New Ball Machine Started

I have now started to build a new ball machine! I'm almost done with the first lift; I'm working on the motor. I started building the lift in March 2010, but then put it aside until Cataclysm was down. But, I began the actual ball machine yesterday. This ball machine won't take up as much space as Cataclysm did, but that doesn't really mean it will be smaller. ;-) It won't have as much lifts either, but it will have more paths. It will have one, maybe two networks that go to the very top. I hope to finish it by the end of summer. I won't post any pictures now, but I might do a few updates in the future.

Inverted Double Helix Lift

This lift is one that I recreated from Cataclysm. It's different than the original double helix lift because there is a tower in the center that spins around, and the helix is on the outside. This makes it more efficient, because it can be made much higher.

Click here for the instructions! The one in the instructions isn't very tall, but it's easy to modify to make taller.

Here is a video.

Rapid Ball Juggler

Wow, two posts in one day. Anyway, here is my latest creation, the ball juggler! It's a kinetic sculpture that is built just for entertainment. Ping pong balls are thrown into a basket with a catapult. It's powered by a motor, and a rubber band makes the catapult shoot the balls. A pusher rotates, and it pushes the catapult back. There's a ball dispenser on the catapult side which loads one ball at a time into the catapult.

EDIT: The name has been changed from catapult machine to ball juggler. It just sounds better. :-)

Click here for the instructions!

Here's the video:

Squirrel Trap V2 Preview

I built Version 2 of my squirrel trap! It's much better than the old one, and I made it use metallics. :-) This is a preview because I'm going to post another topic with more pictures, and explain it more.

Cataclysm is Demolished

After a week of demolishing and counting pieces, Cataclysm is demolished. The room looks so empty now! This huge ball machine used exactly 28,538 pieces! The picture above just shows some of the pieces. There are boxes all over the place. To see more pictures of the pieces and demolition, click here to go to my contest (which is now over). Scroll down to see the pictures. Lots of the pieces don't even fit in their boxes anymore, since I bought around 3,000 more pieces while building it.

Now I'll have to think of my next project...

Cataclysm is Finished!

This post is a little late, but oh well. As the title says, I have finally finished Cataclysm after 16 months of hard work! It has 10 lifts and 6 paths. The lifts are organized into three networks, each network having two paths. This is my biggest ball machine to date, but I haven't counted the pieces yet. It stands 8 feet tall to the ceiling, and takes up a whole rug. I had to buy many pieces while building.

Here is Cataclysm's picture gallery! I'm still working on uploading more photos, but 20 is good for now. I'm already busy taking this huge ball machine down.

Video:

Coin Sorter

This is a machine I worked on over the past few months, but finally had enough motivation to finish it. It sorts dimes, pennies, nickels, and quarters. It does this using a sorting tray, which runs back and forth using a motor. The coins are sorted into paper sleeves by size.

Click here for the instructions!

 Here's the video:

Lifts of Cataclysm Finished

After almost a year of construction, the lifts of Cataclysm are finally finished! I added my alternator lift (which is in a previous post), and three other lifts. That makes 10 lifts! They aren't all different or new though, but most of them have never been done before. There are three lift networks in all, each leading to the ceiling. It'll have an estimate of 12 paths (4 paths per network). I may build more paths depending on how much pieces and space I have. Now that I bought 900 green rods, I can begin on the elements.

As for other projects, I'm building something else (it's a secret), and I'm working on another collaboration with Hiyadudez.

There are no pictures here because I want to keep everything a surprise. ;-)

Alternator Lift

This is a new ball machine lift I made and worked on for a month. Here's how it works: a tower in the middle of the main tower (called the lifter) has ball grabbers on it. There are ball holders built into the front of the tower. When the lifter goes up and down, the balls are alternated from one side to the other, which is why I named it the Alternator Lift! This lift will go into Cataclysm.

Click here for instructions!

Here's the video of the lift in action:

Knex Automatic Card Shuffler

Hey everyone! I haven't updated this blog in a long time.

Anyways, this is a project that I did with Hiyadudez. This makes the second project that I did with him, the first being the hole puncher. This cool gadget shuffles a full deck of standard-sized poker playing cards. It does this by pushing the cards out with a wheel. There are two sides, so they get shuffled pretty good.
Click here for more pictures.

