The Ball Sculpture
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- Опубликовано: 13 авг 2013
- Total design time in Google SketchUp: About 100 hours.
Total building time: About 300 hours.
Total printing time: About 50 hours.
All printed parts are printed on a: RepRapPro Huxley (Beta) 3D-Printer.
There are six 16mm glass balls in total in the sculpture.
Only one ball at a time rolls on the track.
The motor turns 1 rpm, then it's geared down a bit more so one turn on the elevator takes about 5 mins and 32 secs.
The ride for the ball from start to end takes about 1 min and 30 secs.
This means that most of the time nothing happens except the elevator slowly pushing the balls upwards. This was one of the key elements of the sculpture. It shall not disturb you, but when you watch it, you will be impressed. :)
This was the rules I had in mind when creating this rolling ball sculpture.
1. The balls I use are either glass or steel.
2. The ball shall roll as slowly as possible on the track. It should never stop but neither be in a hurry, you should get the feeling of a VERY controlled track and roll.
3. Swirling the track should not be needed when they turn. If you need to swirl the track the ball is rolling to fast.
4. The sculpture should be soothing not stressful. Because of the speed of the ball and the controlled rolling you should always be able to follow the ball and not have to concentrate to much to figure out whats next.
5. The sculpture should be as quiet as possible. You shall never be bothered by the noise. You should be able to have the sculpture in your living-room or office without noticing it if you are not watching it.
6. The track should be as complicated as possible on as small a space as possible. The more complicated the better, a long track on a small space is more impressive.
7. The track should always be two rails. Keep the track as modest as possible, simple construction is better then advanced. The less material used the better.
You can find all the STL-files for all printed parts on Thingiverse: www.thingiverse.com/thing:129832
Track Templates: www.snille.net/download/bstem...
Building Album: photos.app.goo.gl/RVfBabXhTKi...
Music composed by me and can be found on SoundCloud: / thesniffer
Inspiration
Mark Bischof - Most beautiful and impressive rolling ball sculptures I have ever seen.
Eddie's Mind - Where Creativity and Engineering Meet.
If you have any questions and or comments please feel free! :) 
Наука
This is a thing of beauty. The design, execution and appearance are on point. I like that it is engineered with a set of guidelines or principles that have been followed.
I am always fascinated with marble machines, and have built a few small ones myself. This is in another class! Amazing. I know how hard it is to get all the rods straight and parallel. Calling it a Ball Sculpture almost does not do it justice.
Thank you! :)
love how clean it is. So few track spacers and connections are so smooth.
Work of art. Wonderful!
Well done, Erik. Another beautiful sculpture executed with great skill and perseverance. I love the way you document your progress so meticulously and share your designs so generously.
Erik, that is so cool. Thanks a lot. I'll let you know how it turns out
great job man!
Well done, nice and smooth!
I love this, the only thing that would make this better, is a roller-coaster-like view from the marble its self going through this.
Thank you! It's always a pleasure to share something that other appreciate. :)
I forgot to mention that I like rollercoasters. Thanks again for the laughs and video.
I love the thinking of such genius individuals who come up with and create such awsome things.......Nice 👍
its so great!!!! puedo ver el video bastantes veces sin aburrirme, esta muy chingon. excelente trabajo Erik.
Beautiful...I will own one one day!
Beautiful - fantastic job...
Thank you. :)
Wow, you did this in Only 400 hours? WOW, very unique and stands out alone. Added to my Playlists! Subscribed because this is so awesome I have to see more!
Brilliant! Nice work.
Thank you! :)
It's really beautiful many thanks!!
Excelente proyecto para empezar, gracias y saludos desde Córdoba Capital Argentina 👍
I want one!
If the cylinder was slowed to one rotation per hour and you made one of these with 12 levels you could tell the time based on the colour of the marble nearest the top.
