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[Stephen Chin]

Mate, I am still a student at these T's, still a lot to learn, and so many polygons to dissect. Making protos are easy. The real thing is months away

Mark, I am making 100 Chinnys, only 30 pieces, not 180. Pull the other leg!   Hopefully that simple chop saw jig will do the job. Again thanks to you  for starting me off....I think

I'll bring one to play at IPP29. Email me for the rough blue prints if interested

Thanks for your inputs, its really not that differcult,just sounds impressive.
The 3 layer has to evolve after the 2 layer was made, I knew its a possibliliy and got lucky.

 3 weeks of sleepless nights, extra white hair,removing 360 pieces of sticky tapes,,,,priceless!,and all dental work delayed since.   Now I can go fishing with the boys and get a life....Cheers

[Mark McCallum]

Sorry, I just couldn't resist.

[Robert Yarger]

If its really not that difficult Stephen, lets go 4 layers.  Make them into nesting dolls.  I think you are being far too humble. Go Dentists!!! Never thought I would say that.

[Stephen Chin]

Nooooooooooooooooooooo

Only plan is making a 452 piece Uranus Matryoshka  ( Babooska style )in different Aussie woods

Hopefully it will have the Jupiter or Uranus shell, then 3 tier, 2 tier,1 tier, then Chinny and the trapped T inside a wooden sphere. And yes! it flashes. It'll take me forever, but will be a nice concluding nesting summary of all things T.

Maybe IPP bound, have to make 2,,,,ie 2 x forever. Fixing teeth is easier

Won't win, more a show n tell, its not a 'fun' puzzle, and I have to beat your 3 zip first Robert. Hee Hee

Ok, anybody got info on Wayne Daniel's  Icosahedron that opens with a twist and 10x 3 piece similar pieces??,,,,please,,,,thats 1 cool puzzle
 

[Stephen Chin]

For all you T fans out there, I found this site relating Lee Krasnow's Merkaba ( or 5 intersecting tetrahedrons) to the Triacontahedron using Geomagnets. I'm so excited!!

Made of 90 rods , 3 rods x 6 to a tetrahedron, 5 colours makes the Merkaba.
Then add 12 x 5 rods with metal ball in middle, makes the T, total balls 20 + 12

So 150 rods and 32 balls weights 1 kg, very stable and pretty. But wait, theres more. The Merkaba can be enclosed by a cube, Regular dodecahedron, Icosahedron and now a Triacontahedron

In layman terms, thou not a true stellation, by adding a 5 sided pyramid ( 12 of them) to the 5 star pattern of the M,( gentle elevation) which makes the regular Dodecahedron,  the T is born

And, as you join he short diagonals of the T, you get the Icosahedron, joining the long diagonals gives the dodecahedron. And both the I's and the D's are duals of each other ( draw lines of its centre faces I=d, d=I )

Long and the short, I and D are cousins, T is related by marriage, ie thou they look different these facinating polygons have common DNAs

Lastly, if you have made a Merkaba, like the split Ts , it has a mirror version

And as for the Rhombic Dodecahedron,,,,well,thats another long winded story,,,,

Have I lost you, nevermind, enjoy the pics, I'll go back to my slumber,,,,zzzzzzz

[Robert Yarger]

Very interesting.  Those geomagnets are really expensive.  I bought several packs for my wife (and she plays with them all the time), but does not make anything quite so extravagant.  My guess is that enough geomagnets to make just one of these would coust upwards of $40.

Hey, if you guys like playing around with such, you can do so a lot cheaper by buying steel bb's and buying packages of 1/8" diameter rod magnets.  You can't use the copper bb's, as they are not magnetic, they have to be the steel ones.

Back in the old days, we just used to have beads and sticks.  There was a huge box of them next to the old punch card computer at the physics department where my dad taught.  My brother and I used to play with them and make cool shapes, but I think they were mainly used for making replicas of DNA strands.