Thread: Marble Labyrinth Game - WIP

I remember marble games like that!

Now, this is just me, but since you are going to make nice dovetail corners, I'd like to see some nice woods used for the maze. Plywood is OK for applications where I can't see it. Otherwise, it just seems to dumb everything down.

Looking at the pics, it seems to me that everything is put together but HOW are you going to get the table to tilt?
srichard44

Hi Robson,
I totally agree about the ply wood. It does tend to make things look a little bit 'cheap'. But, I think for my first attempt I will stick with the cheaper materials, and then maybe graduate onto some nicer more expensive wood. I would hate to ruin a nice piece of timber
That, and I don't even know where to get the more exotic woods.

Hi srichard44,
Good point! I probably should have mentioned that the string/spring mechanism isn't shown in the plans and will be fitted before the bottom is put in place. Basically a string is fixed to one side of a tilting frame and wrapped around the perpendicular tilting rod, then fixed to the other side of the tilting frame with a spring. This is repeated in the other direction. I will have to do a bit of experimenting to get it working smoothly.
For a better idea of the setup check out the video on this webpage
Servo Controlled Labyrinth
if you skip to 30 seconds in it shows a view of the underside of the labyrinth. I will probably use a similar set-up.

Looking at it, I will need to adjust the holes that are directly above the turning rods as I think the marble is likely to get stuck when it falls into one.

Regards,
Cam

Hi I have made a few of them and sold them at the market the drawings doesn't show the base slopping if it doesn't slope the marble will not run out
I use dowel with the bottom cut off flat for the walls the marble tend to roll easier

This will be interesting to watch.

Hi Patch,
Thanks for the pointers.
I hadn't forgotten about the sloped bottom, I just hadn't figured out how I was going to do it. Because it needs to slope towards one corner it will be difficult to route grooves in the walls of the box for the bottom to sit in, plus I would like a flat bottom. So, I was thinking of having a layered base. One piece of ply cut 20mm smaller than the outside of the box in direction, this will then sit into a rabbet (I think that is the right term, please correct me if I'm wrong) on the bottom of the box. This piece of ply will have pine wedges glued to the top in a 'radial' pattern pointing towards the exit hole. I will then glue a second piece of ply to the top of these wedges. Probably not the clearest of explanations, here is a quick and dirty sketch of what I'm thinking.
Attachment 197792

Hi Christos,
I think it will be an interesting project that will stretch my ability to make precise cuts. Hopefully it is interesting to watch too.

Regards,
Cam

For the experimental part, make up the tilt mechanism. Go to an Art Supply store and buy a sheet of what we call "Foam-Core." 32" x 40", maybe 1/4" thick sandwich of plastic foam and hard card stock on both sides. Cuts like a dream with an OLFA knife or a single edged razor blade. That stuff, plus a hot glue gun, and you can build a mock-up in minutes.
I used a lot of that (10 sheets/case) in theatrical stagecraft to build set/prop prototypes.

Also, This will be interesting to watch. Thank you.....

Hi Cam

here are some pics showing how I do my base

One thing to remember to leave enough room between the base and the pivot dowels for the marble to roll under

Hi Robson,

That foam board is a good idea for 'prototyping' I will look into the equivalent here and how much it costs, cheers.


Hi Patch,

Those photos are great, thanks for posting them!
I'm sure they will be very handy as reference during the build.

Regards,
Cam

Hi all,

I've been practising my dovetails. So far I think I am getting an 'F'.
I really need to get myself one of the angle gauges to get the angles consistent (or one of those fancy dovetail jigs).
This project might take me a while
My best effort so far, as you can see there is a whole lot of room for improvement:
Attachment 198301

Previous attempts (the short board in the photo started off over twice as long):
Attachment 198300

Hi all,
Still practising my dovetail joints with mixed results. I might look at a different joint for this project...haven't made up my mind yet.

In the mean time I've started on the rest of the game:
Glueing the tilt frames, I've just gone with a mitre joint. I might add some splines for strength.
Attachment 198998

Inner and outer tilting frames:
Attachment 198999

Testing the clearance and tilting tolerances:
Attachment 199000

Started marking up the maze insert:
Attachment 199001

It's not much but it's something.

Regards,
Cam

A little bit more progress.
I will go with a mitred corner on my box for now while I keep practising my dovetail joints.
This is just a test fit to see how well the tilting works.
I will need to recess the top a bit deeper into the inner tilt frame. Also, the sides of my box are little short to allow for the tilting as well as the control rods so I will add a 40mm base with a round-over to allow the marble to roll under the control rods. I messed up and didn't follow the dimensions from my plan so I'm not sure how well the setout of the maze itself will work. I might still consider this my prototype

Attachment 199206
Attachment 199207

Next step is to drill holes for the control rods, glue up the box, then attach the string/spring mechanism. Then onto the base.

Regards,
Cam

Today's progress:
The box is glued up. The tilt frames are in place with the tilt controls connected.
Here is a quick video showing the tilt controls. They still need a bit of tweaking but I'm pretty pleased with the results so far. Not sure whether to make the knobs or just buy some nice drawer knobs.

Next up is the base, then the maze itself which might be a challenge since I didn't stick to the dimensions in my original plan.

Woodworking - Marble Labyrinth Game Tilt Control Test - YouTube