 3 levels of scale that resemble the geometry of a rhombic triacontahedron (a 30 diamond sided polyhedron). There are also symmetrical gaps formed among the units that make the whole structure look weirder.
Music track is Heliograph by Chris Zabriskie, from the YouTube free music library.
Heliograph by Chris Zabriskie is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0) Source: http://chriszabriskie.com/divider Artist: http://chriszabriskie.comGiant Crystal Molecule of Icosahedrons | 7668 Neodymium Magnetic Ballsledwatchman2019-07-12 | This large unit cell crystal model is in the form of a rhombic dodecahedron with 14 icosahedrons at each vertex, and a 15th central core icosahedron. A rhombic dodecahedron has 12 identical diamond shaped faces which you can see as a frame formed around the outside of this molecule. The 15 icosahedrons are each made of 3 offset layers for strength, using a design by dskiles222. These are interconnected with a total of 32 semisolid struts, with 8 struts connected to the central icosahedron and 24 around the large structure. To make the connections work properly, icosahedrons at each end of every strut are built with opposite polarity. This is the simplest starting point for a rhombic crystal lattice pattern that can be extended ad infinitum. A computer graphic of a larger example of the same pattern, except made of all icosahedrons (in place of the struts I used), can be found here: youtube.com/watch?v=xwfYYSMRi50
Music track is Prelude No. 2 by Chris Zabriskie, from the YouTube free audio library.
Prelude No. 2 by Chris Zabriskie is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0) Source: http://chriszabriskie.com/preludes Artist: http://chriszabriskie.comC60 Fullerene Molecule of Cuboctahedron Atoms | Tutorial | 2520 Neodymium Magnetic Ballsledwatchman2019-07-05 | How to build a C60 buckminsterfullerene molecule model from neodymium magnetic balls. This is the largest version of a true C60 buckyball from magnetic spheres that I know of that will stand up on its own. See elsewhere on my channel for several other larger models that require internal supports:- C60 Fullerene of Mini Spheres: youtube.com/watch?v=5g1bPbUuTF0 Core Connected Buckyball: youtube.com/watch?v=ksEpsbl8444 Core Connected Molecular Buckyball Complex: youtube.com/watch?v=kjbvSvE6wZE
Each atom in this molecule model is a small cuboctahedron sphere of 48 balls designed by KENTAI000 who called it a C48. 60 of these cuboctahedrons are modified after construction with the removal of 2 triangles of 3 balls from each atom. Therefore 48 - 6 = 42 × 60 = a total of 2520 magnetic balls are required to build this shape. All cuboctahedron atoms in this shape are made with the same polarity, but the triangles of 3 balls in the centre of each tetrahedral face of 12 balls must be wound in the opposite direction to the outside ring of 9 to form properly. The subunit of rings of 5 slightly intersecting atoms is symmetrical on both sides, but I added gold highlights on the inside of my version. The bonds between rings of 5 atoms are all between squares of 4 balls. This subunit will also bond along the edges of 2 atoms in each ring of 5, between rhombic faces of 4 balls on each atom instead, to form an alternative rhombicosidodecahedron molecule, or R60 for short, which I show at the end of the video.
Music track is Out of the Skies, Under the Earth by Chris Zabriskie, from the YouTube free audio library.
Out of the Skies, Under the Earth by Chris Zabriskie is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0) Source: http://chriszabriskie.com/reappear Artist: http://chriszabriskie.comCuboctahedron Fractal Sphere of Spheres - 48 × 48 | Tutorial | 2304 Neodymium Magnetic Ballsledwatchman2019-06-28 | The small sphere used in this larger sphere of spheres is of 48 magnetic balls, and was designed by KENTAI000, who called it a Cuboctahedron or C48: youtube.com/watch?v=h4n72c-ndak The larger sphere of spheres is a fractal object with exact self-similarity, in that the structure of the small C48 spheres in the whole shape is exactly the same as the structure of the individual magnetic balls in each single C48 sphere. This gives a total magnet count of 48 × 48 = 2304. I built this fractal sphere as shown from 6 squares of 4 C48s, and 8 triangles of 3 C48s of opposite polarity to the squares of 4. This corresponds to the geometry of a cuboctahedron of 6 square and 8 triangular faces. To build the C48 spheres with opposite polarity, turn each of the 4 completed facets of 12 balls over before assembling the same way, or wind the rings of 9 and 3 in opposite directions from the same line of magnets, or build them the same way but from the opposite end of the same line of magnets. There are a total of fifty facets corresponding to each gap between the spheres, which include triangles of 3 spheres, and squares and rhombuses of 4. I found a GIF online of a polyhedron very close in form to this structure called an expanded cuboctahedron, which I show at the start and end of the video: robertlovespi.net/2014/11/12/a-cluster-of-thirteen-rhombic-dodecahedra-and-three-other-related-polyhedra In this computer graphic there are 6 blue square faces and 8 green triangular faces of a cuboctahedron, but also 12 red rhombus faces of a rhombic dodecahedron, and 24 extra yellow rectangular faces, which are exact squares in my magnet fractal shape. Each small C48 sphere is also a tiny version of the same unusual geometry.
