[GBC] The Akiyuki Project (2010 - 2020)

[Ankoku]

Would be cool to see something like this used in a GBC, but if you look at the markings on the tyres, you get the feeling that it is rather unfriendly for prolonged use.

 

 

[djm]

Beyond the Brick's Akiyuki interview, Japan Brickfest 2018:

 

[Ankoku]

Pretty good interview all in all. Small elements are lost in translation, but over all, I liked the questions asked.

[Berthil]

Nice interview with good questions. Only question that was a bit daft was 'Do you test at home a lot before you go to a show'?
Duh. Can't believe the translation of the answer was he is organizer of the show and they test at the show and he decides what modules are displayed.
Not a real answer to the question and any GBC builder tests a lot at home and even at a show. May be that was the real answer, shows are are a test too. May be @Ankoku can confirm.

He has a lot of pens in his shirt pocket :)

For sure I will have a look at building the Basket Shooter now.

And when you make the effort to travel to Japan I would suggest to address him with Akiyuki-san.

 

Edited July 3, 2018 by Berthil

[9v system]

@djm did you get my message about the zig zag stairs v1? i have been able to find a solution that works very well

[Bob De Quatre]

I'll try to build this one, and see if I can improve it for an upcoming convention. Would be nice to have the motor mounted horizontally.

 

[djm]

5 hours ago, 9v system said:

@djm did you get my message about the zig zag stairs v1? i have been able to find a solution that works very well

I did. I assumed you were simply sending me a message as a courtesy FYI. By all means feel free to create some instructions and publish them.

Regards,

David

[9v system]

1 hour ago, djm said:

I did. I assumed you were simply sending me a message as a courtesy FYI. By all means feel free to create some instructions and publish them.

Regards,

David

i can create an ldd file and send it to you to turn into proper instructions if that helps

[Ankoku]

If nothing else, take some photos and post for all. Instructions can be a pain to create, but a few photos can really help people and only take seconds.

 

I am guessing the translation was lost more in the asking than the answer. I think the better question should have been: how much testing to do you at home. e.g. how long do you leave them running for.

 

In regards to Akiyuki, sama would seem more appropriate :P The use of san etc. in English subtitles is a bit of a scourge within subbing. It really ought not to be there. It is a good way to tell a professional subtitle from a rather lacking one.

A friend of mine did a bit of a rant about it.

 

 

[9v system]

@Ankoku are you still doing the ball factory? i have an ldd file of the large ball hopper for the spiral lift if you need it.

[Ankoku]

I am. It is on hold at the moment. Will be getting some new pieces for it.

 

My intention is to raise the whole thing up so that it is GBC standards compliant, entry and exit wise.

[Berthil]

Just now, Ankoku said:

My intention is to raise the whole thing up so that it is GBC standards compliant, entry and exit wise.

That was also my intention if I would ever build it again, it would overcome the issue of dropped balls messing up the timing.
Curious to see what you make of it.

[Ankoku]

The main thing I need to do is make the ball spiral lift taller by one section.

 

I think that will keep everything fine timing wise. Will also give me some breathing room when it comes to the loopback.

 

Keeping the slider pivot point strong at height will be interesting.

[smdzucladoc]

I have been tinkering with the ball factory for over a year now.  My biggest issue was always with Bob and the ball loader.  After seeing Ankoku's mods as well as his detail photos of the bucker shifter, My ball factory has been much improved.  I was still having a lot of friction in the ball loader until I add these mods.  Now the ball loaders is very smooth.

I add a 1x3 liftarm in between the two Axle and Pin Connector Perpendicular Triple and it seems that the loader doesn't bind to the axles anymore and it is very smooth.

IMG_3936Green by bmwe36m3, on Flickr

IMG_7832 by bmwe36m3, on Flickr

I also added some additional bracing to the back of the ball loader.

I added two additional Technic, Brick 1 x 2 with Hole and a 1/2 bush to the bottom axle.  I also change the axle 3L to 4L and added 2 Axle and Pin Connector Angled #1 and then a 6L axle perpendicular to try to brace the 12T and 40T gear as perpendicular as possible.   

