Somehow, last month, Contemporary Lampworking 3 slipped into my hands ;D
Having been a bit sceptical about it (for no good reason), I have to say it is a really good read and well worth it. I'm working slowly through it and finding it both thought provoking and entertaining.
At the moment, I'm reading the chapter devoted to kinetic sculpture and am finding myself (despite the author's warnings on likely effects to social and personal life and my lack of a decent sized kiln or necessary skills) really drawn to the idea of making a marble run. It just sounds fun! :D
Anyone fancy a huge marble-run-making weekend? ;D ;D
oooo Emma we could have a go ??
What's a marble run?
Jolene, you don't know?!! :o :o ;D ;D ;D
http://www.themarblerunshop.co.uk/shop/ (http://www.themarblerunshop.co.uk/shop/)
In action:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9aGXTSXf8Hc (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9aGXTSXf8Hc)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JOT3X3XJVYE (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JOT3X3XJVYE)
I'm intrigued....I now have a vision in my head of a full glass marble run.
The one he shows is just glass rods (boro ones...) running parallel to make tracks/rails. You can make loop the loops and allsorts.
;D ;D There's nothing wrong with your level of ambition, Emma!! Sounds great fun, although I wouldn't know a thing about how! This is not a sign-up, my oxycon is taking a week or so recreational holiday, so I shall enjoy some fusing instead. Just wanted to say good luck!! :-*
Quote from: garishglobes on November 22, 2010, 01:29:22 PM
The one he shows is just glass rods (boro ones...) running parallel to make tracks/rails. You can make loop the loops and allsorts.
Ohhhh, so it is all glass. Make it, make it, I want to see it.
Sounds great but before you make a marble run you have to teach Boro how to walk !!!!!
Ian
Oh my fanny annie this sounds brilliant fun ;D
Oh I love the track one its brilliant i want one.
Can I ask something about marbles, when I was wee I used to have a large collection of marbles ( I wondered if boro marbles are as strong as these marbles as I remember the idea of the game was to hit them off each other. Were they made in much the same way.
Quote from: Ian Pearson on November 22, 2010, 01:56:30 PM
Sounds great but before you make a marble run you have to teach Boro how to walk !!!!!
:D :D :D ;D
Maybe you should try making one out of metal first, something like bronze welding rods or the like? Less liable to break plus you don't have to try and figure out how to get it all annealed. It would also be easier to tweek it, then you can use that as the protype for a glass one?
I think a marble walk sounds a little too sedate for my liking :D :D
Julie, I'm thinking of the dog days of January for having a go at this ;D
Glenn, you are sounding suspiciously engineering minded there.
Jean, I drop my marbles regularly and they haven't suffered yet...boro is generally quite strong plus ours tend to be annealed, whereas I'm not sure the old-fashioned ones would have been.
Right thanks I had been curious about that for a while.
So i now have to add the marble run track from you tube to my xmas wish list, my grandaughter has a box of ordinary marbles Im sure sge wouldnt mind sharing with her Grandma, in fact maybe she would like a marble run from her grandma , would have to be that one though nothing less would do , erm i feel an obsession coming on ::) ;D
I reckon that creating somthing like that out of glass would be beautiful!!
Ahhh... but first I have to make a round marble, as opposed to an oval one !!
Just watched this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yfDPCwkxQxw&NR=1
I reckon a marble run weekend would be great - where abouts are you based?
Thanks for the link to the marble run website - just solved the problem of what to buy for my grandsons for christmas :D
Sounds fun, but not for me, I've not the expertise.
10 years ago or thereabouts I was at an art exhibition where someone had made a marble run clock. Massive wooden clock whicn dropped the right number of marbles (or were they ball bearings) for the upcoming hour and when they got to the bottom they were flicked with great precision to strike the hour into the markble 'box' at the top, ready for next time. It was actualloy something spectacular to see.
Will post a link if I can find it, am sure it was 'spotted' and then in the press.
