Cataclysm Knex Ball Machine

After over a year of construction, Cataclysm is finally finished! It has 6 paths and 10 lifts. 8 of those lifts are new. It stands almost 8 feet high. I haven't counted the pieces yet, but I will soon. The 10 lifts are organized into 3 networks, each network having two paths. I had to buy many pieces while building, most of which were blue connectors, blue rods, and green rods. I completely ran out of yellow rods. A Lego train runs around the bottom of the ball machine. :-)

This used 16 AA and 3 C batteries to power the motors.

Construction was started on May 25, 2009, and I finished on September 25, 2010.

The grand total of pieces is 28,538!

Click here for the picture album, with higher quality pictures!

Here is the video!

Comments

[knexpro7575]

I am just going to say this is an awesome ball factory. How long did it take to make this one?

[Shadowman39]

Thanks! The total time for construction was 18 months.

[knexpro7575]

And what was your favorite element

[Shadowman39]

Probably the rotospinner. I ended up revising it for Citadel and made it smaller, but I like the big version as well.

[knexpro7575]

Wow

[Ethan1023]

I love the green tunnels you utilized in this build and in the Citadel.

[Shadowman39]

Thanks! I was planning on making a long curving one in my unfinished ball machine, so it was built into Citadel instead.

[jwclittlebuddy]

How much K'nex do you have? And how did you get it all? Buying sets? Ebay? And did you buy them yourself, or did someone else buy them?

[Shadowman39]

I have 40-50,000 pieces, and most were bought from Ebay. Recently I started buying them with my own money, but lots of the other pieces were for birthday/Christmas presents.

[www139]

have the balls ever hit each other on the race track?!

[Shadowman39]

No, one ball was always delayed so they wouldn't collide.

[www139]

WOW!!!!!! that would never work for me!

[hunter999]

haha - just realized that you posted this on by birthday, I feel special!

[Shadowman39]

Ha, nice :-P

[hunter999]

Nice ball machine! Very innovative and ingenious! :-)

Do you have any idea where I can get some closer images or instructions on the element in 2:29 - 2:33 ?

[Shadowman39]

Alright, I found lots of pictures of it so I put them in an Ible right here.

[hunter999]

Wow! Thanks for these! =D

[Shadowman39]

You're welcome. :-)

[Shadowman39]

Thanks! I don't have access to any pictures right now, but if I remember I'll make a Cataclysm album on Flickr this weekend.

[Tazmjm69]

You have built some insanely cool stuff!!