Ever wondered what happens when geometry meets LEDs and mirrors? In this article, let’s build an Infinity Dodecahedron — a glowing, mind-bending light sculpture that looks like something straight out of a sci-fi movie. I’ll take you through the entire process, from laser cutting the frame to wiring the LEDs and installing the mirrors for that infinite tunnel effect. Let’s get started!
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What is an Infinity Dodecahedron?
Today, I’m finally tackling a project that’s been sitting on my to-do list for way too long — the Infinity Dodecahedron.
Now, for those unfamiliar, a dodecahedron is a three-dimensional shape made up of 12 regular pentagonal faces — kind of like a geometric soccer ball, but made entirely of pentagons.
But we’re not just making any dodecahedron — we’re making an infinity dodecahedron. This is a mesmerizing light sculpture where RGB LED strips are installed along all the inner edges of the shape, and each face is covered with a two-way mirror. When the lights reflect infinitely within the mirrored surfaces, it creates the illusion of endless depth and glowing tunnels of color, giving it that signature ‘infinity’ effect.
Since I have access to quite a few lasers at home, I decided to make this entire build — or at least most of it — using only one laser cutter. I have chosen the xTool P2S as this project requires a CO2 laser.
Laser Cutting The Wooden Frame
For the wooden structure, this meant I first had to design a version of the infinity dodecahedron that could be cut flat and then easily assembled into a 3D skeleton. I used 4mm thick plywood, which is sturdy yet lightweight and works really well with laser cutting. Download my laser cutting vector files here for free.
But if you’re working with material in the imperial system, no worries — the design can be easily modified to match the thickness of your plywood or acrylic. You just need to trim the length fingers accordingly. I made the design so that all of the sides are identical. You need to cut 12 pieces of it.
I used the xTool P2S (read my review here) which cuts plywood like butter. With the laser cutter doing its magic, I had all 12 wooden pieces ready in no time. Then it was time to start assembling.
My initial plan was to glue together two separate halves of the infinity dodecahedron. This would make the electrical wiring much easier later on, since the inside would be more easily accessible.
The two halves came together beautifully — or so I thought. When I went to test-fit them, I ran into a problem. Because of the interlocking finger joints in my design, there was no way to actually merge the two halves without forcing or damaging them.
So, unfortunately, I had to scrap one half and rethink my approach. This time, I decided to build directly onto the remaining half, carefully gluing on each new side one by one. It was a bit more tedious, but in the end, it worked — and I managed to complete the entire skeleton in one go.
The result turned out beautifully. But if you’re building one yourself, here’s an important tip: when gluing the pieces together, make sure the finger joints on all adjacent sides are perfectly aligned. This step is crucial — neat, flush joints will ensure that the overall shape stays accurate and the infinity dodecahedron doesn’t end up warped or uneven. A little extra attention here goes a long way in making the final piece look clean and geometric.
Next, I gave the entire wooden frame a coat of black spray paint. This step isn’t strictly necessary, but I had a specific reason for doing it.
By painting both the inside and outside in black, I figured the internal reflections from the LEDs would have better contrast. The dark surfaces help the colors pop more vividly, making the infinity effect even more striking — and honestly, it just looks cleaner and more polished overall. You could cut everything out of black acrylic, but since it is quite expensive and more difficult to glue together, I decided to go with wood.
The LED Mounts
Then I moved on to preparing the LED mounts. I designed and cut a set of small brackets that would hold the LED strips at just the right angle inside each edge of the infinity dodecahedron’s skeleton.
These brackets are crucial — they ensure the LEDs are positioned precisely along the edges, facing inward to maximize the reflective infinity effect. I cut the LED brackets out of 2mm thick plywood. Ideally, black acrylic would’ve been a better choice since it’s sturdier and already dark — but I didn’t have any on hand. So instead, I spray-painted the plywood brackets black to minimize their visibility inside the frame.
The Addressable RGB LED Strips
For the lighting, I used a high-density WS2812B addressable LED strip – 144 LED/m, IP30 [Aliexpress, Amazon]. You’ll need to get 3 meters for this project.
To fit the LEDs into the structure, the strip needs to be cut into segments of 10 LEDs each. To make wiring easier, I sacrificed one LED per cut so I could get larger solder pads on both ends of each segment — a small trade-off for much easier handling later on.
