Hi GraviTrax Fans! In today’s episode of Marble Run Tech, we build a marble bearing.
Welcome to Marble Run Tech, where marble runs come alive! We’ll convert standard GraviTrax pieces
into groundbreaking technologies. We’ll spin GraviTrax gears! We’ll make marble music! We’ll
build marble machines and rolling ball sculptures that are the next generation of marble runs!
I’ve spent days developing this unique tech, but I’m sharing all of it with you for FREE!
After all, the Lord Jesus told his followers, “You have freely received. So freely give!”
Are you ready to take GraviTrax to the next level? Let’s go!
It’s the weekend of Reformation Day, when we celebrate that on October 31, 1517,
a light shone out in a dark world when Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses to
the church door in Wittenburg, Germany. I don’t celebrate Halloween, because I cannot celebrate
both light and darkness. Darkness is not the opposite of light, but the absence of light.
The Bible says that death is our enemy, an enemy which Jesus has already defeated,
and will one day banish. So how can I celebrate a holiday that glorifies death and darkness
as if they were good things to be embraced, just because they throw in a little candy for the kids?
Today’s Marble Run Tech is a marble bearing. The ball bearing is a foundation of modern technology.
Used in bikes, blenders, skateboards, fidget spinners, just to name a few. Well,
did you know that you can build one out of GraviTrax parts? This piece of tech opens
the door to build many marble mechanisms, like mega-marble-run launchers, gears,
pendulums, turntables,
and pistons. These marble mechanisms in turn will allow us to build marble machine sculptures
like clocks, carousels, shaker tables, locomotives, spice racks, game spinners,
marble motion bubblers, piston engines, marble water wheels, and more.
In this video, I’ll show you a few different ways to build the marble bearing.
First we start with a baseplate. We’re going to put 6 height tiles in a circle, and place
a clear platform on top. You can put the clear platform directly on the baseplate, but if you do,
the clear platform will be pretty difficult to separate from the baseplate later on. Now,
you can use either the large clear platform or the mini clear platform that comes in the Speed,
Lite, Extreme, Giant, and Advent Calendar sets. You don’t necessarily need a platform, but I
have found that building the marble bearing on a platform makes the bearing work more smoothly.
Next, place 6 curve tiles to form a circle track on top of the platform. If you need to
adjust the height that the bearing sits at, you can add height tiles either under the platform,
or between the platform and the curve tiles. But the bearing works best if the curve tiles are
fairly close to the platform. This is because the curve tiles need to be held in proper
alignment in a flat plane, or else they will rub against each other, slowing the bearing down.
Next we fill the circular trough with GraviTrax marbles. 25 marbles, to be exact.
Now, many of you may not have the 25 marbles necessary to construct these marble bearings.
Well, good news, more marbles are not that expensive. In the USA, you can
order 20 GraviTrax-compatible marbles for $10-$11 including shipping from either Walmart or Amazon.
You can get these either in chromium finish, or multicolored, and the price is the same.
I’ll leave links to these in the description. Or, if you don’t mind waiting a little longer,
you can get a set of 50 chromium marbles shipped worldwide from AliExpress for $15
including shipping. In Germany, the cost is 16 Euros including shipping.
Once the marbles are loaded, we add 6 more curve tiles to form an upside down
circular track on top of the marbles. If you want, you can go with 3 curve tiles instead of 6,
and that allows you to see some of the marbles as they roll in the bearing,
which is a pretty cool effect, especially if you use colored marbles.
Finally, we top it all off with another clear platform. This platform will hold the top row
of tiles level so that the bearing rolls smoothly. You can use a mini clear platform, or you can use
one of the larger clear platforms. If extra height is needed, you can add upside down height tiles
between the curve tiles and the clear platform, or on top of the platform itself.
Optionally, you can top things off with a mini baseplate from the Lite set.
Just press the curve tiles into the back side of the mini baseplate,
and place the assembly on top. If you don’t have mini baseplates, I’ll show you how to
make your own from extra full-size baseplates in just a moment. The downside with using a
mini baseplate is you won’t be able to build on top of it, except for the middle hole.
But then, you might be thinking, you can’t really build on top of the upside-down platform, either.
Well, there are actually several ways of inverting that clear platform to get a buildable surface,
forming a mega turntable on which to build. To see how, click here:
Or, click here to see how you can make your own mini baseplates.
Or click here to see a marble bearing used to make a pendulum
in a Grandfather Clock. Or click here to explore the rest of the Marble Run Tech universe.