+Rich T-Nicholson Yes, I actually thought about doing something like that before I started building. Then I decided that a "Clock" sculpture was for another time. :) It's still lingering in the back of my head. I wanted to have 1 marbel / 10 secs rolling. So the sculpture would always have at least one marble in motion. Then you should be able to tell the time by counting marbles on the different levels... :)
+Erik Pettersson - Hi Erik. I love your design and love watching the video. I haven't read all the way through the string of comments, but would you ever consider building one for me. It would be a great addition to my home. Feel free to contact me directly at nevetst@gmail.com if you want to discuss. AMAZING!!!
Awesome! At first I wasn’t sure why there was only one ball rolling at a time, but then I realized that the elevator was constantly turning, just really slowly. genius for sculptural purposes. Rapid fire marbles would be degrading on the machine and annoying to hear constantly. I think it would be awesome to time a sculpture so that one ball goes off every hour, and maybe there’s even a way to to trigger some switches displaying or chiming the specific hour. Wouldn’t that be lovely? Music is fantastic as well, did you make it yourself? Reminds me of Paul Hardcastle.
Its safe to say that the track is a Psybient/Psychill tune. I could see it fall in that sub-genre of electronic music cause it has that vibe to it to me and if I had money, I would definitely buy the track as I like that type of music as well as other genres of electronic music. Hell electronic is my main genre I listen to with rock/metal being my distant second.
This is some awesome work! I was curious where you source you brass rods from in the quantities needed to do something like this??
Thank you! I bought from a "local" Swedish company called Ståldepån (www.staldepan.se). In this case I think I bought about 40 meters of 3mm brass rood (cut in 3 meter parts).
Great skill , love the slow movement of marble, not all want to live in the fast lane to appreciate beauty.
Well done, quiet hypnotic to watch the elements move.
Could I ask if the 3d parts download indicate how many of the individual parts need to be printed.
Also are the track printout on A4 paper or larger.
Time to start collecting component’s.
Keep inspiring others to test their skills.
Thank you! :)
You can find how many of every holder you need to print in the SketchUp file, I have arranged them so it's easy to print (back in the day). :)
However, if you just want to take a peek, here is an image with all the "print beds" where you can see the number on all the holders: www.snille.net/img/projects/project-1/printbeds.jpg
All the templates are in A4, correct...
Good luck with the build, post pictures! :)
Hi again, I have added the STL-file for the "Track-Spacer-sNi" on Thingiverse now.
I designed everything in SketchUp so if you want, just download the "Ball-Sculpture.skp" and open it in app.sketchup.com
In there you have all the parts. :)
Regarding the rods, I think I ordered 30 meter, but it was a bit too much. I used some of that for the next sculpture as well. :) Still have maybe 4 meters left... :)
I want to make one too! WoW...So cool....Where do you get the parts...I mean, I know you bent the brass but where would I look for the Lift and the clips that hold the track up and how do you keep the clips from sliding down the brass rod...? Nice work.
R Mose Hi, thank you! :) I made all the parts. The holders are 3D-printed from the designs I made, the lift is just a aluminum pipe that I have cut holes in and attached the holders. You can read all about the creation of the sculpture here: www.snille.net/index.php?info=ball-sculpture
Great work - fantastic to watch.! How did you join the rods together (end to end)? Are they welded?
Hi, missed you question, yes they are all gas welded together. :)
Definitely needs a variable speed for the marble lift.
What is the name of the plastic clips you used. Please let me know .
Hi. My kids and I absolutely love this marble sculpture. We've watched your video so many times and I would like to attempt creating something using your sculpture as inspiration. I understand you've put so much time and energy into designing this but would you concider sending me a file of the connectors that attatch the track to the supports?
Absolutely, all information is available for download on Thingiverse.com item 129832
Link: www.thingiverse.com/thing:129832/#files
There you can find the full Sketchup design with all parts. :)
I think a triple whoop de do on the top rail would be a cool addition. Where did you get your brain from? Thank You very much for the laughs and the video.
What tools did you sketched?
what kind of plastic support you use to keep de line of the track parallel?
I have printed all the plastic parts in PLA. That's the only thing that holds the tracks.