While cutting the strip, I also noticed that some sections had already been manually soldered during manufacturing. I discarded these parts because they’re slightly longer, and the spacing between the LEDs is inconsistent — which makes them not fit properly on the brackets I designed.
Once all the segments were ready, I began gluing them onto the brackets. Since the brackets are made of wood, the adhesive on the LED strips didn’t hold very well — so I used a few drops of superglue, just to make sure they will not peel off in a few years. I also pre-soldered the end pads so it will be easier to solder the wires to later.
Wiring Plan: All The LED Strips Together In Series
Next, I had to figure out how to wire all the LED segments together. I decided to connect all 30 segments in series, so they behave like one continuous strip. This setup gives me full control over each individual LED and allows for more complex and customizable visual effects.
I found a helpful wiring diagram online on the Instructables platfom from a user MarcoGhelfino (he also built a very impressive infinity dodecahedron) and used masking tape to mark out all the wiring paths and data flow directions directly on the frame. This step made the wiring process much more manageable later on.
Now, this method does make the wiring slightly more complicated — especially because some data lines need to loop back under the previous strip to reach the next segment. But thankfully, since the LED brackets are mounted across the edges, there’s a small gap beneath each one. That space turned out to be perfect for routing the data lines cleanly out of sight.
Once I had the routing planned, I started gluing the brackets in place using wood glue. For a few segments where the data signal needed to be routed backward, I pre-soldered the wires and fed them underneath the brackets before gluing them down — which saved some of the hassle later.
I designed everything to fit together quite tightly, so careful planning really pays off during assembly.
When gluing the LED brackets in place, you’ll notice that the positive and ground pins run close to each other at the connection points. In cases where the same polarity pins meet, like two 5V or two ground pads, you can place them close enough that a single dab of solder will later connect them both, which is super convenient and saves a lot of time.
However, be very careful when opposite polarities meet near the same spot. If a positive pad accidentally touches a ground pad, it can easily cause a short circuit and damage your power supply or LEDs. So always double-check spacing at those intersections.
Soldering Everything Together
Once all the brackets were glued in place, I started soldering everything together. I used solid copper wire for the connections because it’s much easier to work with since it holds its shape and doesn’t fray like stranded wire. Its recommended to use a temperature controlled soldering station with a small handle [Aliexpress], due to a limited space inside the frame.
Following the wiring plan I laid out earlier, I connected all the data lines in the correct sequence using short bridges between the segments. That earlier planning really paid off — it saved a ton of time and made this step much more straightforward.
For the power connections, many of the pads were close enough that I could simply bridge them with a bit of solder. In each corner, I cross-linked all three positive and all three negative pads to make sure the power distribution was solid since this infinity dodecahedron could use up to 10 amps of current at full brightness! But ideally you would use it at lower brightness levels. To make soldering easier in tight spots, I often connected to a pad further away where I had more space to work.
To keep everything visually clean, I used black wire throughout, which blends in nicely with the black-painted interior.
Preliminary Testing – Checking The Connections
Once all the wiring was done, I double-checked every connection — just to be safe — and then temporarily hooked up the LEDs to a driver for testing.
And it worked perfectly.
Even without the mirrors in place, the LED animations were already mesmerizing. I used an SP107E LED driver [Aliexpress, Amazon], which connects via Bluetooth app and allows you to configure both the number of segments and the number of LEDs per segment. Since my setup uses 10 LEDs per segment and 30 segments total, which is 300 LEDs, the math is nice and simple. You can configure it as 30 segments of 10 LEDs for more dynamic, complex animations, or as 2 segments of 150 LEDs for slower, sweeping effects.
Laser Cutting the Acrylic Two-Way Mirrors
Next, it was time to make the mirrors.
Instead of going the common budget route of applying two-way mirror film to clear acrylic, I decided to use pre-made two-way acrylic mirrors[Aliexpress 1, Aliexpress 2, Amazon]. They were a bit harder to source, but they are definitely worth it!
The quality difference is significant. These mirrors are nearly indistinguishable from real glass mirrors on both sides. The side that has the blue foil is the side that has the mirror applied to it. This side is more delicate and underneath the blue foil is an additional transparent protection. This is the side that is a bit more delicate to the touch and should be pointing to the inside of the infinity dodecahedron. The other side of the mirror is more durable. It is just like standard acrylic, and that will form the outside surface of the dodecahedron.
You can also easily tell it’s a true two-way mirror because it’s semi-transparent from both sides, which is essential for creating the infinity effect.