Music track is Candlepower by Chris Zabriskie, from the YouTube copyright free music library.
Candlepower by is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0) Source: http://chriszabriskie.com/divider Artist: http://chriszabriskie.comGiant 2V Geodesic Dome Of Magnets | 8020 Neodymium Magnetic Ballsledwatchman2019-06-23 | I used double width 2 x 4 ball pieces for the connecting rods of this larger version of a Geodesic Dome Frequency 2 (often denoted 2V). Two different lengths of these pieces were required, 15 balls and 14 balls. The magnet ball ratios were different on this one from my previous geodesic dome and sphere tutorial video because of the different diameter of pentagonal and hexagonal joints or hubs I used, but the relative distance between hub centres is close to 7:6 as shown before: youtube.com/watch?v=Hw3E-tKUlo0 The 2V dome has a total of 20 hexagonal hubs, 6 pentagonal hubs, 65 edges (35 longer and 30 shorter) forming a total of 40 triangles. 10 of the triangles are equilateral of the longer struts, and 30 are isosceles with two edges of the shorter struts as spokes around each of the 6 pentagonal hubs. An exact magnet requirement for this shape of (15 × 4 + (14 + 13) × 2 + 2) × 35 (long struts) + (14 × 4 + 12 × 4 + 2) x 30 (shorter struts) + 20 × 18 × 2 (hexagonal hubs) + 6 × 5 × 2 (pentagonal hubs) for a grand total of 8020 5mm neodymium magnetic balls.
Music track is Prelude No. 1 by Chris Zabriskie, from the YouTube free audio library.
Prelude No. 1 by Chris Zabriskie is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0) Source: http://chriszabriskie.com/preludes Artist: http://chriszabriskie.comTutorial | 2V Geodesic Dome And Sphere Of Magnets | 3700/3600 Neodymium Magnetic Ballsledwatchman2019-06-15 | A long time between uploads for me but I'm finally back with another magnet video. A special thanks to Magnetic Games for his recent encouragement of my work by reproducing several of my shapes on his popular channel. I in turn got inspired by a recent video of his that featured an impressive looking geodesic sphere made of magnetic rods and balls: youtube.com/watch?v=MnX609QLook This got me re-examining how to build a true geodesic sphere of interconnected triangles from just magnetic balls alone, and I managed to find a simple way to build the geodesic dome known as frequency 2 (often notated as 2V) of 40 triangles, and the corresponding sphere of 80 triangles. This is a pretty compressed part tutorial, part display video with just the essentials of how to build them from magnetic balls, if anyone else wants to. The geodesic dome 2V requires 35 × 14 × 4 (longer struts) + 30 × 12 × 4 (shorter struts) + 20 × 6 × 2 (hexagonal joints) + 6 × 5 × 2 (pentagonal joints) = 3700 balls total. The geodesic sphere 2V requires 60 × 7 × 4 (longer struts) + 60 × 6 × 4 (shorter struts) + 30 × 6 × 2 (hexagonal joints) + 12 × 5 × 2 (pentagonal joints) = 3600 balls total.
Music track is Connection by Wayne Jones, from the YouTube free audio library.
#ledwatchman #Neocube #Neoballs #Nanodots #ZenMagnets #Speks #Buckyballs #NingoBalls #CyberCube #KlikyBalls #howtoNeocube Soccer Ball - Large Seamless Truncated Icosahedron | 8582 Neodymium Magnetic Ballsledwatchman2018-04-12 | I got inspired by Magnenaut's recent tutorial video upload, to revisit the truncated icosahedron geometric form: youtube.com/watch?v=ZiDyszxrmLU The truncated icosahedron is so named because it can be described as an icosahedron with all 12 pentagonal vertices cut off at the 1/3 point of each triangular face. It is best known from the familiar soccer ball or round football shape, but is also known for the geometry of the buckyball or C60 molecule. It has 12 pentagonal and 20 hexagonal faces (32 total) and is also geodesic, forming points on a circumscribed sphere at its vertices. This magnet version was made from exactly 8582 5mm neodymium ball magnets, with edges of 9 balls or 45mm, and is the largest I could make using almost my entire magnet collection at the time. It is the size of a youth soccer ball (size 4), about 21 cm in diameter. It should be possible to make a full size 5 soccer ball (22-23 cm diameter) on the same design principles with enough extra magnets, but I ran out.
