Marble Lift , Glass Bead lift

pinshape

I designed a simple system to lift small glass beads or marbles. You get to choose how they fall and are lifted again. Be careful, this is an advanced model that requires some expertise to assemble. It needs brass rod 2.9mm and few small pieces of brass tube (inside 3mm, outside 4mm) along with tools to cut them. This system was designed for standard 17mm diameter glass beads. To power it electrically and activate the wheelwork on top, I can provide guidance and designs to adapt an engine with the wheel, which has 18 pins. The design is precise in millimeters but mounting it requires some adjustments since most 3D printers struggle when a small tower exceeds 10 centimeters high. The helix starts to swing, making it hard to reach the correct length as specified in the .stl file. To fix this, cut both spirals horizontally where they start to go bad, then adjust the arm/pillars (as shown in the pictures) made of brass with a 2.9mm diameter. You'll need to manage these two helices so they work together smoothly. To connect them, use glue and smooth out the junction with sandpaper. Use necessary tools for a seamless connection between the helices. There's a hole inside each helix for a 2.9mm brass rod, making it easy to achieve a perfect fit. However, when the bottom and top basements are parallel and adjusted properly, everything works fine. The glass beads will follow the landform line to the lift at the bottom and then to the next step at the top. I'll provide the source files (freeCAD files) for free if you need them. There's a piece of brass tube in the top cover to allow the 2.9mm rod to turn freely, similar to a simplified ball bearing fixed outside with quick glue. The same applies to the basement. All brass rods were secured with glue. I'm happy to answer any questions about this design and appreciate all feedback, including negative comments. Please note that the whole system must be perfectly leveled to prevent glass beads from falling when lifted in the spiral. In a worst-case scenario, the system might lean back but should work fine with 17mm beads. All feedback is welcome, so feel free to share your thoughts. I added missing spiral .stl files and updated others on October 1st, 2016. On October 2nd, 2016, I updated the text for mounting the device with more details.