I used two sheets of this mirror acrylic to cut out all 12 pentagonal mirror panels using my xTool P2S (click for reading my review). This is where this CO2 laser cutter really shines. Using the dual positioning cameras, it allows to efficiently use the entire sheet and make sure that the design will fit on it as it is a tight fit. But it never hurts to buy a spare sheet for just in case. Also, a CO2 laser can handle transparent materials which is what diode lasers can’t cut.
For three of the panels, I added a small chamfer to allow the power cable to pass through without obstruction.
Gluing The Mirrors In Place
To install the mirrors, I used black universal silicone sealant. I had tested it beforehand to make sure it wouldn’t damage the mirror coating and that it would bond well with both acrylic and wood. I carefully glued each panel in place, making sure that they are nicely aligned. I did this is several rounds to let the sealant dry to fix the previous mirrors in place before proceeding to new ones. Once they were all secured, I filled in the edges with extra silicone to give a clean, finished look.
One major advantage of using silicone instead of epoxy or other stronger glues is that it remains flexible. That means if I ever need to service the LEDs inside, I can remove the mirrors without destroying the entire structure. Also you don’t worry about making a messy job, as the extra silicone can be easily rubbed of.
Laser Cutting The Stand – Pedestal
I also designed a simple stand to hold the infinity dodecahedron in its optimal orientation and to house the LED driver neatly underneath. To speed up the process, I used this online box generator for the design.
Once the stand was ready, the final steps were simple: I removed the protective foil from the mirrors, placed the infinity dodecahedron onto the stand, and powered it on using a 5V 9A power supply.
The Final Result Will Blow You Away!
And that’s when the magic happens.
The infinity effect is absolutely stunning — glowing tunnels of color reflecting endlessly in all directions thanks to the high quality acrylic mirrors. Going with more expensive acrylic mirrors is definitely worth it! The LED driver offers a wide variety of built-in effects, from symmetrical patterns to more organic, chaotic animations. You can also adjust the segment length in the app to change how the effects behave, allowing for everything from structured, geometric visuals to more fluid and randomized displays. And the driver can also be connected to the audio source so the light effect can follow the music beats!
Conclusion
– CO2 laser cutter: xTool P2S
– My Infinity Dodecahedron laser cut vector file [download]
– 3m of WS2812B addressable LED strip – 144 LED/m, IP30 [Aliexpress, Amazon]
– 2-3 sheets (300*400mm) of two-way acrylic mirrors [Aliexpress 1, Aliexpress 2, Amazon]
– SP107E LED driver [Aliexpress, Amazon] or PixelBlaze V3 controller for even more adjustability if you are more tech savvy
– soldering station with a small handle [Aliexpress]
– 5V 10A power supply: [Aliexpress, Amazon]
I hope you have as much fun building this as I did. If you enjoyed this build, leave a comment to let us know!
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This tutorial is also featured on the Instructables platform and got to the final prize draw for the Rainbow Contest!
*The links on this website can be affiliate links. I earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. When you buy through these links you will support this website, which helps me to run this website(which cost money and a TON of time) and provide all these extensive reviews and information to you for free, without any paid membership.
This post was written by JT Makes It.
JT Makes It is an engineer, hobbyist, and DIY-er armed with a Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering and over a decade of professional experience in the industry. From an early age, JT Makes It was pushed by an insatiable curiosity, spending countless hours disassembling, understanding, improving, and creating various gadgets and products. This lifelong passion led to a broad spectrum of technical expertise ranging from electronics, woodworking, metalworking, and CNC machinery, with a particular focus on laser engravers.
For the past 9 years, he has shared his expertise through engaging videos on his YouTube channel. With the last three years dedicated to scrutinizing and testing laser engravers, he also created this website and emerged as a recognized authority in the field. His expertise extends across the spectrum of laser technologies, ranging from diode lasers, CO2 lasers, and fiber lasers, paying attention to details and providing practical insights.
With JT Makes It, expect a blend of technical expertise, backed with hands-on experience, and a genuine passion for innovation and creation, making him a trusted source in the realm of DIY and laser engraving enthusiasts alike.
2 responses to “Bending Light And Your Brain! DIY Infinity Dodecahedron (Using a Laser Cutter)”
I don’t have a laser cutter. Can you recommend a service to perform that function?
Out website is full of laser reviews, but for making the dodecahedron I recommend a CO2 laser.
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