This is one of my favorite Rolling Ball Sculptures. It’s also one of the first where I started building a complete outer frame, whether the sculpture was going to be wall mounted or sit on a tabletop. Before this, I normally made my wall-mounted RBSs with an internal frame and simply built outward from there.

There was a very practical reason for the change: I could put the entire wall-mounted sculpture flat on my welding table while I worked on it instead of having it hanging on the wall while I welded tracks and elements into place. Much easier.

This four-track RBS uses 1-1/2" acetal resin balls. The loop d’ loop curves back around itself in a pretzel-like shape, while the tall skinny coil sends its ball into a large spinner.

One of my favorite mechanisms is the ball collector that releases several balls together onto a large wheel. Their combined weight turns the wheel, which lifts a completely separate ball onto its own closed-loop track. That ball eventually returns to the wheel and waits there until another group of balls comes along to lift it again.

There’s also a flat spiral, wavy track, a couple of regular tipping arms and lots of track weaving in and out through the different elements.

The acetal resin balls make this sculpture very quiet, and there’s always something moving somewhere. Probably one of my top five favorite RBSs I’ve ever built.

100% stainless steel, TIG welded.