Hi GraviTrax Fans! In today’s episode of Marble Run Tech, we build a Mega Turntable.
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!
Today’s Marble Run Tech is the Mega Turntable. This gives us a way to take the Marble Bearing
that we built in the previous video, which has an upside-down clear platform on top,
and invert that platform so that we can build on top of it.
The result is a large turntable, much larger than the GraviTrax Turntable Extension!
It’s a Mega Turntable! And its built out of standard GraviTrax pieces. We’re going
to build all kinds of cool things with this piece of tech, like mega-marble-run launchers,
spice racks, marble motion bubblers,
marble water wheel, and more. And at the end of this video, we’ll build a spinning marble
run where the marble magically stands still at the same time it’s rolling! It’s really cool!
Now let’s examine a few different ways to build the Mega Turntable!
The foundation of the Mega Turntable is the Marble Bearing we built in the last episode
of Marble Run Tech. If you haven’t seen that video, here’s the link to watch that
now, or I’ll provide the link again at the end of this video.
So the first step is to build a Marble Bearing with the large clear platform
on top. You probably noticed a problem at this point. The platform is upside down,
so building on top of it is kind of awkward. We can place the height tiles upside down on top
of it. But at some point, you want your tiles to be right side up, right? We need some way of
inverting that top platform. So what can we do? That’s the problem the Mega Turntable solves.
We’ll cover 3 ways to build the Mega
Turntable. The first way involves building inverter assemblies using standard GraviTrax
parts. The 2nd way uses a very simple 3D printed inverter. The 3rd way does not require inverter
assemblies nor a 3D printer, but leaves the Mega Turntable with a slight wobble.
We are going to explore all of these options now.
The first way to build the Mega Turntable requires single balconies. There are 16 of
these in the Vertical Pro Starter and Expansion Sets, as well as the Giant Starter Set.
There are also 4 of them in the Extreme Starter Set. We’re going to use 6 to 7 of them.
To build the inverter assembly, we’re going to add a height tile to the bottom side of a balcony.
You can use either a half height tile, or a full height tile.
Make sure that the balcony’s clip is facing the side
with the height tile. We then place the inverter assembly on the clear baseplate. We need to place
6 of these inverters equally spaced around the perimeter. We can place them either side up.
They won’t fit tightly, but will be quite stable once we’re done. If you’re using the large clear
platforms, it might be a good idea to add a 7th inverter assembly in the middle for extra support.
Then we can place another clear plate right side up,
on top. And there were have it... a spinning surface we can build on! A Mega Turntable!
If you don’t have single balconies, a second way to build the Mega Turntable is using these
3D printed inverters which I designed. If you have a 3D printer, you can print these yourself.
In the video description, I’ll leave a link to the file on Thingiverse, so you can print your own.
I designed these so that when assembled on top of a Marble Bearing,
the top of the Mega Turntable should match pretty well in height
with surrounding tiles. And I’ll demonstrate that here with a small baseplate.
This height match comes in handy with a couple of the designs we’ll be building in the future.
Before I show you the 3rd method for building a Mega Turntable,
let’s first explore some options for building with the first 2 methods.
If you’re using large clear platforms, you can place the inverter assemblies either on
the outer perimeter of the clear platforms, or you can put them on the inside, directly
over the Marble Bearing curve tiles. It really doesn’t make that much difference. Putting these
inverters on the inside allows you to use either a large clear platform, or a small clear platform.
Now here’s something cool you can do with the assembled top platform.
Holding them together, you can flip top and bottom.
Note that when the inverters are on the inside, weight placed on the inside is well supported,
but uneven weight on the outside of a large platform may cause the platform to tilt.
Now let’s look at some options for how you can build these inverters.
Obviously, you can stack height tiles together on one side of the single balcony or 3D printed
inverter, but you can also stack height tiles on BOTH sides of the inverters. And if you combine
the 3D printed inserts with 2 half height tiles, you get a GRAVITRAX OREO DOUBLESTUFF COOKIE!
Notice here that the balconies are not thick enough for both height tiles to go in all the way,
so one will be a little loose.
In the future when we build GraviTrax Gears, we’ll need at least 1 ½ height
tiles in the inverter assembly, to allow enough space between the clear platforms.
And we can of course orient the inverters so the green clip is facing inward or outward.
Here’s the 3rd method of building a Mega Turntable without any kind of inverter. Simply place a clear
platform right side up, directly on top of the upside down platform of the Marble Bearing.
They will mesh together, but slightly off center.
This will result in a slight wobble of the Mega Turntable, but for some builds this is not a
problem. When we build gears and other linked mechanisms, we won’t want to use this method,
but it’s fine for what we’re going to build today, which is a spinning marble run.
Now, if you have bought enough extra marbles to build the Marble Bearing, but you only own
one GraviTrax starter set, you can still build a Mega Turntable with only 2 clear platforms.
Either skip the bottom clear platform by building the Marble Bearing directly on the baseplate,
or skip the 2nd clear platform, and put the inverters directly on top of the curve tiles.
It’s not the best solution, but as long as you keep the inverter assemblies short,
it does work. If your inverter assemblies use only a half height tile, make sure to place the
assemblies balcony side down, or the balcony clips will interfere with the curve tiles.
Here you can see that this 3rd method of building the Mega Turntable with only 2
clear platforms works perfectly fine.
This 3rd method is even more solid if you use the 3D printed inverters.
These inverters have enough depth for the tiles on both sides, plus it gives a cool
aesthetic when everything is white with no black, grey, or green colors mixed in.
Now that we know how to build the Mega Turntable, let’s explore one way to use
it. Here’s a little marble run I built on it, where the marble magically stands still
while it’s moving. Check it out!
There’s a lot more we can build with the Mega Turntable, though.
Click here to see how to build a game spinner. Click here to see how to build a spice rack.
If you missed how to build the Marble Bearing, click here to learn how.
Or click here to explore the rest of the Marble Run Tech universe.