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Monday, April 22, 2013

Marble Machine Goes Modular - Track Blocks - Part 2

Next up on the track block list is the zig-zag tracks.
As you can see, these track pieces are double wide, but get the same grid measured hole pattern as everything else so it can be locked in place using marbles.
I debated on what wood to use for these zig-zag pieces. I have so far made all the riser blocks and track blocks out of sycamore. Then I realized today that these pieces, and a few others are larger than any sycamore I have on hand. I thought about gluing up material to make stock big enough. The problem is, I really do not want glued up stock any time I can avoid it. I prefer solid wood. I do have large enough stock in sapelle though. So I made the decision that using sapelle for some of the pieces would allow me to use solid stock, and add more color to the mix. So some parts from here out will be made of sapelle.
Back the the zig-zag tracks, the ramp portion is made of sapelle, while the rest is sycamore.
The top part of the ramps have triangles of wood that makes the marbles zig and zag through to the bottom. You may notice, the two are mirror pieces to each other.
Ok, I have an admission to make today. The pieces you see here are my third attempt at making these correctly. Have you ever had one of those days you just shouldn't have went to the shop?
The stacks of pieces are steadily growing as the days go by.

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