K'nex Ball Machine Krypton

     
     
     Hello, fellow instructables members! I finally took the time to post my latest ball machine (which I built in September...yeah, quite the delay). At any rate, it has eight paths, a new lift type, and several new elements, either modified or built from scratch! The name came from the 36th element on the Periodic Table of the Elements. (I'm sure you knew that. Also, the ball machine has eight paths, since Krypton the element has eight valence electrons. If you want to know what those are, take chemistry!) This is my most ambitious project so far. So without further ado...Krypton!

     Ok, so this is the new lift I designed. It was reworked from my old lift on Subduction. This lift is a wheel lift with a twist; when the wheel has lifted the ball halfway to the top, the ball rolls back down the ball arm! The arm then pushes the ball back up a slope to the top (see the video if you don't understand). The extra movement adds interest to the typical wheel lift!

Note: This particular lift design was extremely finicky. I strongly suggest someone improve this idea...please! (I am still a little frustrated that I could not make it work any better. Oh well.)

Just the path separators I used...Knextreme's Horizontal Path Separator and Sorunome's Infinity Switch.

Path 1 is comprised of Knextreme's Ferris Wheel, and blocked at the top by my new "Mountain Mover" element. At the bottom, it opens out onto a "white floor" (per Sorunome's instructable).

Path 2, also blocked at the top by the "Mountain Mover", contains a ball stop and my own version of the wheel hill. It also deposits the ball onto the white floor. (Note: all paths do that)

     Path 3 contains the most interesting element that I personally designed. The "Mountain Mover" as I call it is a ball arm in essence. However, what makes it different is that I laid it across path 1 and 2. Therefore, the balls from the first two paths are stopped by the arm until a ball rolls onto the ball arm and tips it, allowing the other balls to pass. (Once again, see video if not clear.) I called it the Mountain Mover because one ball is moving the "mountain" out of the way of the other balls. If you make a Mountain Mover, remember to properly counterweight the arm; most of the arm's weight is on the side blocking the paths, and the ball will need help in order to tip the arm. Use it and you will have a very satisfying element!
     Also in Path 3 are Knextreme's panel stairs and a panel path I put together.

     Path 4 is nothing but a slightly modified version of sandroknexmaster's small ball arms.

     Path 5 has a loop made from my Green Flex Path. Perhaps it should have been made a tad higher, but I had no more height for the descent, so...
     Also, I went ahead and placed the pictures of the white floor and the exit in this step. I used Kariah's Ball Separator to act as a sort of "gate" for my lift.

     Path 6 has a length of Mr. Muggle's triangle path, which dumps the ball into martijnb95's flipper. Pictures are self-explanatory!

     Path 7 is a red ball dropper, which lowers the ball onto Mr. Muggle's jungle bridge. The ball then rolls off the jungle bridge (it bumps the ball dropper as it does this; kinda "bonus") onto the white floor below.
     I know the pictures are difficult to see, but this part of the machine was "internal", and hard to get at! :-D

     Path 8 has Knextreme's Spiral Panel Stairs, which lead into the jungle bridge in Path 7.

     So there you have it...Krypton! I hope you enjoyed looking at my ball machine, and perhaps get some inspiration for yours! I would say that the most impressive thing about Krypton is the number of paths I squeezed in (considering the size and height...and my just-under 4,000 piece collection).
     Anyway, that's all for now...at least until my next project...