AZ-0010 · Toys
Tumblewood
Tumblewood
A hardwood marble race. Stack 2-inch ash and walnut blocks into towers, bridge them with grooved chutes, drop marbles in the top holes, and see whose reaches the tray first.
The bench
A butcher-block bench, a tote of marbles and a set of blocks. Build a course, release the marbles and read the times off the race card.
Parts tray 2 in hardwood
Ready when the blocks are.
Race card
The set
Blocks and castles
Every block is a 2-inch cube of ash or walnut with eased edges. Castle blocks have notches cut both ways across the top, a 3/4-inch hole down the middle and a bore at 26 degrees that lets the marble out low on one side.
Chutes and curves
Chutes are 1-inch walnut bars with a 3/8-inch cove groove, in 4, 8 and 12 inch lengths. Each rests on a block under both ends, or butts against a tower. Curve blocks carry a cove slot round a quarter turn.
Tunnels and spirals
Tunnel blocks look plain from above but are bored through at the height of a castle’s exit hole, straight across or round a right angle, and they work in both directions. Flip stands a tunnel block on its side, so four of them round a 2-by-2 tower carry the marble down inside it. Spiral blocks have a hole in the top and one helical turn bored inside: stack them and the marble isn’t seen again until a spiral exit block lets it out the side at the bottom.
How a race runs
Drop up to four 5/8-inch glass marbles, Canary, Moss, Brick and Lake, in the top holes of castle or spiral blocks. Chutes sit level, so a marble crosses one on the speed it fell with, and the wood takes some of that at every bend.
Times are real seconds, whatever the playback speed. The winner can be the fastest or the slowest, and in a slowest race a marble only counts if it reaches the tray. A marble that does not finish says why: stopped in a chute, stuck on a block with no hole in its top, dropped out the bottom onto the bench, rolled off onto the bench or ran out of time. The bench keeps your best times for each course on your own device.
The courses
- Staircase. Castles stepped down a run of chutes to the tray.
- Through the blocks. Tunnel blocks carry the marble inside the tower, out of sight until it leaves.
- Spiral tower against the stairs. Two lanes, one race.
- Right-angle tower. Four corner tunnels carry the marble down inside a 2-by-2 tower.
- Two lanes, one race. A quick lane and a slow one into the same tray.
- Empty bench. Build your own. It is saved on your device.
Controls
- Drag empty space to turn the view. Pan with two fingers, or Shift-drag, or right-drag. Pinch, scroll or use + and − to zoom. Arrow keys turn the view; 0 is Home, 1 Front, 2 Top, 3 Angled.
- Drag a part to move it, or tap it in the tray and then tap where it goes. R turns the selected part, Delete removes it, Ctrl or Cmd+Z undoes, Esc cancels.
- Select (V) picks a placed piece: click it, or press Enter at the cursor. A piece you have dragged stays selected. With one selected the arrow keys move it a column and R turns it. Turn with Shift+R the other way.
- Keys: B block · D castle · U tunnel · P spiral · C curve · S chute (press again for its next length) · T tray · M marble · E eraser · F flip · X x-ray · Space race. Choosing a part with a key or Enter puts a cursor on the bench: arrow keys move it, Enter places, Esc puts it away.
On a touch screen the first tap previews a piece and the second places it. X-ray turns the wood see-through so you can follow a marble inside a tower. If your device asks for less movement, nothing on the bench moves by itself and the views snap at once.
Tumblewood
Picus tumulus
- Kingdom
- Toys
- Order
- Toys
- Habitat
- Browser
- Diet
- Marbles
- Status
- New acquisition
Stack 2-inch ash and walnut blocks into towers, bridge them with grooved chutes, drop up to four marbles in the top holes and race them to the tray, in real seconds.
Field notes
See the next exhibit before it goes on display.
One email when a new exhibit joins the cabinet, and nothing else.
I use your address only to email you when a new exhibit joins the cabinet. I never sell or share it, and you can unsubscribe any time. Privacy details