How to Build a Marble Machine

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Marble Machines are Fun

There is something about building a Marble Machine. I have not done it yet, but I want to. Until then I will have to settle for the work of some of these Marble Machine Masters.

You can tell these guys have the skill to shape wood and wire into a fine oiled machine. They inspire me to build one of my own. I just think I should use coins rather than marbles. We will see. Enjoy the videos.

The Ball Lifter

You Must Defy Gravity First

There are nearly an endless number of ways to lift a ball high enough to start the marble run. If you can get it to the top, gravity will do the rest. Take a look at these awesome videos to get some great ideas for lifting the balls of your own marble machine.

Take a sheet of paper and draw out some ideas. Think about how you can design your own lifters and get your own ball rolling. The nice thing is that you can use scrap wood and scrap wire and just about anything you can find around your house. If you can find it, you can make your first marble machine for nearly no cost toy you at all. All you have to do is be a little creative.
complete original ball lifter
by denha | video info

84 ratings | 41,980 views
curated content from YouTube

Shaping the Wire Tracks

You will need a way for the Ball Barrings to Roll

You can make tracks out of copper wire. For one, they are easy to shape and easy to solder together. Another reason to use copper wire is because it is so much easier than trying to dig out channels in your pieces of wood. It is a lot of work and can require machines you can't afford at the moment. I know I can't afford them.

I like the wire tracks because you can see the metal balls better. The machine looks more like a machine when you can see the metal on metal action. My problem at this moment is finding that beautiful copper wire he is working with.
Instruction of wire work
by denha | video info

98 ratings | 17,261 views
curated content from YouTube

Get Your Own Marbles

They are cheap and easy to find.

I like to get my marbles from the dollar store. When I can find cheap marbles, that is when I buy them. They come in all kinds of colors and they are cheap. Most of the time they come in small drawstring bags. Sometimes they are just in plastic bags and you have to find a way to store them adter you buy them.
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Finished Machines

Some Amazing Works of Enginering

If you sit down and take some time, you can also build machines like the ones below. All you have to do is practice. It takes a little trial and error to get some of these ideas working right, but that is half the fun of making these machines.

Lets talk about some of the materials you will need. Most of them you can salvage from junk you are about to throw out.

Motors - You'll be surprised where you can find motors that will work for this project. I found some from old portable cassette players. I bet you could use the motor from a CD player as well. There are plenty of them out there that don't have functioning readers. All you need is the motor.

Scrap Wood - You can use just about any wood. You can even buy the wood from your local hardware store. That is not necessary though. There are plenty of place you can get your scrap wood. A lot of times you can go to those same hardware stores and ask for the tiny scraps that are left behind when customers have their plywood cut to specific sizes. The stores will usually give those to you. You can pick wood out of dumpsters from construction sites. Make sure you ask permission first. I would hate for you to go to jail for trespassing.
Loop coaster
by denha | video info

331 ratings | 246,593 views
curated content from YouTube

Support Denha

A Number of the Videos
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Denha Youtube Channel.
Please visit the link
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will continue to make
these grand Marble Machines.

Other Fun Marble Machines

Woodworkers Make the Coolest Machines

there are a lot of people out there who are building their own marble machines. Most of them are not even working from any kind of plans.
Mikes Marble Machine
by 684mrwright | video info

293 ratings | 126,304 views
curated content from YouTube

How to Collect Marbles

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Vintage Marbles

Vintage Machine Made Toy Marbles A Macro View & Marble Types
by icollectstuffdude | video info

12 ratings | 1,714 views
automatically generated by YouTube

How to Play Marbles

How To Play Marbles
by Howcast | video info

160 ratings | 200,319 views
automatically generated by YouTube

What Did You Do With Marbles as a Kid?

  • fun with marbles Mar 23, 2012 @ 6:53 am | delete
    played marble games and made set it was great fun i love these videos
  • flycatcher Mar 22, 2012 @ 10:21 am | delete
    I remember we used to build our own marble runs with things like wooden blocks and Meccano sets and those orange plastic Hot Wheels tracks... there are probably still some lost marbles behind the radiators in my parents' rec room, not to mention some marble-shaped dings in the baseboards.
  • MaxReily Sep 6, 2011 @ 4:05 pm | delete
    Fantastic! I loved watching these. We mostly just collected marbles--I don't actually recall playing marbles, but we all had huge collections of them. Later there was a trend for "fried marbles", so most of our collections were reduced considerably by that.
  • ArtByLinda Sep 5, 2011 @ 1:13 am | delete
    I love shooting for marbles as a kid. These marble machines are so cool, Blessed!
  • cdevries Aug 17, 2011 @ 9:14 am | delete
    What a great idea for a Lens! I love these machines, whether they use marbles or larger diameter balls. Fascinating! Squid Angel blessed.
  • andru Jun 29, 2011 @ 8:37 am | delete
    Played. And i still do, though now its with cuboro as the building blocks.
  • Tipi Jun 20, 2011 @ 5:41 pm | delete
    This is cool, and a lot of fun. They would make great home projects to work on with the kids. I have always liked marble.
  • rwoman Jun 1, 2011 @ 10:51 am | delete
    This might make a good summer project for my son...
  • sousababy Jun 1, 2011 @ 9:21 am | delete
    Oh, this is the coolest thing. As a kid, I used to try and construct really simplistic ones (like zig-zag steps) with the edging left over in our bungalow (the V-shaped long strips that are used to line doorways, etc). I never would have thought of shaping wire. I really must try this with my daughter, she is fascinated by this sort of thing too. Great lens!
  • dannystaple May 31, 2011 @ 1:55 am | delete
    Oh yes. Have you come across the Lego based ball contraptions? Its known as GBC - there is a set of guidelines so different Lego builders can build different modules, and then they all link up by having a particular spec for ball hoppers and average flow rate. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rWd3vgLaA_M
    Also - don't forget the old helter skelter kids marbles game - perhaps room for an amazon link for that?
    Anyway - given you a blessing - I love this stuff.
  • hayleylou Jan 27, 2011 @ 10:20 pm | delete
    Played the old fashioned way - trying to hit the main marble and win others marbles in the process.

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My Name is Robert. Please follow me on Amplify, Twitter, Facebook and Tumbler. I am a Haiku Poet, Artist, Writer, Gardener and Pretty Much a Jack of All... more »

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