12 replies to this topic

[UAmikey]

First thing I'd like to say is that I'm still pretty new to ball machines. A lot of ball machines that are popular on the internet are massive and take up 4 corners of their room. This won't be like that, just thought I'd say that off the bat. I have an estimated 12,000 pieces so don't expect anything super-epic-amazing with a bajillion paths.

Second thing is that I may not be able to work on this as often as I want. I have important Christmas exams coming soon, and I have a piano gig to practice for too

Third is sorry for the cheesy name. Trust me, if everything thing works the way I want it to it should make sense in the end.


Anywho, here it is so far:
(Also, sorry for poor picture quality, I'm getting a proper Camcorder for Christmas but for now you'll have to deal with my iPod's quality.)



Yeah I know, it's not much so far. I only have one path done, and it's not the best. I also lost some detail with my iPod's grainy-looking camera.





That's what the white floor leads to. A buzz-saw sort of lift. ^





Once it get's to the end, it brings it to a chain lift. Nothing too special going on here...






So far there are 4 path separators for 5 paths.


As I said, I finished one. I'm also working on a tubing path. Man, do I love tubing...
So yer. That's that. I would ask for constructive criticism, but there's nothing to criticise yet

However, I've only been working on this for 2-3 days, so at this rate I should make some progress within the next few weeks. Will post updates whenever I feel the need to.

[Kool Coaster Kid]

Looks good so far. On the top of the chain lift, I'd put a gear so it makes a smoother transition, instead of just going along the red rod. It will save on tons of friction. Hope to see more soon!

[Jester1960]

Congrats on getting started. if this is one of your first builds. Start off simple and you can always add on later
Checkout www.Instructables.com for some different ideas on lifts and elements.
My first ball machine started out with 4 paths and when I was done it had 10.

good luck with your build

[UAmikey]

Mini update:

Finished tubing path, gonna add another smaller lift off to the left

[Kool Coaster Kid]

Looking good. I'm a bit confused at the end of the tube track, does the ball fly off BBF style? Also, is that a wheel arm lift I see?

[CW5X]

I was going to call my coaster Wormhole before I changed it to Black Hole. Just as well really. This looks pretty neat and self-contained actually. Lots of interesting elements there.

[UAmikey]

Looking good. I'm a bit confused at the end of the tube track, does the ball fly off BBF style? Also, is that a wheel arm lift I see?

1. Yup, and then it goes through this little hole thing back to the white floor. The ball has enough backspin from the half-loop not to completely go flying off the machine:






2: Also yup, it works like a charm. My only problem was getting the ball there. The path separator was far away, and I *barely* made it connect. Phew

Edited by UAmikey, 14 December 2014 - 08:20 AM.
A letter

[UAmikey]

I was going to call my coaster Wormhole before I changed it to Black Hole. Just as well really. This looks pretty neat and self-contained actually. Lots of interesting elements there.

Thanks :3

Since I've only finished two paths, and one being made up of only tubing, hopefully I can do a lot more.

[UAmikey]

Here comes another mini update:

(Btw, you can see the red track here: https://www.youtube....eature=youtu.be )u

On to the new stuff:




So here's an interesting element. The first ball rolls in and falls into that little gap on the left. The second and third ball hit off the first ball and roll into the gap on the right. The fourth ball does the same, but all three together are enough to tip the whole thing over.






The three balls that were on the right fall down this spiral thing. The cool part is that the support frame of the spiral doesn't actually touch the ground, it just hangs from the top of the machine.





The ball that was on the left gets lifted up. I didn't really have enough space though to have the path go where I wanted it to, so I just have it fall onto a path back to the arm lift.

[Kool Coaster Kid]

Looks great! Your new camcorder takes great video! Also. I like the lever idea, what happens to the 4th ball?

[Yannick]

Wow, you have some really cool ideas. Your ballmachine is different to others, I like that.

[UAmikey]

Wow, you have some really cool ideas. Your ballmachine is different to others, I like that.

That's what I'm hoping for :3
Most other BMs just use tubing for the most part, I'm trying to come up with as much unique elements as I can. This however is hard, as I can't just simply watch someone else video to help me

Looks great! Your new camcorder takes great video! Also. I like the lever idea, what happens to the 4th ball?

There are 4 balls needed for the lever to tip over. There's 1 one the left, 3 ones the right. The one on the left gets lifted up and the other three fall down. I would show a video of that but the spiral has some flaws where the balls fall off for going too fast. Here's how it works: https://www.youtube....eature=youtu.be

Edited by UAmikey, 26 December 2014 - 05:46 PM.
A letter

[UAmikey]

Mini Update: Got 6 paths done. Working on a cool element.