As you can see from the image above, we’ve really got our work cut out for us in building a larger-than-life version of Brio’s Labyrinth game for the Holocene Mini-golf event. Andrew and I began a few days ago by milling some lumber, and I assembled the center portion of the game last (Monday) night. This evening, Bruce and Andrew came over to help finalize this part of the game. Here’s Bruce locating one of the bumpers. It was pretty math-y work, and Bruce did a great job, though he was a bit lippy.
I cut the bumpers to length, and Andrew was the nailer. (The odd-looking brad nailer is my cordless 18 ga. nailer, sans battery. While it’s a heavy nailer for plugged-in work, it is one of the few 18 ga. nailers I’ve seen that accomodate a 2-in. brad.)
When all the bumpers were installed, we were pretty proud of ourselves, and more than a little surprised our cocktail napkin of a plan actually worked. All in all, there are more than 40 holes (thanks Bruce), 2 and a quarter inches in diameter, cut with a hole saw. Took 3 batteries to cut that many, but it looked great all put together. The holes are not scaled to the game’s size, but rather, scaled to the golf ball’s size. So, it should play a little easier than the small version. We hope.
And of course, we had to test it out. We haven’t built the x-y tilt mechanism yet, but three guys can do a fair approximation after a beer or two. It took about five tries, but we actually succeeded in navigating the maze. We were pretty sure it would be impossible (just like the real thing), but the dimples in the golf ball slow it down to a manageable speed.
Stay tuned!
Gabe Says:
September 27th, 2006 at 4:26 amVisit Gabe
Looks like a lot of fun! Have you figured out the elevation problem yet? I want to play with it!
Andrew Says:
September 27th, 2006 at 10:20 amVisit Andrew
This thing is amazing, even in ‘manual’ mode. I can’t wait for the automation!
Bruce Says:
September 28th, 2006 at 12:34 pmVisit Bruce
Yeah, now if we can only figure out how that “automation” is going to work…
Descending Ashtray » Cutting Perfect Parts Repetitively Says:
October 8th, 2006 at 9:17 pmVisit Descending Ashtray » Cutting Perfect Parts Repetitively
[…] I spent most of today working on this case for the Labyrinth game. It’s really starting to take (enormous) shape. This box housing the game board and golf ball diverting mechanism is 32 inches tall, 57 inches long and 47.5 inches wide. Pretty big! […]
Descending Ashtray » That is One A-Maze-ing game. Says:
October 9th, 2006 at 10:58 pmVisit Descending Ashtray » That is One A-Maze-ing game.
[…] Dan, Bruce and Andrew came over tonight to help assemble the Labyrinth game’s X-Y tilting mechanism. Although it’s still got a ways to go before it’s complete, it is really starting to take tangible shape. I laughed uncontrollably for several minutes when we finally put the game board in the box. What a ridiculous idea, but marvelous at the same time. […]