IMG_7979 by bmwe36m3, on Flickr

IMG_7977 by bmwe36m3, on Flickr

 

IMG_7978 by bmwe36m3, on Flickr

 

Edited July 14, 2018 by smdzucladoc

[colinstevens]

Hi there. totally fascinated by these machines and fancy having a go myself. I can get the instructions ok but the parts list I xcan not open. can you advice on how to down load the parts list and also where to go to order the required parts.

Thank you in advance,

 

Colin

[Berthil]

@colin The parts list you can load into a Bricklink.com Wanted List where you can also order the parts from thousands of private and commercial sellers.

Edited July 14, 2018 by Berthil

[Ankoku]

The tower and the shifter are the two areas which were fundamentally wrong.

The tower once made the same as the Akiyuki one is very smooth, which is why I didn't bother adjusting it after correcting it.

Additional bracing does help on the ball dropper part of it.

The biggest issue for me now, is the emptying the bucket and putting the bucket back on the wheel parts. The wheel part is pretty smooth now, emptying the bucket can get dicey.

Always great to see mods which bring it closer to being GBC event reliable.

Edited July 15, 2018 by Ankoku

[Ankoku]

The main thing to note with the tower, is that when top lift arm is horizontal, the bottom one should be as close to horizontal as possible. It can't be perfectly horizontal, but you can get close to it.

It was this and obviously flipping the swipe arm connector the opposite way round which removed most of the friction.

On the Akiyuki image here, if you look left and up and left of the red circle, you can see that the black and yellow lift arms are both pretty much horizontal.

It was actually my brother which spotted both of these differences. Fixing them meant that I no longer worried about friction on the tower.

Edited July 15, 2018 by Ankoku

[colinstevens]

On 7/14/2018 at 7:26 AM, colinstevens said:

Hi there. totally fascinated by these machines and fancy having a go myself. I can get the instructions ok but the parts list I xcan not open. can you advice on how to down load the parts list and also where to go to order the required parts.

Thank you in advance,

 

Colin 

Oh dear, trying to find the reply button, but this is all I can find. Hope its correct. I have created a Bricklink account, but I am no wiser, cant seem to find anywhere to import/order a list created in the format on this forum. Please help.

[Berthil]

@colin different formats are possible, most likely the list is already in Bricklink XML format:
https://www.bricklink.com/help.asp?helpID=207

On Bricklink click Wanted List > Upload > Upload Bricklink XML Format > Paste XML text from your source file into the text box
After that choose new list wanted and give wanted list name and validate the list.

Edited July 16, 2018 by Berthil

[Ankoku]

I did it by hand off the PDF image.

That said, I wouldn't recommend it, was a bit of a headache.

I had my reasons, but if you just want to build the machine, then it is better to do it automatically.

[alanburchill]

Zig Zag Lifter - Its an old one i know, but the version i built is jamming all the time. I see the issue is with all the 5x3 lifting arms that are not spaced correctly. Has anyone else been able to get this module working reliably?

[Ankoku]

Another video of his Fork to Fork GBC.

Interestingly, he doesn't use the hammers any more. Just 3L rods for all forks.

 

[Ankoku]

Models like Fork to Fork use this piece:

Can you actually just use a normal worm cog instead? For models where it is used.

[rskamen]

I am new to this forum. I am relatively new to Lego. I am a 73 year old retired Yacht Broker. I have built 2 Technic models with my grandson. The Porsche 42056 and a MOC of the Volvo set 42030 with Effermans steering mods. I am now buying and gathering all the necessary parts for the Akiyuki Great Ball Factory. I have been watching Rebrickers videos and looking at the pdf created by Blakbird. There are differences. Any help or latest updates I should be aware of? I have read through this entire forum more than once. I do not have any inventory of Lego parts other than what I am ordering based on the parts lists for each module. Any parts that I should stock up on?  I am getting nervous. Thanks to all for your previous comments. Everything here is most helpful.