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Knex Rollercoasters!

dj-fireball999

Mega Poster
This guy's stuff is pretty damn impressive.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cIB3hDFjjYI&feature=channel_video_title[/youtube]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kwvGSrzPhnk&feature=channel_video_title[/youtube]
 

furie

SBOPD
Staff member
Administrator
Moderator
Do you know what? I think these are incredible. They're fascinating to watch and there's such a huge degree of talent gone into each one. The time and effort involved it superb, it's really brilliant to see.

However much I love it though, I'm so glad that I had girlfriends at that age instead... ;)
 

fishman100

Mega Poster
wabbit42 said:
Firstly, sorry if this thread is in the wrong forum, I couldn't decide where to place it :? .
Also, I apologise if this topic has been discussed before, but I don't remember it.

So I was randomly browsing the net when I came across this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qWHdyRFX348
Which I thought was epic imo....

And then these:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5V5Dpz_SNk&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ib-wKuplghs&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7z2-LAfl72Q&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OFUTDUc28wQ&feature=related

I think these are great, but I don't have the patience to make anything like them... :roll:
Anyway, discuss (or flame) away....

I've been building with K'nex since I was 3, and watching these brings back good memories of my earlier childhood. Being a semifinalist for the 2010 K'nexpert Contest (I was sooooooooo dang close to being a finalist! Grrrrrr...) I can look at these videos and appreciate them and the time the builder put into them. They are truly amazing and I hope to make a coaster of my own someday and put them on Youtube. (I actually did for the 2009 contest, but sadly, it didn't qualify for the semifinals.)

The only downside I can think of is the physics. If you have a 5 foot lift hill and drop it to the ground, it probably won't make it through a 3 foot loop :\

bizarrofan10 said:
1. Do any of you use the new KNEX microparts and track? I prefer the old big parts and track.

2. How large of trains do you use? And do you use anything to add weight to the cars. For example, in these videos there are lots of hills on the coasters, and from my experience the car can only clear a hill half the size of the prior hill. Any advice?

I personally prefer the original parts as they are easier to work with. Like mentioned above, the micro track sticks in its shape once you bend it and that can impact the entire structure. Unfortunately the older pieces, such as the track connectors, can be hard to find. The original cars are easier to work with, as you can add weights to the bottom of the cars to maximize speed, remove the wheels, and lubricate the track.

You can add weights by placing pennies to the bottom of the Screaming Serpent cars. I have seen people do this and it definitely increases the overall speed of the coaster. That and lubricating the wheels and the track.

About clearing hills: Make sure you have long trains and weights added for max speed. On the hills make sure your supports are strongly supported (such that they don't wiggle a millimeter when the train passes through) and the tubing is nice and smooth. If it's bumpy or has scissor marks from cutting, etc. that will impact the train's speed a lot and may not make it over the hill. Also, if you have any spliced track make sure it's spliced correctly. Incorrect splices will also impact the train's speed.

You can also add the "anti rollback" system thingy on the hills, too. I have seen people do that, and I think the way to do that is to place the smallest green rods such that they act like the chain: when the dog catches onto them, they prevent the car from rolling back. I myself have not tested this system yet but I have seen similar methods on Youtube; thus I am confident it will work.

The Dragon's Drop Coaster, which is not in production anymore, featured actual inverted cars---like the ones on Alpengeist or Dragon Challenge. That, IMO, was probably one of the smartest moves K'nex has done with coasters. Now you can re-create actual inverted coasters with those cars instead of turning the track and cars upside down :p

Also, there is a launcher for the micro parts and trains, and I do have to say it is quite powerful. My friend has one and I got to observe the launch, speed, etc.

So, is anyone up for recreating Volcano: The Blast Coaster? I think it's possible; have the launches in both places, and that should be enough to propel the train into the "roll out". If it clears the rollout then the rest should be fine. I'd love to see that.
 

