Orbital Rush - Marble Lift and track

This marble lift elevates marbles (15mm diameter) 7cm by using a hand turned wheel which will be motorized in the future. The track has a minimum length of 1,6 meters per lap!

Motorized Lift is out here: https://www.printables.com/model/672932-motorized-marble-lift-orbital-rush

This basic lift works for the cat track toy as well as for new marble racing tiles found in this model.

Assembly for the lift takes less than 5 minutes and no additional hardware is used.

Print instructions:

• 0.3mm layerheight
• no supports
• 5% infill 
• PLA

The Prints may take a while (15 hours on MK3S) and all parts fit on a Prusa MK3S or bigger printer. All STL files should be loaded in the slicer with the correct orientation. 3MF files might need adjustments for print orientation. I would recommend using a smooth build plate if possible, as it removes friction between the ball and the track!

For the Lift choose one base (chase straight or chase Triple)

I have included a 15 mm marble. To print use support on this one. 15 mm ensures the marbles can pass each other on the track. 

Assembly:

No Glue is required.

Marble Lift:

Print everything once except round thing 30 a and b are required 3 times each and choose between chase straight and chase triple (not tested).
 

• The round things a and b slot onto the cat lift rod alternating. See image down below. But you have to do it in the chase it self. The T side of the rod sticks out at the lower side of the chase. See second picture down below

• Now you completed the only annoying step! On the side sticking out, slide the teller part onto the rod and slide the clip into place to secure your assembly.

• Place the steps next to each other sorted by size as shown in the picture down below. 

• Last step is to take your steps and place them into the chase. The flat side of the step should go into the chase. The sloped side is up! In the picture they are oriented correctly.
• Turn the teller and check if everything moves freely and you are done with assembly! 

Marble race tracks:

Skip this part if you are using the cat track toy! 

There are many different tracks to choose from, and many side barriers to add. By switching between smooth PEI and textured plates you can change the track surface. I changed the filament after 3 mm to save on the more expensive filament, but it is not necessary. 

One exit track is necessary, this track is special and should be placed on the top of the lift! It is 20mm longer than the standard 100mm piece.

The tiles are held together by connector pieces and there are tower pieces to elevate the track and one end cap piece each. Here you can add 5mm x 2mm magnets if you want to increase the connection strength, but it works also without. 

• slide the walls to the track, if you want you can use glue but it is not necessary

• connect them with connectors and towers to your marble lift.

Some final thoughts

I did come up with some rules for my marble races and I want to share them with you:

1. every marble is 3D printed in one go and contains a minimum of two colors. No glue or sliding together for assembly. Sanding, smoothing or any postprocessing is forbidden, tweak your printer settings! 
2. Every marble is between 14 and 16 mm in diameter. 
3. Every marble weighs less than 3 grams. 

If you want to add rules or have suggestions just let me know and of course you do not need to follow my rules!

Remix and add tiles (empty tiles) as you wish and have lots of fun with your new toy :) Use the tag orbitalrush for easy search ability.
Follow my Printables account and I will follow you back, leave feedback and makes, as they motivate me to create more! 

I have so many ideas for this marble run so look out for updates, remixes and marble craziness! 

This is my most complex project so far and it definitely challenged my modeling and design skills :) 

Thank you Remington  for suggesting this whole endeavour! 

Change notes:

• 14.Jan.2024: linked to the motorized marble lift. 
• 12.Feb.2024: uploaded the improved towers, as the old version had a too small hole for the magnets and when stacking many towers the height got incorrect. Now the 10 mm tower is 9.9 mm high to compensated for it. The 0.1 mm is removed from all towers.