| Project by Dave Rutan | posted 04-14-2016 03:20 PM | 2995 views | 13 times favorited | 16 comments |  |
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This is based on the Marble Automata by Steve Good. While his instruction for the build, and his accompanying build videos scroll saw based, I used other methods to achieve a similar result.
I made this for my nephew’s birthday. It works with a crank which operates 5 cams. Each cam pushed a piston each of which has a concavity in it to hold the marble while rises to be dropped into the next highest piston. The last piston is a slanted channel which allows the marble to roll down to the bottom where the process begins again. The added bonus is that the pistons can be removed and put back in easily. My nephew likes to take apart and put back.
I used three pieces of my drawer front wood. To me this looks to be white oak. In any case it’s Notpine. Everything was well sanded, but I left it unfinished. My concern was that any finish would make the moving parts stick together.
If a picture is worth 1,000 words, I figure a video showing the operation of this toy is worth 1,000 squared.
-- Ni faru ion el ligno!
16 comments so far
a1Jim
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#1 posted 04-14-2016 03:51 PM
That’s great Dave,I bet he loved it.
-- https://www.artisticwoodstudio.com/videos
Dave Rutan
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#2 posted 04-14-2016 04:16 PM
Oh yeah. He was already playing with it before we left the party. Considering all the store bought stuff he got, I was pleased.
-- Ni faru ion el ligno!
ZAGREB
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#3 posted 04-14-2016 04:49 PM
realy nice ,I must make one …
thanks for sharing
Cheers ,Bambi
-- bambi
Ivan
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#4 posted 04-14-2016 05:37 PM
Wow, I realy like those wooden mechanizams. So much fun.
-- Ivan, Croatia, Wooddicted
Dave Rutan
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#5 posted 04-14-2016 05:54 PM
I told my nephew (6 yrs.) that I had fun making it too.
-- Ni faru ion el ligno!
woodshaver Tony C
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#6 posted 04-14-2016 08:08 PM
What a neat toy!Love it!
I”ll bet your nephew will love playing with it.
-- St Augustine FL, Experience is the sum of our mistakes!
robscastle
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#7 posted 04-14-2016 10:13 PM
Nice work Dave
Whats next, an Ark full of animals?
I am very pleased to see you havent lost any marbles after all!
-- Regards Rob
TopamaxSurvivor
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#8 posted 04-14-2016 11:25 PM
Nice work, I’m sure he will have a lot of fun with it. Did I mention I love marble machines ? ;-)
-- Bob in WW ~ "some old things are lovely, warm still with life ... of the forgotten men who made them." - D.H. Lawrence
Dave Rutan
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2022 posts in 3527 days
#9 posted 04-14-2016 11:28 PM
It’s cool to make a machine out of wood. Be cooler yet to add a wind up mechanism to it for self play, maybe an escapement with weights!
-- Ni faru ion el ligno!
Mean_Dean
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#10 posted 04-14-2016 11:51 PM
Very cool marble machine, Dave! I’m sure he’ll enjoy many hours playing with it!
-- Dean -- "Don't give up the ship -- fight her 'till she sinks!" Capt James Lawrence USN
Dave Rutan
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2022 posts in 3527 days
#11 posted 04-15-2016 12:21 AM
Thanks everyone for putting this into the Daily Top 3 in only 7 hours!
-- Ni faru ion el ligno!
irtamos
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#12 posted 04-15-2016 11:11 AM
Well done.
-- irtamos, Belgium
000
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#13 posted 04-15-2016 01:10 PM
do do do
put the marbles in
do do do
turn the crank
do do do
watch the marbles move
do do do
do it all again…..:)
Dave Rutan
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#14 posted 04-15-2016 01:21 PM
I promised not to do do do that again! do do…
-- Ni faru ion el ligno!
CFrye
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#15 posted 04-19-2016 01:36 AM
Fun stuff, Dave!
-- God bless, Candy
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