My "Over the Christmas Break" Project....Marble Toy

[Dumb_Polack]

Got the week between Christmas and NYD off so I thought I'd try my hand at building this.  Saw it in a shop in Syracuse a while back.  Didn't take measurements but I think I can figure it out.

Thought about how to build the "pistons" then I realized I can get 2 out of one stick/board but simply angling the DP, drilling the hole and then flipping the lower one around which would be the 2nd piston.  I think I'll cut them a bit long at first. I should be able to get the angle off of the picture.  Thereafter I can adjust their height so that the marble travels "upstream" nicely.  I just noticed that the top one needs to be cupped 90 degrees to the others so that the marble goes backwards and down the ramp (which is tough to make out in the picture).

I'm still working out how to make to "cam shaft" though.  I do have a hole cutter and maybe I can cut a thick piece of wood and then bring it to the TS to slice off the circles, although I need to figure out how to hold the cylinder as it runs through the TS.

I'm all ears on any advice you might offer in building this toy.

[Roly]

Got the week between Christmas and NYD off so I thought I'd try my hand at building this.  Saw it in a shop in Syracuse a while back.  Didn't take measurements but I think I can figure it out.

Thought about how to build the "pistons" then I realized I can get 2 out of one stick/board but simply angling the DP, drilling the hole and then flipping the lower one around which would be the 2nd piston.  I think I'll cut them a bit long at first. I should be able to get the angle off of the picture.  Thereafter I can adjust their height so that the marble travels "upstream" nicely.  I just noticed that the top one needs to be cupped 90 degrees to the others so that the marble goes backwards and down the ramp (which is tough to make out in the picture).

I'm still working out how to make to "cam shaft" though.  I do have a hole cutter and maybe I can cut a thick piece of wood and then bring it to the TS to slice off the circles, although I need to figure out how to hold the cylinder as it runs through the TS.

I'm all ears on any advice you might offer in building this toy.

How about a 3 or 4" hole saw to make the discs for the cam and make them from whatever thickness you need.   Hand saw would  work for the V notch.   Roly

[joe1086]

Link

Searching for "Marble Stair Automata" (not a typo) will give you other links.

[Dumb_Polack]

Link

Searching for "Marble Stair Automata" (not a typo) will give you other links.

Thanks Joe!

I've bookmarked one of his pages

[Eazyduzzit]

I wouldn't personally try to cut a cylinder the way you suggest. I would start with the thickness stock you want and cut the circles individually on a scroll saw or band saw and sand them smooth. the hardest part to me would be timing the camshaft correctly to make the marbles walk up the steps.

[Dumb_Polack]

Well, I did cut them that way and it worked fine.

I offset each cam by 3/8”.

I’ll post pictures later. Is is still a WIP

[brianwelch]

The method I used for making hundreds of round coasters as take-aways at our daughters wedding was to turn a cylinder on a lathe and then lop off sections with a miter saw...just like the old slice-n-bake cookies of our "yoot"...
Glad it is working out for you. This type of project appears to be a good one for me in the not too distant future.
Thanks for sharing

[Dumb_Polack]

Finished it.

A few things of note:

1) I didn't fully sand out the burn marks on the upper channel.  I was getting tired of sanding maple by hand.  You might also notice on the lower return (where the marble starts it's journey up the pistons) I didn't completely sand out the burn marks there either.

I "serpentined" the return channel in order to slow the marble down a bit.  I tried making a jig to rout the switchbacks but I ended up doing it freehand.  Not perfect, but it does the job.

Since these pictures were taken, I added an angled piece on the backside to push the pistons towards you ever so slightly.  I found that if you spun the crank towards you, some of the pistons were hitting the ramp.  The angled piece pushes them away for the ramp.

It was a fun project.  Not sure I'll do it again but it was a learning experience.