Marble madness
Started to design and build a steel ball (marble machine). Been quite and engineering challenge for something that seems so simple. The major frame will be baltic birch plywood but I'm printing as many components as I can The 'engine block' with dual cams lifts 24 lifters that will lift the stair sections. That part is printed and works. As soon as I mount the motor I'll send a video.
RE: Marble madness
Got all the 24 stairs (pistons) done. A lot of sanding. Filing the pieces 1st drastically cuts down your time. Copper rods are actually 1/8" steel tig wire. They come copper coated. Now printing the stringers to hold it all together.
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Staircase assembled for a test run. It works...(so far).
RE: Marble madness
Very nice!
Hope you will keep posting your progress and show the final machine.
Cheers
REPAIR, RENEW, REUSE, RECYCLE, REBUILD, REDUCE, RECOVER, REPURPOSE, RESTORE
RE: Marble madness
Speaking of marble machines you might like this fellow for inspiration:
There are lots of 3D printing possibilities there.
REPAIR, RENEW, REUSE, RECYCLE, REBUILD, REDUCE, RECOVER, REPURPOSE, RESTORE
RE: Marble madness
I saw that on youtube after I started mine. He is one talented individual and is an accomplished musician on many instruments. He is either filthy rich or has had a ton of donations. He has top of the line machinery along with a crew of talented engineers.
RE: Marble madness
Intermediate gear and lifting gears mesh great. Creating gears like this and modeling in Autocad is just incredible. 40 years ago this precision would only have been a dream.
RE: Marble madness
Hopper 01 Assembly. Had an error on the 1st pickup wheel. I forgot to angle the marble holes 5 degrees and have to reprint. 8 hrs. wasted.
RE: Marble madness
Still in testing stage for awhile but hoppers work fine.
RE: Marble madness
Got the 1st spiral installed for testing. Works great.
RE: Marble madness
Can't wait to see the finished project!
Or if it is like some of my projects it will be an example of "mission creep" and never be truly finished...... and a joy forever😀
REPAIR, RENEW, REUSE, RECYCLE, REBUILD, REDUCE, RECOVER, REPURPOSE, RESTORE
RE: Marble madness
Triple helix is tested.
RE: Marble madness
what an inventive spirit - great work 👍 👍 👍
wbr,
Karl
Statt zu klagen, dass wir nicht alles haben, was wir wollen, sollten wir lieber dankbar sein, dass wir nicht alles bekommen, was wir verdienen.
RE: Marble madness
Might be a few days until the next post. Been working on a 24" auger lift and it's taking a lot of time printing.
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Nice progress.
I note that you are building on a wood panel.
Have you considered building it on a plexiglas panel so both sides are visible simultaneously and give you options for the final build for creative lighting ?
Cheers 😊
REPAIR, RENEW, REUSE, RECYCLE, REBUILD, REDUCE, RECOVER, REPURPOSE, RESTORE
RE: Marble madness
Clever idea, the plexiglas. The wood (baltic plywood) is now just a mockup board. There will be a lot of material removed when the prototype is finished and I can cut the finished frame.
RE: Marble madness
Auger lift is working. Needs some very slight tweaking which might be due to a small bow in the shaft. I used a a straightedge to assemble all of the 90mm sections but apparently there is a very small flaw in it, but it does lift 24 metal 1/2" balls.
RE: Marble madness
Came up with an idea for the teeter totter tracks that it will have. I saw a marble toy from Grafix and copied the idea from them. The printed connectors are designed to hold the 1/8" tig wire that I have.
RE: Marble madness
Heat head to a crap last night and I spent all night rebuilding it. Seems to be working fine now. Will have some more pics soon.