The Idea That Popped Up in My Mind at Night

I woke up around 1 a.m. last night. It happens often, and I tried to go to sleep, but one idea came up in my mind. It was an essential function of a marble run machine I've been working on. It was the function I'd been thinking about for several months.

I thought it was a good idea. I didn't want to lose it. If I went back to sleep, I might forget it. Therefore, I reluctantly got up, went to the study and wrote the idea down on paper.

I'm checking the idea whether it will work properly. As is often the case with me, suddenly, an idea pops up in my mind, and I believe it must be a brilliant idea. However, the great idea I got in my mind is squeezed like airless balloons when I wake up. Things like this happen quite often.

I didn't want to be disappointed, and I tried not to pin my hopes on the idea too much. Mostly, an idea I got doesn't work well. Making original creations makes me feel expectations and disappointment repeatedly. This is a bit hard mentally. Therefore, it's easy to stop making original things. Only people who keep going have the availability to create something unique. I'm telling myself not to give it up.

What about the idea this time? Well, I'm still unsure whether the idea can work. At least, as I can say, the idea is the one that I've never thought of. Hopefully, it works well. Fingers crossed.

My Challenge to Make a Marble Run Machine - Making A Big Gear 2

I finally finished cutting three gears of one of the functions of a marble run machine. There are two giant gears and one small gear. They will be assembled and will be one of the mechanisms raising balls.

After cutting the gears, I chamfered each edge and sanded the surfaces. Only doing these works, the gears looked so nice.
I tested the movement of those gears. They rotated smoothly, and I'm satisfied with their finish.

It's 12th December today. Christmas is coming soon. My husband and I plan to sell new puzzles around Christmas, and we must prepare for that. I want to continue my woodworking for the marble run machine, but I have to stop working for a while.
If I could prepare the new puzzle release soon, I would start woodworking again. I don't know if I can start it this year.

I hope your holiday celebrations are lots of fun, surprises, and magic!

My Challenge to Make a Marble Run Machine - Making A Big Gear

After long consideration and experiments, I finally started cutting one of the marble run machine's gears using the CNC router. 

I got the material for gears accidentally and luckily. One day, Juno said he had made some board using timber off-cuts. Initially, he thought those boards were suitable for a pot mat. However, those boards were thick and looked good for gears, so I got them.

 

If you have experience using a CNC router you may know, it's not easy to use CNC routers. There are pitfalls everywhere. Forgetting to make sure of the coordinates, using the wrong size bit, wrongly measuring the thickness of a material, anything can happen.
Today, I didn't notice, and I almost broke a bit. A small mistake can cause big damage.

 
The other difficulty of using a CNC router is how to fix a material. Sometimes, it's hard to find a space to keep a material steady. If you fix hold-down jigs very close to the cutting position, a bit might hit the jig and break a bit. I'm sure anyone who has used a CNC router has made several mistakes. Nevertheless, I like the machine because it helps to make my dream come true.

As you can see, there are lots of holes in the gear. These holes have a meaning for each of them. One of the reasons is making the gear lighter. The material was thick, and it took about 40 minutes to cut only the outside. I must make two more same types of gear. 

 

I want to make the next gear as soon as possible. I hope that I can report back on the progress of my marble run machine here soon.

My Challenge to Make a Marble Run Machine - The Ball Rising Function

It was a hot day today. I didn't feel like doing anything, but I tried to be motivated to design a marble run machine. Luckily, I could make a little progress. The rough idea of one of three systems of raising balls became specific, and I drew it on 3D software. After I finished drawing, I experimented with the system to make sure it worked well.

Luckily, there are plenty of timber off-cuts. I made some holes using the CNC router and tested how a ball rotates. I always realize that even though I thought I considered a mechanism well, something that I didn't expect happens. Therefore, the experiment is crucial.

I always knew that I wanted to make something that nobody had thought of. However, it's arduous unless I'm a genius. I try to not use the same design as others made, yet after all, what I thought of were not exactly the same, but very close. Honestly, I wanted to make something more unique, maybe next time.

The other two ball-rising functions' designs have been decided. One is the chain, and the other is a cam function. I have already made sure these two could work well. Therefore, this disc function was the last one. If I could complete it, the mechanism of moving balls from the bottom to the top is getting closer to accomplish.

As you can imagine, rolling balls down to the lower level is easy. Pulling balls to a higher level is a bit tough. If I could complete these three functions, I would be relieved a little.

The details of these functions will be released when my first marble run machine is completed. Until then, the details of my marble run machine are secret. There is no reason to keep them secret, but I believe it's much more fun to see the marble run machine without advanced information when it's completed.

Tomorrow and the day after tomorrow's highest temperature will be hotter than my body temperature. I don't know how much progress I am able to make. Hopefully, I would like to make some gear tomorrow.