Wood Tetrahedron Model “self-dual”

All wood model of 2 Tetrahedrons woven together (aka Stella Octangula), one stained in cherry-wood the other left to a clear coat of polyurethane. These are great gift ideas for math teachers, engineers, students, plus those interested in “Atomic Age” 1950s interior design or Sacred Geometry. 

Most polyhedron have a dual, meaning they share or relate 1:1 with the number of vertices and / or planes. The tetrahedron (4 triangular surfaces, 4 vertices, 6 pieces each) is the only polyhedron that is its own self dual. This particular one I kept 2-tone for clarity, but I also make them in any one color. I have more versions on the website.

Wood Platonic Solids Models in the Physics Lab

Some of our wood Platonic Solids models in action. A friend looked all over the web for something like these for the classroom that would be much more durable and permanent than just card stock or construction paper. We found some color plastic ones, but not really what would look good in a university math lab, library or bookshelf.

Most things today are just computer generated line drawings, so there is something really cool about having a tangible geometric model to help show a concept. Like most other things, they are much easier to build in a batch then one at a time and that keeps them a lot more cost-effective.

Wood Icosahedron Sculpture (woven-1)

This would be very typical of a light fixture in a Googie coffee shop of the 1950s and 60s. It would be easy enough to make with an open bottom or access for a light bulb. Back in the day they may have been plastic. I make these as more of a stand alone geometric art piece. They are clear coated for the photos because you can see cross shadows easier in 2D, but I also stain them to match home or office decor.

Technically, this is an Icosahedron, 20 flat triangular planes, 12 great pentagons and 60 pieces of wood total. Each piece has 2 notches that are compound mitered only halfway thru so they nest together snug like the notches in Lincoln Logs. There are actually very few glue joints in these. This one is 9″ and I also make them 12″ tall.

Wood Cuboctahedron Model

This is an all wood Cuboctahedron. It can be used as a classroom lecture model or a nice “Atomic Age” decor piece. There is a resurgence of Mid Century Modern “Jetsons” type of art pieces lately so these are pretty cool.

This is made of 6 squares, 8 triangles, 12 vertices and 24 pieces of wood. If you look closely, there are 4 true hexagon equators. Each of the vertices has full 3 axis compound miters. This one is 9″ tall.

Plethora of Polyhedron Models and Sculpture

Usually these sculpture pieces are shipping out as quickly as we can make them so it’s not often we get a build up of so many all at once. This made a good group picture for scale. It’s hard to keep at least one of everything here since there are so many different pieces and combinations of pieces. Add in all of the combinations of wood stains and sizes and there are just too many!

When I don’t have a current order I work on new versions, truncations, or duals and various combinations of two or more. It’s really all about the table saw miter and getting all 3 axis angles dead on, then making it repeatable a week, month or a year later without having to re-invent the wheel every time!

Wood Truncated Cube Sculpture (woven)

This is a great Mid Century Modern ‘Atomic Age’ decor piece I made of wood. It has 2 different looks depending on which surface you set it on. It could also be converted into a MCM style hanging lamp.

This is a truncated cube, meaning the 8 cube corners have been ‘clipped off’ leaving 8 triangle surfaces as well as the 6 square surfaces. There are 12 woven rectangle beveled ‘picture frames’ that go all the way around, 4 on each of the 3 axis, 48 pieces of wood all together. I compound miter every glue joint so that its a clean tight seam.

This particular one is 9″ tall which is a good size as a table top art piece. I clear coat the ones in the pics to see the cross shadows easier, but I also wood stain either cherry wood, dark walnut or ebony.

Wood Dodecahedron Sculpture (woven-1)

This dodecahedron is typical of the Atomic Age ‘Mid Century Modern’ design of the 1950s and 1960s. They were common as Googie light fixtures in 50s and 60s coffeeshops as well as a stand alone table sculpture.

This dodecahedron is made of 60 pieces of wood and it has 20 equilateral triangles woven around each vertex. I cut the notches just halfway thru the wood where 2 pieces intersect so they nest together nice and snug. This particular one is 9″ tall, but I also make them 12″ or larger by request.

Wood Dodecahedron Sculpture (woven-2)

These are great table top or hanging decor pieces for 1950s “Atomic Age” Mid Century Modern houses. They were common plastic or wood light fixtures in the classic 1950s “Googie” coffee shops.This is a Dodecahedron formed by 60 inter-woven pieces of wood. They form 12 small pentagons on each flat plane, and 12 great pentagons that wrap around the 5 adjacent planes. Each intersection is a compound miter notch cut only halfway thru the wood so the 2 pieces press together with a friction fit, similar to how Lincoln Logs nest together in their notches. I have more pieces like these on my website with alot more to come!

Wood Icosadodecahedron Sculpture (woven)

This is an all wood Icosadodecahedron. It has 20 small triangles, 30 rhombi & 12 great pentagons all woven together. The Dodecahedron and Icosahedron are duals of each other so they are both present in this sculpture, but technically it has 20 flat triangular planes.

Wood Platonic Solids Models set for education & display

These are 9″ tall wood models of the 5 Platonic Solids I make for Math, Astronomy and Physics classroom visual aids. They are all compound mitered on all 3 axis at the vertices for maximum glue strength. They also make great office & home decor pieces. 9″ max on any axis seems to be the best for a 12″ cube box to ship them in. I have alot more geometry pieces on my website. Typically when I set up the saw for each of the compound miters, I make them in batches of 10 or so to keep down all of the set up time involved.

From left: Octahedron, Dodecahedron, Tetrahedron, Icosahedron & Cube. These are just clear polyurethane coated for clarity in the photos, but I also wood stain & clear seal them to match someones home or office decor.

 Wood Octahedron Model / 8 triangle planes, 6 vertices and 12 pieces.

 Wood Dodecahedron Model / 12 pentagon faces, 20 vertices and 30 pieces.

Wood Tetrahedron Model / 4 triangle planes, 4 vertices and 6 pieces.

Wood Icosahedron Model / 20 triangles, 12 vertices and 30 pieces.

Wood Cube Model / 6 squares, 8 vertices and 12 pieces.