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 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:

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:

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.

Plans Changed for Cataclysm

The lift system on Cataclysm, which was still under construction, has been demolished for many reasons. Since my last post, when I made a preview video, I made the elevator faster, and I added an anti-rollback system that prevented the elevator from rolling down when it was at the top holding the car. When the car came on the elevator at the bottom, it pushed a switch on the right that prevented the anti-rollback system from clicking (the clicking sound got annoying after awhile). It also pushed a switch on the left, but it had no effect when the elevator was going up. When the car came in at the top, it pushed the left switch so the elevator could go down. Everything seemed to be going as planned, but something happened a little while after I added the anti-rollback system. The car kept on getting stuck when going into and leaving the elevator, and it didn't stop at the same place at the top every time, which was a problem (the car couldn't exit the elevator). It was probably because of the gates, but there was another problem; the elevator itself wasn't level, so the car wouldn't go through the elevator smoothly. It wasn't because of the counterweight because all 4 strands of fishing line were exactly the same length. It wasn't level because the gear that the car turned to lift up the elevator was connected to the gears on the front first; then chain ran from those to the gears in the back.
I took the anti-rollback system off of the elevator to fix the problems, but then the car wasn't able to lift up the elevator at all! The car also had a lot of trouble turning on the track; sometimes it even fell off. So much tinkering with the elevator and car was probably what messed them up. I wish I could have fixed everything, but I've already spent over 2 months building this ball machine, and I can't spend any more time working on this lift system. More pictures of the lift before I demolished it can be viewed here.
In the picture above, you can see both switches to the anti-rollback system. When the switches aren't being pushed, the 3 red gears that the car turns can move one way, but not the other. An orange lever (which is hard to see) locks into one of eight spokes on a white connector, which is attached to the 3 gears that the car turns.
Now that the lift system is apart, I'll have to think of something else. Cataclysm will still have its originally planned design. Unfortunately, I'll probably never be able to build a lift like this again.

Construction on Cataclysm Continues

It's been about 2 months since I started building Cataclysm, and I still haven't finished the lift system yet! The picture below is what it looks like now. So far, the car gets onto the elevator, and it goes up very slowly. A counterweight on the other side (which is tied onto the elevator in 4 places with fishing line) is the exact weight of the elevator. The car only has to lift up its own weight. The whole thing is only powered by one motor, which is on the car. The gates on the elevator (which are under repair) are attached to a lever at the end. When one goes up, the other goes down. The car doesn't go down yet. Click here to see a video of the lift in action.
I still have to do lots of things to get it to work. I have to build the track that the car will exit from the elevator. Somehow, I'll have to find a way for the elevator to stop at the top when the car is exiting.

New Ball Machine Under Construction

After I took Diffusion apart, I decided I would make a new ball machine called Cataclysm. I started building on May 25, 2009. I plan for this ball machine to be my largest yet, and it will have new lift systems. I'm working on a very complex lift system I call an Intermodal Train System (I.T.S). It involves a car that runs on track, similar to the original Knex Roller Coaster. The car will pick up a ball and carry it to the top. Then it will come back down. I finished the car, which uses a CyberKnex motor to power itself. In order to go forward and backward, a ball has to land in a tray, and then a switch on the motor gets pushed down by the tray. When the car reaches the top, a ball will have to land in the other side of the tray, making the car go back to where it started. The car was hard to build because lots of stuff had to be fitted in to a very small space. You can't really see the car in the above image, but that is what the base of the ball machine will look like. I might move towers or add new towers as I'm building since I don't have any plans or drawings (I did sketch out where the towers will be, but not the elements).

I'm currently working on an elevator that will lift the car up and down. It doesn't have its own motor. When the car gets on, a gear on the bottom of it will mesh with a gear on the top of the elevator. The gear on top is connected to four sides, which will have chain running through them. The wheels on the side of the elevator will help it be straight (I might add more as I'm building the elevator shaft). I also have to make a counterweight to make it easier on the car's motor, because it and the elevator are very heavy. Work still has to be done on these lift systems. It will take a very long time to finish this ball machine.