Marble Maze

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63 likes

307 opens

87 copies

5 comments

Project by

Volume Studios
Chicago, USA

General Information

A modern take on the classic labyrinth marble maze that you can make on a Carvey. Create multiple custom mazes in Easel with easily swappable and reversible top surfaces. The base features a rounded bottom for tilting the maze, but uses materials efficiently to keep production time down.

Project License

Attribution 3.0 Unported (CC BY 3.0)

Like this project Open in Easel^®

Material			Description	Price
		Bamboo Plywood (×2)	Thickness: 1/4 - don't use, Plies: 3 - don't use, Dimensions: 8 in × 12 - don't use
		Natural HDPE Sheet	Thickness: 1/2 in don't use, Dimensions: 8 in × 12 in don't use

HDPE Top

Cut the Elephant Maze top out of 1/2" thick HDPE, any color. We used the light blue HDPE from the Inventables store.

Design your own maze

Optional: Design your own maze in Easel or use this one and cut it on the reverse side of the Elephant Maze. No need to cut another through-hole for the marble – the one from the other side will work.

Bamboo Ply Base Part I

Cut the first set of Bamboo Base parts out of 1/4" thick Bamboo ply from the Inventables store

Bamboo Ply Base Part II

Cut the second set of Bamboo Base parts out of 1/4" thick Bamboo ply from the Inventables store

Build The base

Clean up the bamboo parts and interlock them to create the round-bottom base. If the parts fit loosely, add a dab of wood glue to hold everything together.

Drop the top & get rolling

Place the HDPE top on the bamboo base. We used a 1/2 Stainless Steel ball bearing from McMaster-Carr for our marble.

Try some different materials

Create a custom Marble Maze by playing with different materials for the top and bottom. We did a version with a Bamboo Ply top and white .25" ABS base

My maze piece outline cut made it through in some parts but not others. Any thoughts on how I could finish it up?. I'm tempted to tried to knock it out, but am afraid I'll wind up cracking the whole piece. Thanks for any help, and really appreciate you sharing this great project!
Brian Addison

Hi Brian, I used tabs on it that should be relatively easy to get through with a sharp X-acto or even a band saw or jigsaw. Is there a way you can share photos? It's hard to picture what you're having a problem with. Thanks!
Volume Studios

Thanks for the quick reply. Good news is I'm all set! I just started to give the piece some back and forth pushes to realize I wasn't going to risk cracking it, and from there was able to pop it out pretty quickly.
Brian Addison

Very nice. One could recycle HDPE (/2\) (bottle caps, ..) to mold into sheets or directly into parts. The resulting HDPE usually has marbling of colours. https://www.openbuilds.com/resources/how-to-recycle-hdpe-bottles-caps-etc-into-sheets-blocks-to-cnc.170/, YouTube, etc. for more information.
Serge Ecoiffier

Fantastic! Would love to hear how you made the path for the ball. Also, what is the purpose of the short section of isolated line, and the "J" part next to it?
Ryan Lenz