Labyrinth - K'nex ball machine

Click here to see Blue Fox, my latest ball machine! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BTCL7yBZpmU

This is The Labyrinth, my third major ball machine and the single largest K'nex structure I have built to date. This ball machine features 4 motorized lift towers spread across my room which split off into 19 different paths. To build this project, I spent over $150 to purchase literally over 9000 new k'nex pieces, allowing me to build this 25,000 piece superstructure. Despite its massive size, The Labyrinth only takes up 2.5 square feet of floor space. This machine was designed by Austin Granger and Paul Davis, and was built by Austin Granger, Paul Davis, Sam Ihlenfeldt and Simon Olson.

Info:

Build time - 2 Months, 2 Days
Pieces - About 25,000
Paths - 19
Switches - 13
Length - 261 ft
Number of supporting towers - 8
Number of bridges - 19
Number of unique elements - 27
Max number of balls - 30
Number of chain lift hooks - 23
Number of lifts - 4
Number of motors - 4
Number of light bulbs - 300


To see how The Labyrinth was constructed and to follow the design and construction of my new K'nex projects, head over to http://knexdesigns.blogspot.com

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• knex
• k'nex
• ball
• balls
• machine
• tower
• factory
• huge
• awesome
• large
• big
• epic
• fun
• labyrinth
• building
• contraption
• rube
• goldberg
• austron
• austin
• granger
• guitar
• quintet
• fandango

[MartinBronkhorst]

How much money did you spend on all thise knex parts???

[austron]

@MartinBronkhorst I spent $150 on pieces specifically for this project. The rest of the parts are just sets I have accumulated for the past 15 years or so. I've spent about as much money on new pieces for my current work in progress, too.

[splein23]

So with something that amazing do you just leave it up and never take it down?

[austron]

@splein23 I left it up for about 3 months, then took it down to build something else.

[aughubar]

Im sorry but you sir are jesus and I would love to have that in my room. Also someone dont like apple.

[austron]

@aughubar so THAT'S why I kept getting drunk off bottled water...

[cmanmaxwell]

I bet you get tons of ass in that room.

[ErichoTTA]

And to think, I stopped using K'nex because I thought they were childish.

[FantasyFable1]

I can only imagine how raw your fingertips must have been

[hoboayoyo]

14 people never had a childhood

[ivann12354]

OMG

[mario289109]

 is that a factory or somthing

[RADRaze2KX]

I thought I was awesome for having the big ball factory and the roller coaster built at the same time... you, sir, are my new k'nex idol.

[NobleSquad]

Sweet jesus

[Tahnithaar]

Wow, did you sleep whilst it was running? :P