8
Assembly Instructions for
MAD Marble Machine #1
Ver. 2.3
“Steps” assembly
Each step consists of two parts. Apply wood glue sparingly and assemble the stack using the 2mm
rods to ensure good alignment. Be careful you don’t get glue on the surfaces that shouldn’t be
joined!
Clamp the parts or wrap with rubber bands and allow the glue to dry. One part is marked. This
is so you can identify front from back when you sand the slope into the steps and it is used to
indicate how much to sand off. Once the steps are dry, ligthly sand the sides and chamfer the
corners slightly. This prevents binding. Use a ne grade sandpaper. The smoother the steps are
the better and it is recommended that you apply a light coat of varnish or MDF sealer and rub
them down with ne sandpaper when dry.
Now it’s time to tackle the top of the steps. These need to be at an angle so the balls easily roll
from step to step. Wrap sandpaper around a dowel or pen 5-7mm in diameter and sand the top
of the steps at approximately a 5-7 degree angle. If you have a Dremel type tool with a small
diameter sanding drum use that but be careful not to remove too much material from a step so
it cannot reach above the next step up. The small horizontal line marks the limits of how far you
should sand. Sand to the line but do not start to sand it away. Make sure you are not sanding away
the opposite side of the step.
