Magnetic Parallelepiped

thingiverse

This versatile shape can be used to create numerous complex and intriguing three-dimensional tilings and configurations. The parallelepiped is essentially an octahedron with two tetrahedrons attached to opposite faces, making the tiling based on the octahedron and tetrahedron pattern found in an isotropic vector matrix. The holes are designed for 1/8" cylindrical neodymium magnets, 1/32" long. This size of magnet was chosen for cost reasons and to minimize repulsive forces between the magnets at each tip. This size of magnet is not very strong on its own, but works well when multiple faces are joined together. If you choose to scale the model larger, stronger magnets will definitely be needed. The six magnets at the two tips are all inserted with the same polarity, while the remaining six magnets around the center are inserted with opposite polarity. It's a good idea to clean the holes out first with a 1/8" drill bit. CA glues work well for assembly. On a technical note, the holes are offset .1 mm from the center point of the triangles to compensate for the small gap between attached pieces. See this video for instructions on how to assemble the first and second level cuboctohedron: https://youtu.be/Fpc0BToJeA0. The first level cuboctohedron is made with 12 individual parallelepiped shapes, while the second level cuboctohedron is made with 36 individual parallelepiped shapes. The pictures show a selection of other possible shapes and configurations. There are many more to explore! See here for Parallelepiped Lego: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4361686