A Different Take on Rolling Ball Sculptures

Wandering back and forth over the web I’ve found all manner of Rolling Ball Sculptures. The clever variations on the theme are limited only by the imagination of the creators.

However, undertaking the construction of a full size RBS can be a daunting undertaking. You need welding equipment (and skills!), a modestly equipped metalworking shop, not to mention some way to prep and paint the components of the RBS. Even if you were to build a smaller model you’d still most likely have to do some brazing during assembly.

Lacking the aforementioned equipment currently, I began to ponder the easiest way to get started in the RBS world. I was sitting in the bathtub when the idea hit me - you can use lighter materials if you start with lighter balls. Hmmmm… lighter balls? I suppose you can’t get much lighter than ping pong balls! The track, lacking a need for the rigidity required to support metal balls, could even be made of plastic, and joined with adhesives. Wow, simpler than welding.

Pleased with this possibility, I began musing various adaptations of the traditional ball runs. I realized that the lifts could be driven by vacuum or air for the light and airy ping pong balls. I decided to build a prototype to test my ideas. Here’s a short clip of the prototype in action on YouTube:

Watch The Ping Pong Ball Video on YouTube

In particular, I was pleased to prove that I could support multiple lifts while only suppying the vacuum to a single point on the model. I also learned a few tips about keeping the size of the channels fairly close to the ball size to avoid jamming and clumping.

Given what I’ve learned from this model I’m planning on building a much larger RBS made of glued sheets of plexiglas or a similar plastic. I’ll have to take care to make the vacuum source quiet, though, because the noisy droning of a vacuum would surely detract from the enjoyment of the RBS.

Whattayathink?Mirth Maker