Last year I decided to document the process of building a rolling ball sculpture from start to finish. Now, I plan on posting the process with pictures on my site. Please feel free to ask any questions that you may have.
It all starts with stainless steel rods. I purchase 1/8″ and 3/16″ stainless rods in 12 foot lengths from a local metal supplier. The 1/8″ rods are used for the track and spacers. I use the 3/16″ for the frame.
To get things started, I like to fold the piece I’m working with in half. This particular sculpture is a small desktop that will be made from 1 single 12 foot piece of stainless. After finding the half way point I fold it so that it forms a parallel track. I have track clamps that I bought from Matthew Gaulden to hold things in place as I weld spacers in place. It is important that the metal is clean, so I wipe it with acetone right before I weld. I use alligator clips to hold the spacer and a set of vice grips mounted on my work bench to hold the section of track.
I like to put on two spacers at the beginning of the track. This makes it strong enough so that I can begin bending and also keeps the spacing nice and even. Another thing to remember is that the beginning of the track needs space to put marbles. If a track begins curving and dipping too abruptly you won’t be able to queue up multiple marbles and release them at the same time.
Part two will cover bending the track and making corners. Check back soon.
