My Challenge to Make a Marble Run Machine - A Little Mountain Part

I've been making various types of parts for the marble run machine, and the most difficult part to make is the spiral-shaped parts. 

Despite the difficulty, I was determined to make a part resembling a mountain. I somehow drew a picture of the mountain-shaped part. 

 

 

Thinking of the angle of the rail, it couldn't be a steep mountain, so I changed the angle from 3 to 5 degrees. While it ended up looking more like a gentle hill, I thought it was still acceptable.

The drawing was just a flat rail. If I cut the rail with the CNC router, it would have become like a mosquito coil. I thought of the assistance of my husband, Junichi, who excels in these kinds of tasks. He skillfully reworked the G code, and finally, we had a code that could create the mountain shape. I'm grateful to Junichi for his help.

 

 

The ball is planned to fall from the top of the mountain part and may jump or fall off at the top. To prevent the balls from dropping off, I intend to attach five bamboo sticks to the summit. The bamboo sticks will be related to the part that I'm going to make from now on, so I have yet to stick them on.

I'm happy with the result so far as the balls roll smoothly along to the mountain.

The next step would be making a part above the mountain. I won't challenge a spiral part anymore. I want to make something more simple and fun. Something fun and easy to make would be ideal, but ideas take time.

What shall I make next?

My Challenge to Make a Marble Run Machine - An Ant's Nest

I've finished making one of the parts of my marble run machine.

 

I call it an ant's nest. It has a long twisting ditch that balls can roll down and looks like an ant's nest.

Making the ditch, I used a ball-shaped bit. This bit was good for making a ditch for balls. Adjusting the depth of bits can make a long hole so the balls don't drop off and can be seen outside.
 

However, there was one thing I had to be careful about. The edge of the ditch would become sharp and easy to be damaged. Therefore, I drilled a hole with an ordinary bit that was a narrow diameter than the balls first, then a ball-shaped bit to prevent cracking.

Firstly, I made a trial version of the ant's nest with MDF. It worked well, but I wanted to be more fond of the shape of the ditch. Therefore, I changed the shape of the ditch.

Here is the one I made in the end.

The balls roll well, but I wanted the last curve to be more gentle if I could because they run too fast when they come out of the ant's nest.

After passing by the ant's nest, the balls go to a trumpet-shaped tray. The balls jumped out of the tray about one in ten times, so I prepared the second tray. The second tray has a height of 15 mm, enough to prevent the balls from jumping over. The balls that go into the tray rotate well, and it's fun to watch.

I've finished making parts of nearly half of the marble run machine at this stage. I thought I'd spent lots of time, yet it's still only half done. How long will it take to be finished?
There is still a long way to go.