Jelle Bakker made a Surprise Box for marbles (be sure to check out his You Tube channel.) I thought it was really cool, so I decided to make my own out of K’nex. (I am even making one for marbles!) Here’s how it works: First, a ball enters through the top, but doesn’t exit out of the bottom. Then a second ball enters through the top, hits a bell, and then exits out the bottom. When a third ball enters in through the top, surprise! It exits out the side along with the first ball. Below are some pictures and the video. Note: I filmed and took pictures of the Surprise Box while it was attached to my upcoming ball machine. Click Continue Reading to see the pictures. Continue reading
Author: knextus
K’nex: Two Ball Flipper Instructable
I made a new Instructable for an element I call Two Ball Flipper. I call this element Two Ball Flipper because when the second ball goes in, the balls flip over each other. Below is the video and the link to the Instructable.
-Knextus
K’nex: Into The Treetops
My latest K’nex ball machine is called Into The Treetops. I call it Into The Treetops because it is rainforest themed. This is my first themed ball machine. It has 7 Paths and 1 Network. The tree that is leaning on its side is actually connected to the tree stump with hinges. The tree can be raised up and down. I show the tree standing straight up in one of the night shots near the end of the video. The lights are supposed to look like vines. My family also used this ball machine as our Christmas tree and that is why it has ornaments on it. See if you can spot a sloth in the video! His name is Ball Machine because he lives on ball machines! Below are some pictures and the video.
(I will feature the white box that the balls from Paths 3 and 6 go into in an upcoming post!)
Special thanks to:
-Knextus
Lego: Floor Patterns Inn
On Jan. 24th, 2015, I started work on a new model in Lego Digital Designer (LDD). I call it Floor Patterns Inn or Skiskrapr (skyscraper spelled in my own phonetic language I made up). The reason why I call it Floor Patterns Inn is because every floor has a different tile pattern. The letters on the sign are colored like the patterns of some of the floors. At 22,269 pieces, it is the biggest model I have ever built in LDD. Below are some pictures.
Here is the full view of Floor Patterns Inn.
K’nex: K’nex + Marbles
K’nex + Marbles is my first ball machine that uses both K’nex balls and marbles. The pink/red marble track is Skyrail. In an upcoming post, I will give more details about Skyrail. Below is the video. (Sorry I couldn’t get the marble lift to work on this ball machine). Sorry, I forgot to take pictures 😦 . See if you can spot a sloth in the video.
Special thanks to:
Jelle Bakker- He introduced me to Skyrail.
-Knextus
K’nex: In and Out Spiral Instructable
My latest Instructable is for a simple K’nex ball machine element called the In and Out Spiral. I call this element the In and Out Spiral because the ball enters close to the back bone, and as it goes down, it moves out away from the backbone but then moves in toward the backbone as it exits. Below are the link to the Instructable (be sure to click on it) and some pictures:
-Knextus
K’nex: Seesaw Instructable
Many ball machine builders (including me!) use the same basic idea of an element I call a Seesaw. For this element, a ball rolls back and forth on the curved track until it stops. Then the dumper releases the ball. I made an Instructable for my version of this Seesaw element. Below are the link to my Instructable, the video and some pictures.
Seesaw- A K’nex Ball Machine Element
-Knextus
K’nex: Trick Flip-Flops Ball Machine Element Instructable
I made another ball machine element and an Instructable for it. I call the ball machine element Trick Flip-Flops. It looks like an element containing normal flip-flops. However, I call it Trick Flip-Flops because the flip-flops are weighted on one side and go back into place once triggered by a ball.
Sorry there is no video. I just couldn’t get the element to stand up on its own for a video. It will be in my next ball machine, though. You can see it in action then.
Below is the picture and link to the Instructable.
Trick Flip-Flops Ball Machine Element Instructable
-Knextus
K’nex: My First Instructable
I published my first Instructable for a K’nex ball machine element. For my first Instructable, I decided to do a simple element. I call the element The Catch Basket Zigzag. Here is a link to the Instructable:
Below are the picture and video.
-Knextus
K’nex: Grid Tower
Grid Tower is the first ball machine I have ever built with a white snowflake floor. It has 2 Networks and 5 Paths, and I used 6 balls on it. Grid Tower only took me about a week to build. Below is a picture and the video.
Special thanks to:
-Knextus