Music track is Old Vienna by Endless Love, from the YouTube free music library.
#ledwatchman #Neocube #Neoballs #Nanodots #ZenMagnets #Speks #Buckyballs #NingoBalls #CyberCube #KlikyBalls #NeoQubeFractal Cluster Complex | 8700 Neodymium Magnetic Ballsledwatchman2017-11-13 | Inspired by the work of HYPRKLSTRKMPLX, in particular his Quasicrystal Cluster Complex: youtube.com/watch?v=ZDXs6u8kl6E ...and Hyper Cluster Matrix: youtube.com/watch?v=vciCInYfrm0 My structure uses a lot less magnets but creates a fractal pattern of quasi self-similarity: that is, not exactly identical at the smaller scale, but with an analogous structure. 12 icosahedral clusters are surrounding a golden 13th core cluster, with each of these 13 clusters made from 12 smaller outer pieces with a 13th golden mini core inside them. Total exact magnet count: 12 × 12 × 46 (nickel coloured outer pieces) + 12 × 122 (2 layer golden mini cores inside the outer nickel clusters) + 12 × 46 (central golden core cluster outer pieces) + 60 (mini golden core inside the central golden core) = a grand total of 8700 5mm diameter neodymium magnetic balls.
Music track is Over Time by Audionautix, from the YouTube free audio library.
Artist: http://audionautix.comBucky Dome Bubble Cluster | Tutorial | 8172 Neodymium Magnetic Ballsledwatchman2017-10-10 | The hemispheres in this cluster of 12 are double layered truncated icosahedrons, which are familiar as the structure of a soccer ball, and are also a simple form of geodesic dome, from 10 hexagons and 6 pentagons each. The double triangles of 2 × 9 balls used in construction must be of opposite polarity to the pentagons to bond correctly. A single bucky sphere, or one complete truncated icosahedron, can be built the same way shown, with 12 of the same pentagonal pieces of 71 balls each and 20 double triangles of 9, plus 20 extra balls for the centres, a total of 1232 magnets. The full cluster structure requires 676 magnets per bucky dome × 12 domes, + 60 balls to fill in the small gaps = 8172 magnets total - quite a hefty build, weighing just over 4 kg. Even though it is only a 2 layer hollow construction, it is very strong once completed, and can be lifted and rotated without deforming, as shown in the video.
Music track is CGI Snake by Chris Zabriskie, from the YouTube free music library.
CGI Snake by Chris Zabriskie is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0) Source: http://chriszabriskie.com/divider Artist: http://chriszabriskie.comTubular Triple Cube | 6456 Neodymium Magnetic Ballsledwatchman2017-09-28 | Construction Notes: This build makes use of the C48, or Cuboctahedron of 48 balls, a small sphere designed by KENTAI000, which has just the right geometry for the joints of this cubical design. His video of how to build one can be found here: youtube.com/watch?v=h4n72c-ndak I used 24 C48 spheres, 12 of reverse polarity, and all slightly modified during construction with 4 extra balls, making 52 magnets each. The 3 nested cube frames each have 12 tubes of rings of 6 of length 7, 21, and 35 rings respectively. 16 additional hexagonal tubes of 7 rings of 6 were used for the diagonal connections towards the centre. (12 + 16) × 7 × 6 + 12 × 21 × 6 + 12 × 35 × 6 + 24 × 52 = 6456 magnets total. A trick of construction was used to make 6-ring tubes interlock with squares of 4 on the C48 spheres, by pinching the end of a tube into 2 rows of 3. The C48s are of alternating polarity on the corners of each cube, to make strong interlocking bonds at both ends of the right angled tubes. Diagonal tube connections towards the centre are across triangles of 3 balls on C48s of the same polarity at each end.
Music track is Faith by Vibe Tracks, from the YouTube free audio library.