CoasterCrazy

Giga Poster
fishman100 said:
[Also, there is a launcher for the micro parts and trains, and I do have to say it is quite powerful. My friend has one and I got to observe the launch, speed, etc.

However powerful it is the batteries need to be fully charged if it is going to work...and they run out sooo quickly! My rocket boost rollercoaster only made a full circuit about 5 times before it ran out. TIP:Buy that set and don't build it, just use it for parts...

With the track staying in a twisted manner, there is a simple way round it! If your dismantling a coaster then always take the track off first and then weight it down...
 

fishman100

Mega Poster
CoasterCrazy said:
However powerful it is the batteries need to be fully charged if it is going to work...and they run out sooo quickly! My rocket boost rollercoaster only made a full circuit about 5 times before it ran out. TIP:Buy that set and don't build it, just use it for parts...

With the track staying in a twisted manner, there is a simple way round it! If your dismantling a coaster then always take the track off first and then weight it down...

That's correct; the batteries don't last long. And yeah, if you're going to buy the set you might as well use it for other parts :p

One other thing I noticed was that last year I received the Looping Lightning coaster from K'nex but we already bought it a few months before. The track in the 1st set could be connected by the ends, which were made out of metal. Now, I realized that they modified the track parts so that the ends where you connect the track is plastic and slightly rectangular, which makes the track incompatible with the thin, circular metal "rods" that they put on the end.

So if you're buying pieces from, say, EBay, pay attention to the end of the track, because if the track doesn't connect, then you pretty much wasted your money. (You could get a refund, but don't you have to pay shipping for that?)

Has anyone found a way to weigh the micro cars? Since they're smaller and don't have hole where you could pop the people in like the Screamin Serpent/Rippin Rocket cars, I haven't found a way to add a weight other than multiple cars at the end.
 

bizarrofan10

Hyper Poster
Fishman: thanks for the advice. A couple of questions:

fishman100 said:
you can add weights to the bottom of the cars to maximize speed, remove the wheels, and lubricate the track.

You can also add the "anti rollback" system thingy on the hills, too. I have seen people do that, and I think the way to do that is to place the smallest green rods such that they act like the chain: when the dog catches onto them, they prevent the car from rolling back. I myself have not tested this system yet but I have seen similar methods on Youtube; thus I am confident it will work.

How do you remove the wheels and how would that work? Also, for the antirollback system, do you have any pictures of that or links to websites that demonstrate it?
 

fishman100

Mega Poster
I don't remember exactly how, I have a guide somewhere in the house, but basically there are some screws next to the wheels or on the car which you can take out. The wheels will come out with a tiny rod attached and you can lubricate that.

As for the anti-rollback system, I can't remember the Youtube video I watched but it was definitely there. However this can be done by placing the short rods into a connector, which, if done right, should be in the middle of the track. Then you can connect the connector to the supports. I'll try to build an example, but currently I don't have a lot of free time, but I'll try on the weekend (if I don't forget :p)
 

fishman100

Mega Poster
Alright, so I have some pictures of an anti-rollback system I built. It's not prefect and it only prevents the car from rolling back if the dog successfully lowers itself, but that happens 99% of the time. Sorry for the long post >.>

dscn5000t.jpg

Here I built 2 small hills; the black one is the one with the anit-rollback device while the lighter green one is the starting hill.
dscn5001.jpg
A close up on the hill with the anti-rollback device.
dscn5002a.jpg
Close up on part of the Anti-rollback device.
dscn5003k.jpg
The top of the ARD (anti-rollback device).
dscn5004n.jpg

dscn5005p.jpg
Bottom of the ARD.
dscn5006u.jpg
Aerial view of the ARD.
dscn5007r.jpg

dscn5008.jpg
You can see how everything is connected here.
dscn5010.jpg
A car "stuck" on the ARD. Note how it's not rolling back down!
dscn5012p.jpg
How it works: the dog catches onto the connector, preventing it from rolling back.
dscn5013q.jpg
Testing again. This time I pushed it a little harder.
dscn5014fo.jpg

dscn5015s.jpg
This picture shows the dog catching onto the top connector.
dscn5016x.jpg
Final picture: a rear view of the car on the ARD.

