Custom Low-Cost Magnetic Model Construction Kit from Drinking Straws

I love playing with toys like Geomags and Magnetix. They're those little plastic rods with magnets in the end that click onto steel spheres to form geometric forms. I see them a lot in museum gift shops for some reason.

There are three problems I have with these toys, though: First, they're pretty expensive. Browsing around, it looks like you're paying about 80 cents to a dollar per strut (like this). Second, they're limited to regular or semi-regular geometry because all the struts are the same size. Third, the structures you build wind up pretty small because the struts are short. This means that the models you build don't translate very well to something economical to build in real life.

This Instructable will outline my solution with a low-cost, custom-length, scalable magnetic construction kit you can build without special tools and made from parts that are easy to get (including regular ol' drinking straws!).

Why not build your own building kit?

Step 1 Stuff You Can Model

Hubs and struts are wonderful for modeling all sorts of things.

Since the store-bought kits are usually all the same length, they're great for making regular geometric forms. You can wireframes of the Platonic Solids in this way.

Everyone loves the iconic geodesic dome. These wonderful architectural structures look like they're made up of equilateral triangles, but the lengths of the struts vary slightly to produce the spherical curvature. Desert Domes has a great dome calculator tool that will help you determine the lengths you need. You can't make a true geodesic dome with the store-bought kits.

But why limit yourself to regular geometry? Vary the lengths of struts as you wish and create free-form structures on all sorts of scales, from furniture to sculpture to large architectural features. I made a spaceframe bench, and a roof truss for a temporary classroom (see pictures) with hubs and struts. You could even make a model that could become your house. (This paper is somewhat related, super cool and futuristic).

It's time to use your imagination!

Comments

[thewoodcarver]

Very neat , I love those things lots of fun ...the local $1 store had the rip offs of the geomag and magnetix ..every time I went I bought a few of them now I can make some to a smaller or longer size ...the $1 ones do break easy but also have good magnets in them

[rimar2000]

Very interesting, thanks.