[MOC REVIEW] Akiyuki's Ball Factory

[legolijntje]

Hello everybody!

Now that I almost have all required bricks I cannot see any of the building instructions on page 1 of this topic any more.

I just see "Posted Image" with a link leading nowhere (the IP says 54.213.90.68 which seems to be Blackbirds file storage).

Am I the only one to face this problem?

Help is appreciated!

The building instructions are located

. It's a bunch of Youtube videos

[Blakbird]

Now that I almost have all required bricks I cannot see any of the building instructions on page 1 of this topic any more.

I just see "Posted Image" with a link leading nowhere (the IP says 54.213.90.68 which seems to be Blackbirds file storage).

Am I the only one to face this problem?

That was just the IP address of Bricksafe which has since changed. Sorry about that. I've corrected all the links in the original post.

[drexore]

I have finished building it and it is awesome . Now I only have get a little more balls...

Made a couple of minor changes to the machine

Mod 1) Added pillars under the base of the Spiral Lift making it a bit less easy to break

The pillars are made out of 12 x Brick 2x2 (3003) and 8 x Plate 2x2 (3022).

Mod 2) Replaced the Technic Pin (6558) with a Technic Axle Pin (43093) + Technic Axle Connector (59443) on the Ball Dumper module.

This ensures that the grabber sits just a little bit higher, creating a tiny gap between the grabber and the bucket mover. The grabber

was hitting the bucket mover, making the movement jerky and also caused additional stress on the arm which moves the bucket

mover back and forth.

Edited September 17, 2015 by drexore

[legolijntje]

I forgot to mention that the non-lego balls (beads) I bought on Ebay (the link is in one of my earlier posts here I believe) works perfectly in this machine.

I bought 100 of them for I believe €10. That's cost-saving!

[drexore]

Tried Some unofficial balls as well with spectacular results....

[legolijntje]

These work perfectly for me and ship cheap and quick to the Netherlands

[drexore]

Thanks, I will give them a try.

[technical]

OP, I admire your courage and tenacity building this. Excellent explanations and illustrations as well. As good as it gets indeed. Akiyuki is a $@#&'in genius.

[Oliver 79]

So I just finished watching the Rebrickers awesome timing video (Thanks for that). and I seem to have a backlog of buckets right before the load shifter. Any ideas why?

[Blakbird]

Did you make the changes from his previous video? The second conveyor is supposed to move slower. It doesn't look like the queue is hurting anything though.

[Oliver 79]

Did you make the changes from his previous video? The second conveyor is supposed to move slower. It doesn't look like the queue is hurting anything though.

No I didn't make the changes. I didn't watch that bit! Thanks, I'll have a look. It isn't a major problem. It just looks to flow better without the backlog.

[Superfield]

Did anyone who has built the ball factory try the 14mm beads from China? I guess they would be just fine as the most parts of this machine that need extreme precision are those that interact with the buckets. But I would love to hear from someone that actually tried it.

[Oliver 79]

Did anyone who has built the ball factory try the 14mm beads from China? I guess they would be just fine as the most parts of this machine that need extreme precision are those that interact with the buckets. But I would love to hear from someone that actually tried it.

I have. It works fine. The only small problem is when the beads get picked up and put in the bucket. I guess the beads aren't as uniform in size as the lego balls, so some of them fall out of the axle prongs. Other than that, it works fine.

On a side note, I have a love hate relationship with the ball factory. It seems every time I turn it on, it's out of sync. Last night I tried to make a short video, but one of the drive chains kept breaking. It turned out the bucket unloaded was dumping balls into the load shifter mechanism. It took a while to find it was a case of a loose brick underneath.

On the other hand, it's the most enjoyable lego model I've ever made!

[Deepy]

Another version of the Ball Factory?

[DrJB]

Another version of the Ball Factory?

Good find! The one with the blue parts, there is a non-lego version of it, and it is apparently the one that inspired Akiyuki (I recall reading that somewhere). The other half, is the one Akiyuki came up with. In a sense, your video shows the inspiration (input) and the outcome (output) to Akiyuki's genius.

Edited February 14, 2016 by DrJB

[Staslegomaster]

As far as I know, LEGO Technic was the first theme series for advanced creators.And it's still popular because I like the playability of your creation and that you combined a few different ideas in one set. I like some of your ideas.

Edited March 7, 2016 by Staslegomaster

[wimpie3]

Have you seen this?

Don't look at the crane, but at the ball factory. This seems to be another (improved?) version?

[DrJB]

Not quite, the one I recall had a different rotating 'table'.

[wumsi]

well...i really didn't wanted to built any of these GBC's...it looks so addicting. Blakbird...why did you have to write such a nice review? Now i have to build one of these things!

[Blakbird]

well...i really didn't wanted to built any of these GBC's...it looks so addicting. Blakbird...why did you have to write such a nice review?

Because if I have to suffer through this addiction then you do to.

[DrJB]

Because if I have to suffer through this addiction then you do to.

AFOL Anonymous ...

I used to be a GBC addict ... I thought I was cured, then comes this SR71 guy ... :(

[Blakbird]

AFOL Anonymous ...

I used to be a GBC addict ... I thought I was cured, then comes this SR71 guy ... :(

Don't fool yourself. There is no cure.

[Alasdair Ryan]

I have not been bitten yet.

[bj51]

I have a question, before I launch myself into this madness of a build. How many balls, do you reckon, is needed in recirculation mode ?

I'm about 800 parts short (mainly DBG bricks, and balls of course) at the moment, hoping to complete it for an event in May.

[legolijntje]

I have a question, before I launch myself into this madness of a build. How many balls, do you reckon, is needed in recirculation mode ?

I'm about 800 parts short (mainly DBG bricks, and balls of course) at the moment, hoping to complete it for an event in May.

I'd say there's a minimum of ~50 (after all, there are 21 buckets or so I believe, all with 2 balls). But, I'd recommend to use a little more, somewhere around 70 or so.