OK, not quite how I remembered it, but think this is it http://www.davidbowerman.co.uk/juggler.html - was certainly a Dorset maker and would have been around the Swanage area. It's pretty amazing to watch.
Have fancied doing this for quite a while - and the clock idea, too....
Have you seen the book, Sean? It is a good read, and there is quite a chapter on kinetic sculpture in general.
That clock is quite something! We have a woodturner next door.... ;D
I still have the plastic tracking the kids used when they were small for toy car races.
Not seen the book yet. Clockwork has been on my ambition list for a few years...
Hope we dont lose our marbles with you next week Sean !!!!!!!!!
Ian
Just be careful not to go off the rails.
Did you get any further with this Emma?
Not yet, definitely on my wish list but xmas, chess sets and other stuff got in the way.
Ah the chess set.........bliss
urghhh, fell into that one ;) :D :D
The other thing that is stopping me is the idea of making parallel lines !
Wouldn't it be awful if you made a whole run and the marble fell out halfway through :D
Quote from: Tan on February 08, 2011, 06:44:36 PM
Wouldn't it be awful if you made a whole run and the marble fell out halfway through :D
Oh that would be absolutely terrible Tan.... ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
It's exactly the sort of thing that would happen to me ::)
How about......
....a marble run collaboration?
;D
ooh, now you're talking! ;D
Better put a net in it too though, for any dropped ones.
net....s ;D
I can't stop thinking about marble runs now. I keep trying to work out how practical it would be to have a go, how to hold the pieces together, whether it would be possible to do a fairground marble ride, allsorts. :D
How about....
....everyone who wants to play makes, say, 4 or 5 inches of vertical drop?
Then, we work out what scaffolding we need, put it together, and wizz mibs down it.
Need to agree on the 'guage', so we don't end up with lots of different track widths...
waddayathink?
:)
I'd been wondering if something like that was possible :)
So, we need to work out gauge and whether anyone is prepared to do corners :P
Your a bunch of nutters!!! ;D
but nutters which i have no doubt will pull it off!!!
Quote from: Hamilton Taylor on February 16, 2011, 05:18:42 PM
How about....
....everyone who wants to play makes, say, 4 or 5 inches of vertical drop?
Then, we work out what scaffolding we need, put it together, and wizz mibs down it.
Need to agree on the 'guage', so we don't end up with lots of different track widths...
waddayathink?
:)
Sounds good to me!!! ;D
We will need to make marbles for it too - if we say 1" marbles, then the track just needs to be <1". Use your skill and judgement to keep the mib on track. Section entry and exit should be at fixed guage (say 3/4"?) so sections match up, and we must keep mib speed slow at section exits, in case of tight corners etc. on the next section.
There's more to this than meets the eye...
::)
Sean
Right, back to Contemporary Lampworking for a quick read.
Section entry and exit at 3/4" sound good to me, should I start a marble run thread and, ummm.... get this rolling? :D
another thought - each section should have a reference for levelling, so all the slopes slope right. two horizontal rod sections at right angles should do, although I know where to get stick-on levelling bubbles... :D
Sean
Unless each section starts and ends with a specified length of horizontal?
Thats a good idea, it's easier to do level than working out pitches, if it's a shortish length and the marble/s have enough momentium to carry them to the next section.
The only other problem is getting them joining at the right height? I'm imagining a miniature rollercoaster in my head so might be loosing the plot here.....
Just make them all to the same drop - scaffolding to be arranged upon assembly.
Horizontal in and out sections is good!
Now, where's Emma to compile the rulebook?
;)
Sean
Hey, give me time! :D
I'll start a new and dedicated thread and try and thrash out a rough plan of action tonight :)
Would the track be more possible if you cut boro tubing in half then put the necessary bends in it. I have a diamond bandsaw and I'm sure others will have say a Gryffon or Taurus ring saw.
See http://www.gryphoncorp.com/index.php?p=ringsaw and http://www.creativeglassshop.co.uk/taurus-iii-diamond-ring-saw-p-1788.html