This is a marble run made for as a gift. The inspiration was from a part of Mathias Wandel's marble machine 1. Mine resembles a small part of his.
Wood : Finger jointed rubber, 18mm for the base of the slide and 12 mm for the sides.
Individual slide : As I did no have the right router bit, I used thin strips of 12 mm finger jointed wood. The sides were rounded off using my router. The marbles tended to overshoot the ends and hence a block to stop it from falling over.
base : Made from 18mm finger joinged wood. This was rounded off on the upper surface.
When the run was in action, the marbles kept running all over the floor and one had to fish them out from under the bed and tables. Thus I added a small fence like thing on the base to keep the marbles in place.
Vertical Pillars : made from 18 mm finger jointed wood. Each slide was screwed on using two screws on each side. The screws looked a bit unsightly, so I added a thin piece of wood on the pillars to hide the screws. This was pasted on. From the inner surface of the pillars, two screws attached it to a broad foot. This was screwed on from the under side of the base.
The finished product : I took a video of it in action, however there is a lot of noise from the ceiling fan. I need to work on my shooting skills.
Wood : Finger jointed rubber, 18mm for the base of the slide and 12 mm for the sides.
Individual slide : As I did no have the right router bit, I used thin strips of 12 mm finger jointed wood. The sides were rounded off using my router. The marbles tended to overshoot the ends and hence a block to stop it from falling over.
 |
| Gluing up the individual slides of the marble run. |
 |
| The individual slides in different stages of assembly. |
base : Made from 18mm finger joinged wood. This was rounded off on the upper surface.
When the run was in action, the marbles kept running all over the floor and one had to fish them out from under the bed and tables. Thus I added a small fence like thing on the base to keep the marbles in place.
Vertical Pillars : made from 18 mm finger jointed wood. Each slide was screwed on using two screws on each side. The screws looked a bit unsightly, so I added a thin piece of wood on the pillars to hide the screws. This was pasted on. From the inner surface of the pillars, two screws attached it to a broad foot. This was screwed on from the under side of the base.
The finished product : I took a video of it in action, however there is a lot of noise from the ceiling fan. I need to work on my shooting skills.
 |
| Finished marble run made of finger jointed rubber. |
Awesome work Doc, really your work inspires.
ReplyDeleteRegards,
Samson CJ
Wow, this is super awesome... I agree with Samson. Your work is very inspiring !
ReplyDeleteHi Vinay, good work on this one. This gave me an idea for something that i am working on. So far have used predominantly plywood, would like to try out other stuff too.
ReplyDeleteThough i need your help, any idea what is finger jointed rubberwood called in Tamil. So that when i go the lumber yard i can tell them more clearly.
Regards
karl
Thanks Samson, Somu and Karl.
ReplyDelete@ Karl : Finger jointed wood is sold in larger plywood shops and not from the lumber yard. IT is sold as 8x4 feet sheets. As this is a kind of premium product, you may only be able to buy a full sheet. I think most of it is sourced from Kerala. It is more expensive than plywood. I am not sure what it is called in Tamil. I bought one full sheet of 12 mm thick finger jointed wood and have been slowly using bits of it.
Thanks Vinay, will try some of my local guys and see if they have it. The reason why i asked for the name in Tamil, is because when i try to explain it in my pidgin tamil something gets lost in translation.
ReplyDeleteHi Vinay,
ReplyDeleteJust now started with wood after so many years of waiting.... and came across your blog while looking for forums and stuff....and yours is VERY GOOD.....Keep it coming......
I started with simple marble runs with what ever small strips i got from the plywood shop......can you please advice a material (am in chennai...strips and blocks) that will be easy to shape and work...i don't intend on doing big stuff just yet......more marble machines will do for me now.
Thnaks
Loganathan.P
Thanks Loganathan.
ReplyDeleteCheap wood to start off: You can get plywood from local shops, but they will usually sell it per square foot. However smaller shops sell smaller pieces and so you can buy only what you need. However all plywood will have to be finished, (painted over) and so I would go for solid wood.
Another cheaper alternative is to find the scrap wood dealers. Foreign equipment usually comes in pallets and boxes that are made of good quality plywood or even solid wood. This is sold in these 'deal wood' shops. You could select the pieces you want.
Once you are confident, you can buy a sheet of 8x4 finger jointed wood and gradually use it for all your projects.
I started off with waste plywood and pieces until I was sure that I would use a full sheet of finger jointed wood. I bought a sheet, and have been gradually using it for about a year now, for different toys.
Hai,
ReplyDeleteThanks a lot for the reply.....like you said there are many shops here will try to find some and do some simple works.... sure will let you know of all the troubles(and doubts i have) i had in doing so..... lets see if i can finish one.....
Thanks again
Logu
Hi Vinay,
ReplyDeleteI am starting out working with wood and I am happy that I found your website. Really appreciate your sharing your knowledge and experience.
Thanks
Kiran
This article gives the light in which we can observe the reality. This is very nice one and gives indepth information. Thanks for this nice article. second hand pallets
ReplyDelete