4 replies to this topic

[jakecastro]

Thought you guys might want to take a look at this. K'nex Ferris Wheel by Jacob Castro ? Kickstarter

[CW5X]

Well I wish you luck and what you appear to have built so far is pretty impressive, but don't forget you also need to take into account the strength of the central axle because that is where many a person I'm sure has gone wrong before.

[Jogumpie]

Are you really up to the challenge?

[Maxlaam]

The text on your Kickstarter page makes it look like you want to do it for the greater good. Your video is actually far from convincing. You say the risk is very low, but for your goals to succeed you rely on going viral, which is something incredibly hard to do. So basically your risk is extremely high. You mentioned that all other builds have been on display. The way they are displayed is however different for everyone. For example, Jogumpie and I are asked to display builds. We don't ask around ourselves. Austin Granger went viral when he was toying around in his room. He was asked to build his record ballmachine for a museum. Asking around to display something is far, far more difficult than being asked to display something.

The seminars are something very positive, promoting K'NEX is positive, but it's very vague in it's current state. I'd suggest working on that part a bit more, it's probably the one reason people will mainly back such a project.

Considering you've built a few things including a 9ft ferriswheel and seeing the pieces you have left, you're not even close to getting there though. Hell, 1500 USD worth of pieces might not even get you there, considering you get a lot of pieces that you do not require as you want to buy from e-bay sellers. I think you are underestimating the amount of pieces required for such a build, and how such a structure has to be build. It's not just a matter of upscaling the entire ride. It's definitely possible, but don't ever underestimate something of this scale. There are too many variables that can ruin the project.

Show people you are capable of building something this size, right now it's just an idea, there is nothing that shows people that it can actually happen. Calculations, test models etc. Something of this size is not something that should be created without a proper plan.

So far I'm not convinced to pledge for something like this. Good luck anyhow.

Edited by Maxlaam, 13 January 2014 - 08:45 AM.

[Zorn]

I have to agree with a lot of Max's arguments. $1500 is a tight budget, it may be enough to build this, but even buying up every large auction of K'nex (auctions that have the correct pieces you require) on Ebay you'll probably spend 8-10 months just to acquire the amount of parts needed. I can say this based on past experience buying large amounts of K'nex on Ebay. Therefor I can't see this project being feasible by June 2014.

I feel like a little bit more thought needs to go into this. If you had more projects to show what you can build, this would help you greatly in getting it displayed somewhere. It's an ambitious project for sure and I wish you the best of luck.