This ARD is not perfect; like I said before it really depends on if the dog lowers itself while cruising up the hill. An alternative tot his would be to place a chain near the top of the hill, which I have seen. I found that if you place rods/connectors in a manner such that the bottom of the car rubs against it when it passes, it will dramatically decrease the speed and might not make it over the hill. However I found this to work quite well, and I am eager myself to test this on a coaster with bigger hills.

BTW, does anyone know how to make brakes? I know how to make friction brakes but I don't have the pieces for that and I do know how to make another form of the friction brake, but I've only seen that on Micro Coasters...
 

CoasterCrazy

Giga Poster
It's a shame you can't do that with knex micro coasters...

However you can do it just by attatching the track with the luminous green/yellow connectors...if the car has a peice of plastic to connect it to the chain...
fishman100 said:
BTW, does anyone know how to make brakes? I know how to make friction brake
s but I don't have the pieces for that and I do know how to make another form of the friction brake, but I've only seen that on Micro Coasters...

Here's one way... :)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8i8gpn589Xs
And for micro coasters... :--D
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Y-dFjDYhgQ
 

bizarrofan10

Hyper Poster
fishman100 said:
This ARD is not perfect; like I said before it really depends on if the dog lowers itself while cruising up the hill. An alternative tot his would be to place a chain near the top of the hill, which I have seen. I found that if you place rods/connectors in a manner such that the bottom of the car rubs against it when it passes, it will dramatically decrease the speed and might not make it over the hill. However I found this to work quite well, and I am eager myself to test this on a coaster with bigger hills.
Thanks for showing that, I am eager to test it out!

Yeah, what would stop the dog from lowering itself while going up the hill? Is there a benefit for using an anti-rollback system? I mean, if the car doesn't make it up, it will stop at the top as opposed to falling down backwards and failing epically.........

Also, I like to put a third tube of track in the middle where the rollback system is, meaning I would have to cut it at the top of the hill wherever there is the rollback system.
 

fishman100

Mega Poster
bizarrofan10 said:
Thanks for showing that, I am eager to test it out!

Yeah, what would stop the dog from lowering itself while going up the hill? Is there a benefit for using an anti-rollback system? I mean, if the car doesn't make it up, it will stop at the top as opposed to falling down backwards and failing epically.........

Also, I like to put a third tube of track in the middle where the rollback system is, meaning I would have to cut it at the top of the hill wherever there is the rollback system.

When I was testing sometimes I found that the dog didn't lower itself, but I can probably attribute that to gravity (more specifically, the gravity wasn't strong enough to pull it down) while going up the track. Or maybe it was thrown upwards while it was ascending the track; IDK for sure. I guess the only benefit IMO would be to make the coaster look "professional" or "authentic", but you can definitely use it to test models.

Yes, i do realize some people place tubing in the middle of the track as well, so you might have to cut the track in order to accommodate the ARD. I couldn't think of another way to create an ARD that's not directly underneath the dog.
 

dj-fireball999

Mega Poster
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J96AD9csc54&list=FLyefotbP3kkhL2olAq4IRQg&index=8&feature=plpp_video[/youtube]

Insane.
 

fishman100

Mega Poster
dj-fireball999 said:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J96AD9csc54&list=FLyefotbP3kkhL2olAq4IRQg&index=8&feature=plpp_video[/youtube]

Insane.

The attention to details on that coaster in incredible. Love the mid-course brake run too.
 

CoasterCrazy

Giga Poster
I really can't think of anything bad about that coaster...it's legend! Nice "Thorpe Park inversion"(LOL) too and the zero-G. :--D

Shame you can't make this kind of thing with micro! :(

This one's pretty insane too...

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eDzcy-YwBpk[/youtube]


So I'll do the K'nex competition then? Hopefully sometime soon...
I'll need another judge.
 
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