A classic desktop Rolling Ball Sculpture. I’ve built many of these over the years, all roughly the same size and using many of the same elements, but every one ends up different in its own way.

Load the marbles into the queue at the top and they line up waiting to be released. Press the handle at the bottom to release one, two, or all of them — you get to choose. The marbles enter a track splitter that turns one track into two.

Track one has a loop d’ loop. Track two has a flat spiral, tipping arm, horizontal zig-zag and lots of twisty, fun track. The two tracks meet head-on at the bottom, with the marbles sometimes running right into each other. Very satisfying when the timing works out just right.

This desktop also has a wire depiction of a pump jack — the oil pumps you see working up and down in the fields of Southern California. It was a special request, commissioned by a wife as a gift for her husband, who worked in the oil industry.

These desktops don’t need a motor, batteries or electricity. Just put one on a level surface, load it with marbles, and gravity does the rest.

As always, 100% stainless steel and TIG welded.