[An old marble machine

[EyesOnly]

Well since asked about it i though i would share a old marble machine i made years ago. This is not in anyway a GBC module since it was made for a circular flow instead of a linear one. Anyways the pics don't look so good due to crappy camera but i hope it's still enjoyable.

The machine did not as i claimed in another thread use the newer thread links. It's to old for that. Instead a long chain build from small chain links ran in a loop and on it was link threads with 1x4 plates on them that grabbed hold of the marbles and pulled them up. Good thing i looked at the pictures more closely for when i started writing that last sentence i didn't even see the plates having only seen the small pictures of the machine. It is embarrassing to know that i have forgotten so much about this thing.

The motor is clearly way to fast for its own good. This becomes more apparent when you see the video. It stalls a lot. Luckily it is mounted in such a way that when it stalls it separates slightly allowing it to spin without getting damaged.

http://www.flickr.co...N06/9547648350/

http://www.flickr.co...N06/9547639466/

That second video should show marbles going up. It's kinda hard to see them.

http://www.flickr.co...N06/9547639054/

Now we get to the exit where the marbles leave the pump and hopefully find their way towards the flip flop. It also shows the two paths the marbles can take depending on where the flip flop sends them. One rolls over some ribbed hoses until they separate forcing the marbles to fall down to the collection area. The other path is made from studded plates and just leads the marbles through a bend before it ends and the marbles fall down. Whilst using studded plates instead of tiles might lead to balls jumping out of the trough, i will find out what it sounds like with balls instead of marbles. It will likely make a nice sound.

Here is the last picture showing the flip flop

One thing i quickly learned and that everyone who is into GBC will agree on is just the insane amount of ways a machine or module like this can stall or otherwise fail. If you think about 1001 ways it could stall and prevent them, the module will gladly think about 1002 more ways and demonstrate every last one of them. And this thing wasn't even that complex. Just imagine what someone like akiyuky most go through.

Anyways moving forward i'm not likely to build any more marble machines, from now on it's GBC for me. The dropping the ball thing might not work so well with plastic balls that will likely bounce all over the place, but balls guided by troughs made from studded pieces is definitely something i will try. I like the sounds it makes.

Oh i almost forgot. While this was made about the same time as the GBC standard came out i'm not sure if i had heard about it. What i did know about was a Lego marble machine made by Mattias Wandel. This page contains more links to his wooden once which seems to be the material he prefers. Ok time to post this long post.

[Kwon]

Wow! That looks awesome!

[EyesOnly]

Thank you. I'm still waiting for my beads to arrive and are parting out some sets and work on my sorting system while i'm waiting. I have however started building a GBC-module but will hold of on the details until it's finished. What i do know is that it doesn't seem to work with marbles. The can't be lifted by it.

Edited August 23, 2013 by EyesOnly

[kabelbinder]

Nice little machine.

Unfortunately, the links do not work (1+2: have no permission to see!; 3: no video)

[EyesOnly]

Thanks for catching that. I'm new to flickr so stuff might not work as intended. Try now. I've changed the permission on at least 2 items. Link 3 works here.

[Yiharua]

1002 ways to fail are too few! The everyday of a GBCer... :D

Nice try with this marble pump. I am looking forward to see your new GBC.

I am very happy to see another GBCer around here :)

[EyesOnly]

So i was optimistic about the amount of trouble to expect. Not impossible since it was so long since i built this thing that i had to look at the pictures to remember just how it worked.