woodworking
I've been working on a marble dispenser for the little ones. The box in the center is meant to be pushed. When pushed, it aligns three slots and allows the marbles to drop. (See figures). The problem that I'm having is the marbles aren't even making it through the first slot–if two or more try to enter at once, there's not enough room and they get stuck.
I tried using a funnel to feed marbles into the hole, but they still get stuck. Any ideas on how to prevent that?
Yes, the drill chuck will mar the finish of the shelf. There is a slight chance of damage to the chuck. Plus, choking down on the bit, like that, obscures your view of the hole (the drill and chuck block it) -- making precision harder to accomplish.
The correct way to do this is to use a drill stop.
Drill stops are less likely to slip than tape or zip-ties, and are much better for precise and/or repeated drilling.
If marring the finish is an issue, clamp a piece of 1/8th plywood over the site and adjust the drill stop accordingly.
PS: A piece of wood over the hole is usually a good idea anyway, when drilling finished surfaces. It helps reduce both splintering and the scratching that occurs when flakes of drilled wood or metal whip around the bore site.
Put some hot glue on the end of a dowel or other stick and put it in the hole. Give it a minute to dry then gently rotate the stick (and cam) while pulling it out. Hot glue would be a quick fix, but next step is a stronger glue that might take longer.
Final options - try to drill a hole into the center of the cam lock and threat a small screw into it and pull it out. Or, if it's not in a very visible spot, drill a small hole in the opposite side and poke out the cam lock with a wire or pin. Last method is fast, but will leave a visible hole on the "finished" side.
Best Answer
It occurred to me that this problem has already been solved... Gumball machines and/or coin-op toy dispensers at the grocery store are capable of selecting just one of something. A quick search reveals a solution like this:
Seem to me you may be able to adapt your design to work something like that. Even if not, I'd look at gumball machine designs...