I came across this website. He has some very ingenious woodworking projects. I find them fascinating since I enjoy working with wood and I really enjoy clever stuff. At his site he has two 'marble machines'
Marble Machine 1
This one is pretty neat. Runs on a motor. I really liked the xylophone part. There is a youtube video at the bottom of the page.
Marble Machine 2
This one is awesome. Again, a youtube link at the bottom. I love the wooden gears. In fact, my son and I are going to try to make one using gears like that. I have some ideas that I think will make it easier to cut by using the same principle as a box joint jig. We already cut the circles out of 3/4" plywood now I have to make the jig.
On a side note. Check out his pipe organ (yes he made a pipe organ totally out of wood and from scratch) But you HAVE to check out his binary adding machine. Talk about ingenious!
Then I cam across This guy's website. Awesome stuff and if you like 20's jazz/blues even better. As far as his contraptions go you have to watch his
WAY COOL! Don't miss the
. While not a 'wooden machine' it is pretty cool. But as far as 'marble machines' go...
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While the video is not very high quality the machine is still great!