- Day 1: February 24
I got approval for my design. So I started gathering a few materials that I needed: a big piece of wood board (the bottom) and 4 supportive column-shaped pillars. I used an electric jigsaw machine to cut the big wood piece and pillars into smaller sizes. As shown in my previous post’s planning, I cut the cardboard and pillars into 14×7 and 27cm, respectively.
The cutting process was difficult since I had never used an electric jigsaw cutter before. It was scary at first, but I soon learned to use it with the design teachers’ help. I was extra careful in this process because Newton’s cradle is a product that relies heavily on the preciseness of measurements.
- Day 2: February 28
My day 2’s goal was to gather all materials and find a way to attach marble with a thread. Therefore, I used wires to put the marbles and the thread together. I first found 5 small metal balls weighing about 70 grams, some threads, and wires. My initial plan was to use smaller, more aesthetically appealing ones, but they were unavailable at the design center. I did not want to spend extra days or money on ordering marbles, so I decided to go eco-friendly and use the ones at the school. Then, I used a plier to make the wire into a horseshoe shape. The wire was really thin and small, so bending them into shapes was difficult.
Next, I glued each of the wires and the marbles together with a hot glue gun.
I tried to find more materials for the toy; however, I could not find a long stainless steel screw, the most important element in my device. I asked teachers if they could order or find any, but it did not work. It would take too long to arrive and was not environmentally friendly. Therefore, I had to make another alternative design/plan to back up my plan.
- Day 3: March 2
I researched videos about Newton’s Pendulum, but most of them had really simple, unstable DIY pendulums made out of craft sticks. Because I wanted to challenge myself and make it stable, I decided to use woodblock (I used the same bottom and marble). However, to stand the heavy metal balls, I decided to use thicker wood cylinder blocks as the supporter. To replace the stainless steel screw, I will use a thinner cylinder block.
I will drill holes and use needles to fasten the blocks all together.
- Day 4: March 4
I have gathered all materials for the toy, and I just had to assemble them together. I was going to use a needle gun to fasten the woodblock together. However, the design teacher advised that using a needle gun is unnecessary and might take too much time. Therefore, I used a hot glue gun to stick the blocks together. This saved a lot of my time since it was much simple.
I then hung the marble strings onto the frame.
After hanging the marbles up, I realized the toy did not work; the marbles would swing irregularly. Therefore, I looked back at some of the YouTube videos and images and realized my mistake. Some marbles were also hung shorter or longer than others- the lengths were all different. The design teachers also advised me that the marbles have to be in a perfect line for the toy to work. They also suggested gluing the marbles onto the wood pillars to become more stable.
Therefore, I realigned the marbles into a straighter line. This process was especially challenging since the threads were too thin and tricky to tie and untie.
The toy worked a little bit after putting the marbles in a straighter line.
- Day 5: March 8
This was the very last day at the design center. So I made some small changes before taking pictures for the blog. I realized some of the marbles were still a bit longer than others even after I glued last class. Therefore, I glued a bit more to secure the threads on the wood stick. I also took some pictures in a nice, clean background for blogs posts.
Leave a Reply