Click here for instructions!! 

Video:

Hole Puncher

This is a cool little hole puncher that makes two holes in paper. It does this with 2 sharpened rods and a rubber band in the back. This was a collaboration project between me and Hiyadudez. We came up with a basic design, and then made it better and modified it. Besides from just punching holes, it also has a tray in the back that can hold business cards, pencils, and other office supplies. Hiyadudez made the video, watch it below. Click here for the instructions!

Cataclysm Demolition?!

What? Demolishing? Don't worry, I'm not demolishing it like I said in the title. My house is getting new windows, and since one of the main towers is in front of a window, I had to break the tower off. Picture at right. I had to take the chain to the chain path lift apart. I also took train track and the train station out. The picture below shows the tower that I broke off. After the new windows are installed I'll put it back and resume construction. See pictures in my construction album.

Construction Pictures of Cataclysm

I'm uploading all of Cataclysm's construction pictures in one place, an album on Knex Forum. This way you all will be able to see pictures of Cataclysm's progress!
Click here to see the album! I'll upload pictures there regularly, but not too regularly. ;-)

Cataclysm Update Video No. 2

Here's an update video I made of Cataclysm. The arm lift isn't working in the video because the motors don't have batteries in them (to prevent corrosion). I finished the ball launcher and built a wheel lift and chain path lift. I still need to fix the track coming out of the launcher, since the ball doesn't make it all the way up half the time. I also took pictures, and made an album of Cataclysm's construction. I'll update it whenever I take more pictures. You can see that album here.

Click here for the video! You can also watch the video in my video bar up top!

Knex Hyperspace Training Tower Video

I made this video because I was bored and wanted to work with new video editing software, AVS Video Editor 4. I got this set for Christmas, and filmed it on New Years Day. I finally had enough time to make the video. You can watch it below or on the top of this page in the "My Videos" bar.

Main towers on Cataclysm finished

I finally got to building the main towers on Cataclysm! All of the elements and lifts will be built onto these towers. There's a new lift under construction that you can see in the picture above. Also, I built a "wall" around the base three red rods high. This is to keep the cats out of the interior of the machine, and it works. :-) I took the batteries out of all of the motors on the large arm lift, since I'm not running the arm anymore during construction of other things. Once I get some crossties I bought from eBay a month ago (which should have already come), I'll be able to complete the large arm lift. All I need to do is add a gate mechanism at the bottom, and the large arm lift will be complete. Hopefully I won't save that part for last, like I did with the ball catcher in Wipe Out's rotating arm lift.

Christmas Wreath

Here's something that will look good around Christmas time: a wreath! This was only built in a day, and it uses 382 pieces, most of which are green rods and green connectors. In addition to the green, there's white rods and connectors for snow, red connectors for berries, a ribbon at the bottom, and more. I made instructions for it if you want to build it; click here for that.

This is an entry into this Knex contest, and I won 1st place! View the instructions for more pictures.

Miter Saw

This is a miter saw that I built in only two days (imagine that!). I built for a contest. The blade spins and can cut paper. The best part about it is that the blade guard lifts up automatically as you push the saw down, just like the real thing. Plus, it's huge, heavy, and uses lots of flexi-rods. :-)


Here's how it works; when you push the saw down, fishing line gets reeled out in the back. A shaft turns, which is geared up so another shaft spins faster. Another strand of fishing line is attached to this shaft. When one strand of fishing line gets pulled out, another gets pulled in at a faster rate. One strand goes through the base and up into the saw, going through many wheels (yes, this was very hard to put through the wheels). There's also rubber bands that help reset everything.

Click here for the official gallery to see all of the pictures!

This is a 1st place contest winner!


Click here to see the official parts list, plus pictures of the saw during deconstruction! You'll be able to see the insides of the saw and the mechanism.

Watch the video here.

Stair Lift

From the original stair lift I used in Wipe Out, I recreated this stair lift. With its improved design, it isn't exactly like the old one. But it's very similar.

I made instructions right here, and the video is here.

Roller Coaster Station V2

This is version 2 of my original coaster station. I made instructions for it right here. It uses Screamin' Serpent cars for the track, and I even made it all metallic colors :).