#ledwatchman #Neocube #Neoballs #Nanodots #ZenMagnets #Speks #Buckyballs #NingoBalls #CyberCube #KlikyBalls #NeoQubeDodecahedral Bubble Cluster | Tutorial | 4320 Neodymium Magnetic Ballsledwatchman2017-09-21 | The solid 2 layer interlocked sub unit in the video is made from 2 hexagonal/triangular pieces of 12 balls each, so 24 balls for each unit. 15 units go into each of 12 icosidodecahedron hollow 'bubbles', so 180 of these units are required for the full 12 bubble dodecahedron cluster, a total of 4320 magnets. You can easily make a single complete hollow dodecahedron (or icosidodecahedron) with just 20 units (40 triangles/hexagons), or 480 magnets. Music track is Windows Rolled Down by the 126ers, from the YouTube free audio library.
#ledwatchman #Neocube #Neoballs #Nanodots #ZenMagnets #Speks #Buckyballs #NingoBalls #CyberCube #KlikyBalls #howtoUltimate Sphere Style Bubble Cluster | Tutorial | 4320 Neodymium Magnetic Ballsledwatchman2017-09-14 | Like the Ultimate Sphere design, this shape uses double rings of 6 magnets, except the modification on this one is simply that the bottom ring of each pair is pressed into a 6 ball triangle. The pairs can then be interconnected the right way to form 12 bubble hemispheres instead of a single sphere, as shown in the video. 360 double rings of 6, forming 72 pentagonal rings of 5, and then 6 pentagonal rings form each hemisphere, and 12 of these hemispheres interconnect to complete the bubble sphere; 12 × 5 × 6 × 12 = a total of 4320 magnets required. Music track is The Coldest Shoulder by The 126ers, from the YouTube free music library.
#ledwatchman #Neocube #Neoballs #Nanodots #ZenMagnets #Speks #Buckyballs #NingoBalls #CyberCube #KlikyBalls #howtoGeodesic Molecular Complex | 6876 Neodymium Magnetic Ballsledwatchman2017-08-07 | Construction Notes: Inspired by this geometric computer model of interconnected icosahedrons, the hemispheres at each end at least, but with tubes replacing half of the icosahedrons: youtube.com/watch?v=Qj7_e0tr8fY Built from 50 R60 spheres, a 3 layer icosahedron core of 300 balls designed by dskiles222, 84 hexagon tubes of length 6 balls, 8 hexagon tubes of length 4 balls, and base support pillars of 360 balls, for a grand total of 6876 magnets. (R in R60 stands for Rhombicosidodecahedron, which is an accurate geometric term for the little 60 ball spheres, but they are usually misnamed a C60 sphere, or buckyball) This shape is geodesic around the outer 42 golden R60 spheres and 60 tubes, meaning every apex or sphere point closely approximates the points on the surface of a large circumscribed sphere. There are just 8 connections on the core, corresponding to the corners of a cube, which is a geometry present on the triangular faces of an icosahedron. Each of 8 outer triangular sphere and tube faces has 3 R60 spheres anchored with 3 more tubes to an inner R60 sphere, and then to the core, so the total number of tubular connection points to the outer structure is 24. All connections, except on the larger core, are across triangular faces of 3 balls on the R60 spheres. Both ends of each hexagonal tube bond nicely to the R60s this way regardless of the different polarity at each end of a tube, but tubes of an even number of 6-rings are required to keep the R60s at each end oriented the right way. All the R60s and the core are of the same polarity. Music track is Fluidscape by Kevin MacLeod, from the YouTube free music library.
Fluidscape by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0) Source: http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1100393 Artist: http://incompetech.comCore Connected Molecular Buckyball Complex | 6996 Neodymium Magnetic Ballsledwatchman2017-08-04 | This is a second improved version of my original Core Connected Buckyball, magnet art based on a buckyball, or C60 fullerene carbon molecule, but with additional internal structure: youtube.com/watch?v=kjbvSvE6wZE This model has an icosahedron shaped molecule central core of 12 atoms, interconnected with 30 atomic bond connectors. These core atoms are connected by shorter bonds to 12 more supporting atoms around them, (only these 12 are of reverse polarity), each of which are connected to rings of 5 atoms on the outside, forming 12 more halves of icosahedrons on the complete outer C60 fullerene, with a total of another 150 bonds interconnecting them. The complete shape is made almost entirely of rings of 5 magnets: 84 R60 (Rhombicosidodecahedron) spheres for the atoms of 60 magnets each (12 × 5) , 180 double ring connectors of 2 × 5, and 12 single ring connectors of 5, plus some reinforcement for strength of the bottom weight bearing spheres 6 × ((5 + 5)+ 3 + 3), for a total of 1392 rings of 5 magnets, and a total magnet count of 6996 balls. (What I call R60 spheres are usually referred to as C60 spheres, or buckyballs, but this is technically incorrect - they are a variant and not an actual mini C60 fullerene) This model uses a trick of localised polarity reversal. This requires reversing the direction of construction of pentagonal rings of 5 magnets on the surface of the R60 spheres at one end of every tube connection. This allows for opposite polarity interlocking connections that makes a much stronger and more stable build than my first version of a core connected buckyball. Music track is Cylinder Five by Chris Zabriskie, from the YouTube free music library.
