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.

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:

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. ;-)

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.