Step 17Practice in small scale

Whenever Myth Busters are testing a complex myth, they start by some small scale experiments.

We recommend that you do the same thing.

Before we built the 8x8x8 LED cube, we started by making a smaller version of it, 4x4x4. By making the 4x4x4 version first, you can perfect your cube soldering technique before starting on the big one.

Check out our 4x4x4 LED cube instructable for instructions on building a smaller "prototype".

http://www.instructables.com/id/LED-Cube-4x4x4/

Step 18Build the cube: create a jig

In order to make a nice looking LED cube, it is important that it is completely symmetrical, that the space between each LED is identical, and that each LED points the same way. The easiest way to accomplish this is to create a temporary soldering jig/template.

1)
Find a piece of wood or plastic that is larger than the size of your cube.

2)
Find a drill bit that makes a hole that fits a LED snugly in place. You don't want it to be to tight, as that would make it difficult to remove the soldered layer from the jig without bending it. If the holes are too big, some of the LEDs might come out crooked.

3)
Use a ruler and an angle iron to draw up a grid of 8 by 8 lines intersecting at 64 points, using the LED spacing determined in a previous step.

4)
Use a sharp pointy object to make indentions at each intersection. These indentions will prevent the drill from sliding sideways when you start drilling.

5)
Drill out all the holes.

6)
Take an LED and try every hole for size. If the hole is too snug, carefully drill it again until the LED fits snugly and can be pulled out without much resistance.

7)
Somewhere near the middle of one of the sides, draw a small mark or arrow. A steel wire will be soldered in here in every layer to give the cube some extra stiffening

光立方制作翻译版http://group.chinaaet.com/218