Why “Year of the RBS”? Because the family I made this sculpture for wanted it based on the 12-year Chinese zodiac. The dad is the Year of the Dog, Mom and daughter are the Year of the Horse, and the son is the Year of the Monkey. My son was taking metal shop in high school at the time, and he laser cut the four animals for me. I painted them, and all four move from the weight and motion of the balls.

There’s a lot going on in this RBS: two loop d’ loop sections, lots of wavy track, track dips, flat spirals, a vertical zig-zag, ball-collecting tipping arms, and plenty of action throughout the sculpture.

The hardest part of this build was getting the chimes to sound. I thought about having the ball roll directly into them, but that never really worked. I finally made the chimes rock up and down so the bars strike each other. That did it—a wonderful little tinkly sound every time they move.

100% stainless steel, TIG welded.