Parallax-A Knex Ball Machine

by MechanicalCreationMaster

2.1K718

Intro: Parallax-A Knex Ball Machine

This is my second ball machine on instructables...Parallax! Definition for the curious:(Parallax-a term referring to a technique in astronomy used to find the distance to a star). Anyway, this machine has four paths, and some elements a bit more complicated than those in Subduction (my other Knex ball machine). Parallax uses various elements by users from around the site; I'll give credit on the path steps. Also, look for my Green Flex Path-my own invention. Enjoy!
     Video at   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Elsog83MnU&feature=youtu.be   or below (another improvement over Subduction...video! Sorry if it's not the best quality...I've never made a movie before; it's better than nothing. Once again, for the curious, the music in the video is Frederic Chopin's "Etude in C minor, op. 10 no. 12 'Revolutionary'")

STEP 1: The Lift

I used Tornado96's Alternating Arm Lift (1 extra module) and yardking's infinity switch for my lift and path separator. Also it has a curved yellow slide path that I came up with for tighter curves. The pictures should explain themselves...

STEP 2: Path 1

Path 2 includes a classic spiral, KneXtreme's simple stair, Kariah's red ball dropper, a slightly modified martb95 halfpipe, and a basket.

STEP 3: Path 2

Path 2 consists of sandrokexmaster's vertical clickers and another bit of curved yellow slide.

STEP 4: Path 3

Path 3 starts with a winding descent to 8chillpill's Ball Flipper. The Flipper drops the ball onto my new pathing type (Green Flex Path, a very sturdy and versatile path) which takes the ball back towards the lift.

STEP 5: Path 4

Path 4 starts with another classic spiral (a mirror-image of the one on Path 1) and then drops onto a back-and-forth descent before entering the opposite end of the halfpipe.

STEP 6: That's It!

Thanks for looking at Parallax!

18 Comments

knexpert#10829476 11 years ago

I made an almost exact copy of it! Thanks for so many views of it.

MechanicalCreationMaster 11 years ago

WHOA!!! I had no idea there were enough pictures to make the whole thing. (I would have posted a lot more if I were aiming for that, haha.) Great job, methinks you are a ball machine builder. Glad you were able to make it.

knexpert#10829476 11 years ago

That's exactly what I am, a ball machine builder and a roller coaster builder, yes and pinball machines.

knexpert#10829476 11 years ago

Thanks, my golf balls won't work for it, almost as if they were too heavy. Dod you use lighter golf balls?

MechanicalCreationMaster 11 years ago

No, I used regular old golf balls (some of them actually used for that purpose in the past). However, I had to tweak my machine quite a bit to get it to work right, and (then again) most ball machines are a bit temperamental.

knexpert#10829476 11 years ago

Thanks, I should buy those blue flexi rods and purple little flexi rods(that will probably help since I didn't have any).

MechanicalCreationMaster 11 years ago

They aren't often used, but they can be pretty helpful for sharp curves and such. :D

Sorunome 11 years ago

Meh, vid isn't available in germany :/
And do you knwot aht you can embed vids? ;)

Oh, and the ball machine is looking ccoooooooooooooooooooool! :D

MechanicalCreationMaster 11 years ago

I've seen all the videos on the site, I just didn't know how to embed one myself. If it's not too hard, I could try...how do you do it?

Sorunome 11 years ago

Well, there is a embed video button in the what you see is what you get editor and there you enter the embed code.
You get it by going to the yt vid, hitting share, and then there should be a button embed and when you hit it it should give you the code :)

MechanicalCreationMaster 11 years ago

I cannot thank you enough! Thanks for sharing with me this vital bit of information. I'm glad you liked the machine!

Sorunome 11 years ago

Haha, no prob. :D
I just wish i could watch the vid :P

sandroknexmaster 11 years ago

Great ball machine! Thanks for using one of my elements!
You said you would try to make a stopmotion. Are you gonna do that?

MechanicalCreationMaster 11 years ago

Thanks for the praise and for giving the idea for the whole of Path 2!
About the stopmotion, there's a good reason nobody does them: videos are much more effective for catching the ball's movement, and it's hard to make a stop-motion animation of a falling ball. :D I found that my camera actually could take videos, but it took me a week to get the thing formatted for uploading to the internet. :C But finally the finished product is here! (By the way, you're fast at responding; I published it and there was your comment!)

sandroknexmaster 11 years ago

Yeah you're right. I think it would be cool, but it is indeed to difficult to make.

And fast comments are cool! :D

MechanicalCreationMaster 11 years ago

Hehe...now that I've gotten it published, I can take it apart so I can build a newer, better ball machine! >:)