ProMarble run
A tower of tilted trays a ball rolls down, simulated so it runs when you cut it.
Marble run tiles generator Pro
Square track tiles on columns: curves, a switch with a gate, a merge, start and finish.
Open Marble run tiles in the app
Pro generator: explore its settings in the app; cut files come with the Pro plan (coming soon).
In short: Square track tiles on columns: straights, curves, a switch with a gate, a merge, start and finish, all to one standard, with an example course. Tilts, drops and the ball's way through are checked.
A modular marble run: square track tiles that stand on columns, all built to one standard (grid pitch, ball size, slope), so they combine into courses. There are start and finish tiles, straights and curves, a switch with a gate that sends alternate balls left and right, and a merge that brings the branches back together.
The generator cuts an example course from the tiles, places every tile at its height and tilt, and checks it: no overlaps, the gate swings clear, and the ball runs down both branches without touching anything it shouldn't. The 3D preview plays it: one ball goes down one branch, the gate flips, the next goes down the other.
For a single tower that a crank keeps running, see the marble run generator.
You need: plywood, a ball of the size you set, and glue.
Settings
All of these can be changed in the app, and the 3D preview updates as you type. The name under each setting
is its key in a share link, e.g. https://laserpuzzle.app/app/#/marble-tiles?ball_diameter=…; a link only
needs the settings that differ from the defaults.
Tiles
| Setting | Default | What it does |
|---|---|---|
Ball diameterball_diameter | 16 mm | Measured diameter of the steel ball or marble. From 8 to 25 mm. |
Tile pitchpitch | 64 mm | Grid spacing: tiles are a little smaller, so they clear each other. Curves have about half of it as their radius. From 40 to 120 mm. |
Slopeslope | 4.5% | How much a tile drops along the ball's way, per 100 mm. Every tile drops the same. From 2 to 10 %. |
Channel playchannel_play | 3 mm | Channel width is the ball plus this. From 1 to 8 mm. |
Plus the material and machine settings every generator has: material thickness, kerf, slot clearance, sheet width, sheet height, part spacing, engrave part labels, cut line colour, engrave line colour.
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