11 Jun 2024

My Challenge to Make a Marble Run Machine - Simplified Connecting Coil and A Windmill


I've made some improvements on my marble run. As I wrote in the previous post, there was an issue with dropping balls when one of the parts, Seven Arrows, received two balls simultaneously.

I carefully watched the Seven Arrows' movement and found that the balls' dropping position needed to be revised. The balls dropped and touched behind the arrow, so they rolled outside.

 

I realized there would only be a complete correction with remaking the board supporting the Seven Arrows. 

Since I still had the board's data, I widened the distance by 8mm (0.31496 inch) between the left-hand side and right-hand side arrows. I didn't have a specific reason for my widened 8mm. It was just a rough hunch, but it worked well.

The next task was to reduce the speed of the balls that rolled on a rail after they passed through the Pachinko Disk. Their speed was too fast, and some balls jumped out of the rail. I put an extra bracket in the middle of the rail just for a trial, and it worked well. However, I wanted to use something more fun to look at. Then, a windmill came to mind.


At first, I made a windmill with four blades. However, it was small, and I made a seven-blade windmill. It looked like a flower and was good. Here is the Seven-blade Windmill.

Seeing the marble run filled about 70 or 80% with various components is nice. However, there was one issue. Two elements had no connection to other parts, so I couldn't play the marble run. If I turn the handle, the balls drop from those components. Waiting until it's finished is no fun.

While wondering what to do, I found a good video, "How To Make A Marble Run Machine Spiral Coil." B-dama Friend provided the video. On the channel, there are many marble runs created with cardboard.
One of the videos shows how to make a coil using aluminium wires. It was a great idea and useful for my unfinished marble run.


I bought a 10m long aluminium wire immediately. I thought it might be too long but didn't want to run out of it later, so I bought a long one. After all, it wasn't long at all.


Making a coil was easy; I needed only a little patience. The coil was long enough to connect two components.
Finally, the marble run is available to play with. I appreciate "B-dama Friend Channel."

Since I connected the coil, I occasionally played with the marble run. Still, some balls dropped from somewhere, so I have to find out where those balls came from. Now, I need to make the upper left half to finish it. I'm almost there.





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