Artist: http://chriszabriskie.comGiant Seamless Icosidodecahedron | 8600+ Neodymium Magnetic Ballsledwatchman2017-08-01 | The largest one I could make with my collection of 8700 or so gold and nickel neodymium ball magnets. 12 flat pentagons of edge 13 balls, with 20 triangles to match in a seamless construction. Mostly just one layer thick, but with edges reinforced on the inside for strength and rigidity. Music track is Wheel of Karma by Audionautix, from the YouTube free music library.
Wheel Of Karma by Audionautix is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0) Artist: http://audionautix.comTubular Dodecahedron of Dodecahedrons | 7950 Neodymium Magnetic Ballsledwatchman2017-07-29 | Construction Notes: Built from 21 dodecahedrons including the core (a 3 layer design by dskiles222 of 260 balls), 30 outer tubes of 6 rings of 6 balls, and 20 tubes to the central core of 12 rings of 6 balls. A total magnet count of 7950. This construction uses a trick of localised polarity reversal at the connection points of the outer dodecahedrons, so that every outer tube connects properly to opposite polarities at each end, ensuring a strong bond, without having to reverse the polarity on a whole small dodecahedron. This makes the larger dodecahedron of dodecahedrons structure possible. Music track is Hypnothis by Kevin Macleod, from the YouTube free music library.
Hypnothis by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0) Source: http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1100634 Artist: http://incompetech.comModel of The Atomium From Magnets | 7800+ Neodymium Magnetic Ballsledwatchman2017-07-26 | An attempt at a scale model of the Atomium building that I was fairly happy with, from 5mm neodymium magnetic balls. Since uploading I have found a better design for the three support pillars that here are a bit out of scale for width. I mean to get around to building and uploading my perfected version of this unique monument. The music track is an instrumental version of the classic Belgian dance hit 'Pump Up The Jam' by Technotronic.
From Wikipedia: The Atomium is a building in Brussels, Belgium originally constructed for Expo 58, the 1958 Brussels World's Fair. Designed by the engineer André Waterkeyn and architects André and Jean Polak, it stands 102 m (335 ft) tall. Its nine 18 m (60 ft) diameter stainless steel clad spheres are connected so that the whole forms the shape of a unit cell of an iron crystal magnified 165 billion times. It is now a museum. Tubes of 3 m (10 ft) diameter connect the spheres along the 12 edges of the cube and all eight vertices to the centre. They enclose stairs, escalators and a lift (in the central, vertical tube) to allow access to the five habitable spheres which contain exhibit halls and other public spaces. The top sphere includes a restaurant which has a panoramic view of Brussels. In the 1950s, faith in scientific progress was great, and a structure depicting atoms was chosen to embody this. While the subject of Atomium was chosen to depict the enthusiasm of the Atomic Age, iron is not and cannot be used as fuel in nuclear reactions.
#ledwatchman #Neocube #Neoballs #Nanodots #ZenMagnets #Speks #Buckyballs #NingoBalls #CyberCube #KlikyBalls #NeoQubeTubular Dual Dodecahedron | 7920 Neodymium Magnetic Ballsledwatchman2017-07-23 | Construction Notes: Bulit from 40 R60 spheres, 1 3-layer reinforced icosahedron core (designed by dskiles222) with reverse polarity of 240 balls, 50 tubes of 6 rings of 6 magnet balls, 30 tubes of 14 rings of 6, 20 tubes of 8 rings of 6 to the core. A total magnet count of 7920 balls. (R in R60 stands for Rhombicosidodecahedron, which is an accurate geometric term for the little 60 ball spheres, but they are usually misnamed a C60 sphere, or buckyball) All connections except the 20 spokes at the core are across triangular faces of 3 balls on the R60 spheres. Both ends of each hexagonal tube bond nicely to the R60s this way regardless of the different polarity at each end of a tube, but tubes of an even number of 6-rings are required to keep the R60s at each end oriented the same way. All the R60s are of the same polarity, but the 3-layer core is opposite. Music track is Deep Haze by Kevin MacLeod, from the YouTube free music library.