Gravitrax Transfer plate remix

thingiverse

The Gravitrax Transfer plates are a blast to play with. Some users in a German forum asked for a version that swings back into the starting position and can be used again for further rounds. Two repellent neodym magnets make it happen. One is placed inside the plate, while the other is on the swinging leg. When built correctly, the contraption functions quite reliably. It has two minor drawbacks you can see in the first video. It needs a higher initial speed and the ball slows down a bit at every step. Up to nine plates worked well for us: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xqgOo3JG6T0 A nice track with the tuned plates: https://youtu.be/gt96c8DP9JE We used round magnets, 1mm by 1mm in diameter and height for the plate side and 2mm by 2mm for the swinging leg. See photos for details. We looked around a bit to find 1mm magnets for mail order in Germany. In the end we ordered from magnet-shop.net. They offer good value for the money and fast delivery. Please post if you find good sources – especially for other countries. You can put a tiny hole in the green plate part with a fine soldering iron ("1mm round tip") heated to 270 degrees Celsius and glue the magnet into it. If you don't have the proper equipment, try heating the wire from a paper clip over a flame - just be careful not to get burned! For the hole in the swinging leg, print this drill template and use a 2mm drill. The hole should be 2mm deep. In our legs, the magnets sit tight in the drilled holes without any glue. We glued the 1mm magnet first. Then we double-checked polarity on the 2mm magnet to make sure repelling poles face each other.