Hand-Cranked Marble Model Using Wood Chain to Lift the Marbles

Redoak49 · 2023-03-21T19:37:36-0400

I think this is the most complex and best of your mechanisms.

Congratulations

LittleBlackDuck · 2023-03-21T23:36:00-0400

Well done DM... in both the model and presentation.

Love it when presenters put a little effort into presenting their creation(s) that have taken ages to design and build... yet fat too many just slap up 1 photo and 1 simple sentence...
This gives the opportunity for others to imitate... plagiarism is a great form of compliment.

Just an aside... If I may make a suggestion... place those alignment lines in you SketchUp diagranm into a hidden layer. I usually place permanent solid alignment lines on circle centers and slap them onto a $Guidelines layer. That way you can keep them permanently in the model (as opposed to traditional guidelines) and hide/reveal the layer on demand while "assembling components"... I do the same with circles that are used for swing of items, (X-Ray on for demo)...

Just toggle the layer on/off...

EricFai · 2023-03-22T06:53:41-0400

Very well done, really like the wooden chain and your design. thanks for sharing your process and the write up on this. One of these are on my list of to build one day. (Grandkids also)

horky · 2023-03-22T07:34:49-0400

Always enjoy seeing and reading about your projects. This is another great one.

DaleMaley · 2023-03-22T15:57:10-0400

Redoak49 said:
I think this is the most complex and best of your mechanisms.

Congratulations

Thanks !! The last one I did that used 3 big wood wheels to raise the marbles was about as challenging of a project.

I think the most challenging was the big marble machine that automatically runs out 26 marbles over 16 minutes. Lack of any good directions made it extremely difficult to figure out how all the internal mechanisms worked !!

DaleMaley · 2023-03-22T16:06:03-0400

LittleBlackDuck said:
View attachment 3871597

Well done DM... in both the model and presentation.

Love it when presenters put a little effort into presenting their creation(s) that have taken ages to design and build... yet fat too many just slap up 1 photo and 1 simple sentence...
This gives the opportunity for others to imitate... plagiarism is a great form of compliment.

Just an aside... If I may make a suggestion... place those alignment lines in you SketchUp diagranm into a hidden layer. I usually place permanent solid alignment lines on circle centers and slap them onto a $Guidelines layer. That way you can keep them permanently in the model (as opposed to traditional guidelines) and hide/reveal the layer on demand while "assembling components"... I do the same with circles that are used for swing of items, (X-Ray on for demo)...
View attachment 3871599
Just toggle the layer on/off...
View attachment 3871600

Thanks for the tip!!

I started with Sketchup Version 7, which was free, and have kept using it all these years. I occasionally use Version 2014, because it lets me export high resolution drawings, typically for signs. When Sketchup switched to an annual paid subscription model, I just kept on using my trusty old free Version 7

Version 7 doesn't have any layers features, but if I ever switch, I will check out the layer thing. Thanks again

DaleMaley · 2023-03-22T16:09:55-0400

EricFai said:
Very well done, really like the wooden chain and your design. thanks for sharing your process and the write up on this. One of these are on my list of to build one day. (Grandkids also)

Thanks!!

My website has all the blow by blow details of doing this project.

The only issue with the wood chain design I have used on 2 projects is there is nothing to keep the inner links separate, except the radius'd edge of the sprocket. When I transport the toys to a showing, sometimes the bouncing around in the truck causes the links to come together, and I have to separate them before the model will work. There are other designs that use a hollow plastic pipe mounted over the wood dowel, which keeps the spacing right. I try to avoid using plastic in my models, so I haven't tried that design out.

thanks again

Dale

EricFai · 2023-03-22T17:43:17-0400

Here is a thought to keep the links at the correct spacing. If I can explain is words. The center section has the pins to hold the outer in place, what if that pin had a shoulder that would stop the outer from compressing tight to the inner section. Would probably need to fashion another jig to create that shoulder though.

LittleBlackDuck · 2023-03-22T19:01:16-0400

DM, Sorry to deviate from this great project, but I'm not a fan of PMs as it lacks editing features... at least the old version did and I hate this new version.

SU 2016 is the latest free version that supports 32 bit processors (2017 is 64 bit only) though its a tad harder to find the downloads. I may be able to provide links to the free version if you chose to upgrade as it may be hard to track down as Trimble are trying to force people into the WEB or subscription version.

Phil277 · 2023-03-23T08:45:57-0400

Excellent.

Phil

DaleMaley · 2023-03-23T10:38:29-0400

LittleBlackDuck said:
DM, Sorry to deviate from this great project, but I'm not a fan of PMs as it lacks editing features... at least the old version did and I hate this new version.

SU 2016 is the latest free version that supports 32 bit processors (2017 is 64 bit only) though its a tad harder to find the downloads. I may be able to provide links to the free version if you chose to upgrade as it may be hard to track down as Trimble are trying to force people into the WEB or subscription version.

The Sketchup Warehouse still accepts my models done in Version 7. The only time I run into trouble is if I want to download somebody's design from the Warehouse, and the downloads are restricted to the newest versions, not way back to version. When that happens, I have to figure out how to convert a new model back to Version 14, which is the other free version I occasionally use, then save in version 7 from version 14.

DaleMaley · 2023-03-23T10:59:32-0400

EricFai said:
Here is a thought to keep the links at the correct spacing. If I can explain is words. The center section has the pins to hold the outer in place, what if that pin had a shoulder that would stop the outer from compressing tight to the inner section. Would probably need to fashion another jig to create that shoulder though.

Here is the design I have been using, which is very simple, but the 2 inner links can move together and not fit on the sprocket.

Another option would be to have a shoulder on the connecting pins. The shoulder could be a 1/2" dowel turned down to 1/4" on the ends, or a 1/4" dowel with a short piece of hollow plastic pipe with a 1/4" ID to fit over the dowel.

In this model, there are 42 connecting pins, would take quite a while for me to make 42 of these on the lathe. And, I would have to change the sprocket design to handle the 1/2" versus 1/4" dia of the pins.

One could also center drill short pieces of 1/2" wood dowels on the lathe with a 1/4" hole, which would be must faster than turning down one piece. Maybe I will experiment on a future project with one of these alternative methods.

Thanks!

builtinbkyn · 2023-03-24T15:23:37-0400

Really cool

We need videos!

DaleMaley · 2023-03-25T07:23:10-0400

I made a Youtube video of the model in action, you can see it using this link.

Thanks

Dale

EricFai · 2023-03-25T08:09:09-0400

Nice video, and a wonderful build.

Hand-Cranked Marble Model Using Wood Chain to Lift the Marbles

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