Introduction: K'nex Foos Hockey Table

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About: "I have no special talents, I am only passionately curious" -Albert Einstein. Like Einstein, my curiosity has brought me to where I am today.
The K'nex Foos Hockey table is a blast to build and use. It is sturdy enough to be used as much as any regular game table, plus it is a lot of fun!

This is a model to be build only by advanced K'nex builders, plus you have to have a good sized collection of pieces to make it.

Here is a video of how it is played when it is compete:

Step 1: Piece Count

More than a few K'nex collectors will quibble when they see the mass of pieces required to build this. But hey, no worries, some of the pieces are optional. If the number is in Red, the pieces are required to build this game table. If they are purple, then you can substitute other K'nex pieces in their place.

Shown in the picture are the 1,896 pieces you will need.


Step 2: The Launcher

Make the two items shown in the first two pictures, then combine them as shown in the third picture to form the launcher. You will notice the piece that is commonly yellow is grey in this photo. Some prefer one color over another, as it makes the game table look more "deluxe" One small step for man!

Step 3: The Backboard

We will need two of these backboards. When you get a goal, the ball will hit this backboard and fall into the "ball collection area"

Step 4: Sideboards

Whip up four of these sideboards- don't be fooled by the different colored pieces!

Step 5: The Floorboards

Make two of these floorboards now. I liked all black, but you can use the standard colors if you prefer. You can also substitute pieces for the pieces in the center if you prefer. The plates can be substituted with regular 8-connector pieces.

Step 6: Costruct the Frame

Connect two sideboards to each launcher, and then connect those two new sideboard/launcher pieces together with a large plate as shown in the first picture. The plate can be substituted with connectors if you so desire.

Then add the two floorboards, one to each side, as shown in the second picture.

Finally, as shown in the third picture, add the backboards to each end.

If you did everything right, you should have a close equivalent to what is shown in the fourth picture.

Step 7: The "Men"

So they might be a far cry from looking like men, but these are what you will b using to knock the ball around. As you see in the first picture, there are two very similar men. The difference is that they are on different teams. If you can use colors to make them look different, it adds a lot to the look of the game. They are also topped with different pieces to make it easy to tell which is which. You can substitute pieces here if you wish.

We will need 2 men from each team, for a total of four men.(These are TALL men)

In the second picture (a slightly different design) we will need 3 men from each team, for a total of six men. (These are SHORT men)

When you are finished with all this, you should have 10 men.

Step 8: Placement of Men in Body

In the image, you should be able to see how to put each man into the body.
The image shows which men are tall and short, and where they will be placed. Once they are placed in the body, It should look like image two.

Step 9: The Handles

This is a handle. We will need six such handles to be made. The long metallic green rod is the same size as a standard red rod.

Step 10: Lower Workings

Turn the body over, as shown in the first image.

In the second image you will see that we need to add some spacers, a wheel hub, a gear, and a tan clip to six of the rods. Only add these to the same six rods shown in the picture .

In image three you can see the order the pieces should be in.

Step 11: Lower Workings II

Now you can add the handle you made two steps ago to the body. Only add the handles to the same six rods you added the gear and spacers to in the last step.

IMPORTANT: Image two shows the directions the handles should face. Connect the handles exactly as shown in image two.

Then add a wheel hub and tan clip to each of the six rods as shown in image three.

Step 12: Lower Workings III

On each of the four rods that we haven't put anything on, add what you see here in the first image. Look closely- there is a small spacer under the gear!

Step 13: More Handles

Now make four handles as shown in the first image. (The pieces are spread out so you can see them better.)

Then place these handles on the four rods that have none. Image two shows the direction they should face.

Finally, image three shows three more pieces that you need to add to each rod. First the wheel hub, then the spacer, then the tan clip.

Step 14: Lower Framing

We need two of what is shown in image one.

Image two shows one of these in the process of being attached to the body, Image three shows it attached, and image four shows the other one in the process of being attached.

Basically, just slide one each over the two groups of three handles.

Step 15: Lower Framing II

Make one of these, as shown in image one.

Image two shows a close-up of how to attach it,

Image three shows the finished product.

Step 16: Easiest Step

Just add a blue rod to two places, as shown in images 1 & 2!

Step 17: The Handle Grips

Add a tan clip to all 10 handles, as shown in image one. Then add a small wheel as shown in image two. You can substitute a small gear, or many other pieces if you don't have enough wheels.

Step 18: The Ball

Image one shows the three needed pieces to make the ball, and image two has one completed. You can also make a ball from non-K'nex pieces.

Step 19: The Score Counters

make two score counters as shown in image one. In image two you can see how to add them to each end of the game table.

Step 20: The Base

be very precise on this step to make sure every piece is angled right.

First make the object in image one. Then add the vertical yellow rods from image two. Finally add the red rods as shown in image three.

Step 21: The Base II

Now make what is shown in image one, and add the red rods as shown in image two.

Yes, this is a little different from the previous base section.

Step 22: The Base III

Make one of these little things, then add it to the second base piece you made in the last step as shown in image two.

Step 23: The Base IV

Construct one of these base pieces, then also construct the small center piece shown in image two, then combine them as shown in image three.

Step 24: The Stand I

Make three constructions of what you see in image one, and three of what you see in image two, then combine them as you see in image three. then make one more, except leave out the vertical central yellow rod as shown in image four.

Step 25: The Ball Containment Area

Whip up a couple (Ye, that means two) of what is shown in image one. We need two of what is shown in image two as well. Make only one of what is shown in image three.

Combine these three into what you see in image four.

Step 26: The Stand II

Make one construction as shown in image one, three ow what is shown in image two, and two of what is show in image three. Combine as shown in image four.

Step 27: The Finished Stand

Here we combine everything from step 24-26

Image one is laid out before combination, Image two is combined.

Step 28: Combining the Base

Put the base II from steps 21 & 22 on top of the base I from step 20 and attach them as shown in image one.

Then attach the base III from step 23 as shown in image two.

Step 29: Base+Stand+Body

Put the stand from step twenty-seven on top the base from step twenty-eight as shown in image one.

Then add the competed game body from step 19.

Everything should look like image two.

You are getting close!

Step 30: The Ramps I

If you were to play the game right now, the ball would fall out when someone made a goal. The ramps we make will funnel the balls into the ball containment area. Make what you see image one and two.

Step 31: The Ramps II

We will need two each of what is shown in images one & two. These are sideboards for the ramps. Add these sideboards to what was made in the last step as shown in images three & four.

Step 32: Ramp Combining

Use two grey two-connectors to combine the two ramps as shown in image one. Then add two orange two connector and two green rods to the shorter ramp, as shown in image two.

Step 33: Hooking Up the Ramp

Image one shows how to connect the ramp to the body of the gameboard at one end, while image two shows how to connect it at the other end.


Step 34: The Holder-backer

Make two of what you see here, then attach as shown in image two.

Repeat steps 30 through 34 on the other side of the gameboard.

Step 35: You're Done!

Let's see, now add... Oh wait, we're finished! Now you just need a friend to play with! You can play one on one, or have two vs two with an offensive and defensive player on each side. Either way, this Foos Hockey table is good for hours and hours of fun

Thanks for building my constructable!

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