You love Lego? You like Knex? You love Bucky Balls? You like barbecue bamboo sticks? Well put that all together and you get "magnetic construction set" made with sugru! The idea is very simple : add a magnet at both ends of a barbecue bamboo stick, so you have a building block to build pretty much anything you like! Here, I cut all the sticks at the same length and I used quite small magnets (0.5mm ø), but you can use either smaller or larger magnets and sticks. In a matter of seconds you can build large complex structures :) You can invent so many games! The possibilies are endless!
Sugru is good for this hack because :
This instructables was made for sugru.com at TechShop San Francisco.
Sugru is good for this hack because :
- it bonds well with wood and metal
- it creates a layer between magnets that makes it easy to do and undo sugru bonds
- I could color code my sticks :)
This instructables was made for sugru.com at TechShop San Francisco.
Remove these ads by
Signing UpStep 1: Cutting the wood sticks to size
First you need to source the parts.
You could use other wooden sticks but barbecue bamboo sticks are great, they are long, light, strong, flexible, and cheap. I bought 150 sticks for one british pound (~1.5 $) at the corner shop.
The magnets are coming from Firstformagnet.com, they were the cheapest one doing next day delivery in the UK.
For USA delivery, you can get them here really fast : http://www.getbuckyballs.com
I use sugru : 8 coloured mini-packs in a lovely large pouch, each mini pack allowing me to coat at least 4 single heads.
First you want to cut the wood sticks to size. Because we are cutting many small things, I highly recommend using a metal saw (small teeth) to have a rather clean cut and avoiding cutting yourself. Wear gloves - not like me :)
You could use other wooden sticks but barbecue bamboo sticks are great, they are long, light, strong, flexible, and cheap. I bought 150 sticks for one british pound (~1.5 $) at the corner shop.
The magnets are coming from Firstformagnet.com, they were the cheapest one doing next day delivery in the UK.
For USA delivery, you can get them here really fast : http://www.getbuckyballs.com
I use sugru : 8 coloured mini-packs in a lovely large pouch, each mini pack allowing me to coat at least 4 single heads.
- £ 16.66 (~$ 25) : SuperCool GunMetal Magnet Xtreme Neodymium Puzzle 1 Premium N42 Official 5mm Size Spheres
- £ 12 (~$ 18) : Sugru Multi-color 20g x3 and had 2/3 of sugru extra for other fun projects!
- £ 1 (~$ 1.55): bamboo sticks
First you want to cut the wood sticks to size. Because we are cutting many small things, I highly recommend using a metal saw (small teeth) to have a rather clean cut and avoiding cutting yourself. Wear gloves - not like me :)
Visit Our Store »
Go Pro Today »
That's so good! So, I guess I need to work on improving this system to make it even better than Bornimago! Next instructables!
Also you could try cutting the sticks to a mix of 3:4:5 ratio lengths. That way you can build square-based triangles as well as equilateral; makes it a lot more flexible.
http://www.lescreateliers.com/Les_Createliers/Idees_Ideas/Entries/2012/10/4_Batons_magnetiquesMagnetic_sticks.html
Thanks!
Marie-Eve
Thanks marie Eve !
je suis a Paris et je m'apprete a en refaire une plus grande serie pour un spot de pub, quand c'est edite, je le posterai ici :) a bientot ! Cesar
I love the creativity that comes from this type of "toy" My daughter has a set of Straws and Connectors and long after she is bored, I find myself rebuilding and creating new structures and creatures....
As to the legality of Bucky balls, it is simple, DO NOT GIVE THEM TO YOUR KIDS!!!!! Oh and DO NOT EAT THEM!!!!! Why is it that the American Government gives their citizens so little credit for common sense??????
Anything that will fit through a toilet paper tube is a choking hazard!! Yes, Magnets are hazardous if two of them are in the intestines at the same time, but come on people, Stand up for your right to exercise your common sense.
Cheers
It may be cheaper and also avoid any issues with polarity to just use ball bearings on each stick. Then all you need is a single spherical magnet at each junction to hole things together. This would greatly reduce the number of magnets needed. Perhaps the magnet could have it's own sugru coating in a contrasting colour to the sticks. This would be less elegant than what you have done though.
Sounds stupid I know, but our puppy would quite happily eat a sugru-covered magnet. He's already disposed of a hard plastic hair clip.
Babies would chew the sticks too, so I'd suggest attaching things very well.
It is definitely best to keep all the magnets attached to the long sticks. That way if they do get swallowed all you have to do is pull on the stick to get your magnet back ;-)
But... I really like to be able to do that with only sticks - and no balls at the junction... hhummmm dilemna. Maybe i'll build one set like that and see how it feels - thanks for the suggestion !
I just researched a bit - it is still totally legal in the UK. Seems like British babies are not too much into eating magnets... that's smart :)