Introduction: Freestyle! | a K'nex Ball Machine

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About: 3D printing enthusiast

Hello! Bonjour! ¡Hola! It's time for another ball machine! I bring you Freestyle! This is my third ball machine, and a great evolution from my previous one. It is my largest and most impressive looking ball machine to date. It features 7 seperate paths, 2 of which are on a separate network, 3 lifts and various elements, including some new ones! Freestyle! is my first ball machine to feature a white floor which is divided into two for each network. Unfortunately no new lifts were made. Video.

Step 1: Network 1 (And Path Selector 1)

Network 1 contains these lifts and path seperators:

  1. TheFoofinator's 'Mouse Wheel' Ball Machine Lift I had to modify this one to keep the red supports round the outside connected. They still detach occasionally and cause the lit to jam, however this lift is not bad and works very reliably.
  2. The chain lift. Just your typical chain lift, nothing special here, works reliably.
  3. Ye olde path selector. Nothing special, it tends to work most of the time however it does fail very often.

Step 2: Path 1

This is the first path, for no reason what so ever.

  1. My new Dual anchor ball lowerer. This new element was designed by me and will have an 'ible made for it soon!
  2. A green connector bendy path lowers the ball to my second new element, the Staircage. Again, an 'ible will be made soon!
  3. A K'nex brick path escorts the ball to a micro K'nex roller coaster path.
  4. The ball enters a mini white floor with elastic band edges, then falls onto the white floor.

Step 3: Path 2

The second path was actually built last!

  1. The ball rolls down a path with orange 5-slot connector edges.
  2. It enters a new element I made using the corkscrew from a K'nex lift I designed from 3XODUS. It isn't very reliable and tends to get stuck near the bottom. I will not be making instructions for this element.
  3. A simple path brings the ball to the white floor.

Step 4: Path 3 and 4

Paths 3 and 4 start the same but split off half way through.

  1. My Dual anchor ball lowerer brings the ball down to a path selector.
  2. For path 3, the ball is brought to a crosstie path I designed however I soon found out it was similar to a path by sandroknexmaster.
  3. The ball enters a new type of ferris wheel utilizing the massive wheels! An 'ible will be made soon for this element.
  4. Finally the ball goes through the hole in the centre of the mini white floor.
  1. The ball rolls onto a path with tubing.
  2. My new Basket path catches the ball. An 'ible will be made soon.
  3. The ball rolls across a path with sides that flare out.
  4. sandroknexmaster's Dizzy Gears Drop brings the ball to the white floor.

Step 5: Path 5

This path is very speedy and was hard to film when making the video!

  1. The ball rolls along a micro K'nex roller coaster path.
  2. A simple ball maze takes the ball to the bottom. I will not make instructions for this.
  3. The ball goes down a path made by rods in between panels.
  4. Finally the ball rolls onto the small white floor and drops to the large white floor.

Step 6: Network 2 (And Path Selector 2)

Network 2 has 1 lift and 2 paths.

  1. It starts with Tornado96's Semi-Circle Lift. This is quite reliable however it jams often which can be a pain, in addition it sticks out and I have caught it many times, dislodging the chain.
  2. The ball drops through and rolls onto a simple path selector.

Step 7: Path 6

Path 6 uses lots of path types.

  1. The ball rolls across an alternating orange 5-slot connector path.
  2. It enters a tire tube (which broke a lot while i was building it).
  3. A orange connector path catches the ball.
  4. The ball falls onto an orange 5-slot connector path which used up nearly all of my orange 5-slot connectors.
  5. A trampoline bounces the ball onto the white floor.

Step 8: Path 7

The final path!

  1. The ball goes through a small cage which turns the ball round. I may make instructions for this.
  2. The ball then hits a modified flipper.
  3. It rolls down a simple path to the trampoline which bounces the ball onto the white floor.

Step 9: Finished!

Thank you so much for reading through the paths and steps of my ball machine! No copyright infringement is intended with the use of music in the video. If you enjoyed this please consider subscribing to me, I post K'nex Instructables very often! Please comment what you think about Freestyle. Thank you, yes, you, the one reading this, for viewing this Instructable!