Acrylic Penny Maze

So,  I made the simple Cardboard Penny Maze.

But, it wasn't quite enough.

Enter the laser cutter...

Step 1: Planning

Planning started the old-fashioned way, with pencil and paper.

I worked on squared paper, planning routes up and down through five layers.  I exploited the squares' size to plan 20mm channels, allowing both one cent and one penny coins to be used in the maze.

I then scanned the sketches into PDF files, and used InkScape to "draw over" the PDFs, and save the digital versions as DXF files.

Comments

[blueangelical]

I love it, would a £1 coin fit? Could you make one that does, how much to buy one off you please, I could put my kids pocket money in and they get to keep it if they can get it out.

[Kiteman]

You'd have to re-size the files (a 5p works fine in this one), and use thicker acrylic for the maze layers, but it would work after that.

I'm afraid I can't make another for sale (the laser cutter I used is in San Francisco, I am in the UK), but you are welcome to use the files to get one made by one of the growing number of online laser cutter services, such as Ponoko.

[poofrabbit]

This is a neat idea! Well done!

[Kiteman]

Thank you!

[fozzy13]

I saw the title on the homepage and thought to myself, "I'll get Kiteman made that with the laser cutters at Instructables!!".. I was right; it looks great : )

[Kiteman]

Thank you!

[Carleyy]

Kiteman this is awesome! I was playing with it earlier and it was lots of fun!

[Kiteman]

Cool, thank you.

So far, I only know of two people finishing it - one was Eric, the other was my youngest son (although he had access to my design sketches...)

[rimar2000]

I did your cardboard penny maze, it works very well. This other seems much more industrial grade, congratulations.

[Kiteman]

Well, since I have the files, I could, in theory, start mass-producing them...

[rimar2000]

When you win your first million of dollars, please send me ten dollars by way of tester.

[karlpinturr]

This does look good - I like the leap from a single-layered, working blind, pocket-sized cardboard (almost prototype?) version up to a 5-layered, decidedly-NOT-pocket-sized acrylic monster...:-D

Personally, I might have gone for a strong (but still transparent) blue-coloured acrylic (assuming the choice was there), but that's probably just me...

What's next, I wonder? - More layers? Moving/pivoting sections (might be a problem for re-assembly when trapped)? And maybe an opaque sheet (or 2?) of acrylic or polypropylene, so you're back to working blind?

I'd love to see Mark 3...

[Kiteman]

There was a suggestion in the office to use different colours of clear acrylic to provide a visual clue of your depth in the maze, but that would have been too nice of me...

[fungus amungus]

What about two opaque separators in the middle? That way you have one hidden part of the maze (3) and you have to turn it over to see either 1&2 or 4&5.

[Kiteman]

I wondered about something similar...

[karlpinturr]

Ahhh..! - You have in mind something a little more fiendish, then..?

[mg0930mg]

I really like this Kiteman. If I owned a laser cutter this would be one of the first projects I did. :P

[Kiteman]

A lot of schools are starting to invest in technology like this (my own is, soon), so maybe you could put together a list of cool laser-cut projects and wave them at your teachers?

[Kiteman]

I guess it would be possible to make it by hand, just a lot more time consuming. Unless routers work on acrylic?

[lewisb42]

This is awesome. It tickles the same part of me that loves marble runs.

[Jayefuu]

Looks good!

"This was a fun project - I need to think of an excuse to use laser cutters again!"

Challenge: You know that dinosaur AD love? The one that's been done in slicer? Get that, but in the middle layer add a cavity and a slot in the top. In the layers either side of the middle, add just the cavity. Money bank!!!!!

[SHIFT!]

This is like an Ant farm for the Rubik's cube genners!