Dharma Logo In Construx

Yes, there are 42 blue knotted connectors. Wheel keeps on Turning.

Wah-Shing Construx

Dinner Plate for the ABS Plastic calorie-free diet:

Smelling of Mildew. Eew.



Reactor Core #1 (drying after cleanse)


Reactor Core #2 (drying after cleanse)


Reactor Core #3 (drying after cleanse)

Packing Strategies, v3

How many #Construx can fit in these 8 cases? Notice the PowerBook G3 is DVORAK, by the way :)

TOP ROW: White Beams & Turntables / 100% Gray Beams / Black & Wheels
MID ROW: Army & Weapons / Nuts & Pods / Engines & Boats (Hi, Mac!)
LAST ROW: Panels / A Nut Case / Wheels & Specials Pieces (smaller, yellow cases)

5,768 pieces sorted by color & size.nothing rattles, they're in there to such tight tolerances. I actually felt air escape upon closing each orange case, and located the small pressure hole drilled into the case. Each case closes effortlessly,so no nasty stretching and compression that can break the occasional fragile or overstretched/overturned pieces. The Gray case was liberated from a DREMEL Tool.

RIP 20 broken beyond belief pieces. Slight cracks may be taped or glue-ed back.

SOMA Puzzle Cubes

Inventor Piet Hein and his SOMA puzzle cubes were always a bunch of fun to play with, so I recreated them in #Construx. The Seven irregular combinations of 3-4 Cubes form a 3x3x3 cube, and are used to make puzzle figures.



Here the 6 remaining pieces form a double-sized copy of the 3-cube piece. I had to adjust the models so they didn't overlap. The original soma cubes assemble with no gaps because they are simple solid blocks. My frames needed spacers to assemble properly.



Notice the little yellow axles with nuts in the center. They fit the Construx pieces' holes) With these in place, lightly squeezing both sides of the assembly lets you lift it as a whole and turn it on end:



Pretty META, huh?

Construx Pyramid Ball

Having recently acquired a bunch more Construx for Xmas, I have been building up a storm. Here's my Latest creation, made using several interlocking shapes:

















and here it is taken apart:

















There is a Flickr Group called Construx Creations with only 2 members. Anyone still enjoying these Fisher-Price construction Toys is encouraged to join. Truly an all ages phenomenon.

Re-Watching LOST

My #FrogPad keyboard wanted to thank everyone for re-watching #LOST with @LOST_WFTB:

Construx Mega Collection

 Rounded Rhombicuboctahedron (go ahead, google it)

Rounded Rhombicuboctahedron Elements


Rounded Rhombicuboctahedron Taken Apart


Light Bulb


Light Bulb Taken Apart


Green Column


Green Column Taken Apart


Small Beam Cube


White Shipping Crate


Beams Big Case #1


Extras Big Case #2


Gears Wheels Pulleys Motors


Rounded Rhombicuboctahedron Applies to the #LOST Numbers :)

To Build... Construx

The Coolest Building Toy ever. eBay is a godsend. 27 years after Construx debuted, it is still widely available. The pieces, made of ABS Plastic, retain their bright colors and most definately a fun factor.

In addition to making a bad-ass custom Keyboard & Mouse tray, there are many ways to play...

How tightly can one pack them in a box?
Given a random set of pieces, can you connect them?
If so, what is the smallest area you can do it in?
Make a structure that can hold x pounds, arranging the beam's directions to keep the structures intact)
A variant on the egg-drop engineering challenge

Merry Christmas everyone!

I wanted the perfect keyboard

I wanted the perfect keyboard














The Final Maltron-Inspired Letter/Symbol Layout












The TypeMatrix Keypad and Arrow Cluster Overlay

Quad-Key Layout Grid

Keyboard Revelations

Red Dvorak DiGlyphs

White Dvorak KeyCap Designs,
with Qwerty shadowed in Red for reference,

and for use WITHOUT Key Remapping,
or for comparison of the layouts differences

These Caps were applied to My Classic MS Ergo Keyboard, which is about to get a nice even coat of Black spray paint applied. the keys are then capped with matte cellophane tape over and around each printed letter or symbol, rubbed down until it goes clear, leaving a nice smooth slick finish that relaxes the fingers.


I'm finding that Dvorak switches hands more often than Maltron, because of the Vowel segregation of AEIOU. I prefer the <>;:'" characters on the bottom row as on the Maltron Layout, because they are more often covered by the hands. The first two rows, being easier to reach in general, then allow access to the top 20 letters with the remaining 6 dropped down (3 on each side)

I also re-key-capped the new Apple USB Keyboard I had from my Dad's new Mac. He needed the Apple Extended Keyboard (with a full keypad) to Access all Finale's functions, but the standard board was already bundled with the Mac. He uses Keyboard Maestro for system macros on Mac, it's nowhere near as flexible as AutoHotKey for PC, but it has a clean interface.



Staggered Keyboards abound, but the square key layout is so much less messy. That said, any derivation from the standard PC Keyboard layout has benefits, so after I know Dvorak better, I will make a skin for my TypeMatrix Keyboard and enjoy the benefit.

My brother is learning to use the Dvorak as well, so this will be his take-home concession prize for coming to see me and Dad. I asked if he'd like any custom keycaps, but I think he's going for an "au natural" key treatment. (he will come around eventually)

It could be quite cool to have oversized glow in the dark leters on the keys, and maybe even integrate an enclosed light charging tray to recharge the keyboard's phosphorescence quickly when it fades.

Last Thoughts: Does a Backlit Keyboard with a Square arrangement exist? How about one that could be arranged in a sunken key-well formation?