Hi Erik
Could you confirm the elevator length is 369.1mm as indicated on image file, & what was the diameter of aluminium tube, before I order it.
Nearly brought all parts together now, the stand that supports the Ball Sculpture what thickness of wood did you use and the overall depth of the unit of the stand if that is possible.
Thanks Erik sorry for all these questions.
regards
No problem, I'll be home tomorrow night again, I'll see if I can take some measurements then...
photos.app.goo.gl/RVfBabXhTKiaHwVYA
Added a link to the album of the building. I took some measurements, but it's hard to get exact measurements now when it's all assembled...
Hi Erik
Thanks for the measurements very helpful, apart from top & bottom cut out, are the other cut on the elevator critical as regards distance between each section.
You have save so much time in preparation appreciated
Thanks
@@dav5376 I don't think so, but really don't remember. It was many years ago. :)
Hi Erik
Great circuit it inspired me to start one of my own.
I am having difficulty with the brass rod bending. I am having to over bend considerably and the roads are
very springy requiring considerable and many restraints. My question to you is did you use annealedbrass rods?
Hi! Thank you! :)
When I started I made templates of the curves. And I too had to over bend quite a lot, but with the correct size of the template the rods "spring" back to the correct bend. It is lots of manual work of course. But when they are bent to the amount I wanted they don't spring back more over time. For me it was just when I made the tracks that I had to over bend "this much" for every bend to actually end up as expected. Lot's of trial and error. :) I don't have a clue of what type it is. I just bought 3mm brass rod from a company that sold it. :) I think they ordered it form somewhere i Germany actually.:)
Are the designs for the clips still available?
Absolutely, you can find them here: www.thingiverse.com/thing:129832
Its so beautiful, but it's a bit boring compared with others.
WOW, I REALLY LIKE THIS ONE MAN,,,
HOW MUCH WILL THIS ONE COST FOR THE USA ??
I AM REALLY INTERESTED IN PURCHASING THIS ONE
Hi! Sorry, the sculpture is not for sale.
Is There a way u can build one like this one for me .... I really like this one and will pay for it ...or if u decide to make a second one exactly...let me.know ASAP cause will like to pay do one like this one
onenice latin Hi again, no, not really. This was a one time project. However I do have all the build information published on thingiverse if you want to build one yourself. :)
Where can i find this one and buy it ?
Hi, you can't... You have to build it, all the instructions can be found in the description of the video, including the templates for all the rails. But it's a lot of work. :)
Hi Erik, where i can find track templates?
You can find them here: www.snille.net/download/bstemplates.zip
I'll also add a link in the description. It's all scanned from my originals... So they are a bit dirty. :)
that doesn't matter, Great work and thanks again for sharing your knowledge. When it is ready I would send a picture.
excellent #todoinventostv
It would have been fine if there wasn't all of this miss mash where it went around a corner, and you just cut that part out, then I had to search for the ball again ... but other than that it was fine
Hello, how much it cost?
I don't remember all the costs, but the most expensive parts are the brass rods I believe. If you where asking to buy it from me, sorry, but it's not for sale. :)
Que espepetalar que propio
FRACTURE
This is what you get after about 400 hours of work... :)
ruclips.net/video/V-kG90xPVRM/видео.html
#Sculpture #Art
Nice work!
Thank you! :)
OMG this thing is awesome! That must have taken some precise setting up, and the soldering is seamless.
Do the balls drop at a specific time interval?
Sorry, just finished watching the video, it answers my question.
Love it!
Thank you! :) Yes, I've been on this project for quite a while. You can read the full story here: www.snille.net/projects/project-1/ if you want more info. :)
I'm not sure these really qualify as sculptures. They're machines. Expertly crafted and ingenuous machines, even. But not actually sculpture, per se.
kinetic sculpture is a real thing. I think you need to educate yourself a bit more.
Muito simples 👎
Time to pull out my Asian friend.... Ho Lee Sh.t!
Impressive stats.
boring...
What a waste of good copper tubing !
monotonous and boring, all horizontal