Do-It-Yourself Roller coaster...

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By Phillip Torrone
Posted 2006/02/20 @ 9:01 pm
Category Art & Design

“The Next Big Thing” Audio show with a Maker who built his own roller coaster – “Over the tool shed, under the elm tree, and around the rose bushes – all in 30 seconds. It’s the “Blue Flash,” a homemade roller coaster John Ivers constructed in his backyard.” – Thanks Chris! Link.

BY Phillip Torrone

Editor at large - Make magazine. Creative director - Adafruit Industries, contributing editor - Popular Science. Previously: Founded - Hack-a-Day, how-to editor - Engadget, Director of product development - Fallon Worldwide, Technology Director - Braincraft.

In the Maker Shed

8 Responses to Do-It-Yourself Roller coaster…

candygirl on March 25th, 2006 at 9:57 am said:

I hope/wish your website has games so that we could play them. Some could be building roller coasters.

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candygirl on March 25th, 2006 at 9:59 am said:

I hope/wish your website has games so that we could play them. Some could be building roller coasters.

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KaYeIgH on April 17th, 2007 at 12:56 pm said:

that is so kool i wont 1 lol how does it like move sorta thing

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KaYeIgH on April 17th, 2007 at 1:00 pm said:

i would love to be able to make my own roller coaster how does it work i mean how could you build somthing so good and be realy successfull

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matt on December 13th, 2007 at 2:47 am said:

yoyoyoyoyoyoyoyoyooyoyoyoyoyqqqqq matt nd joe r well kl

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joe on December 13th, 2007 at 2:52 am said:

dude thats friggn awsome ma like totaly

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Pingback: MAKE | Back Yard Roller Coaster with 12′ Drop
Rocky Rhodes on August 9th, 2012 at 10:01 am said:

He probably couldn’t build the shed without submitting drawings and getting inspections from the county building authority, but he’s allowed to build a death machine in his backyard. Did he get a stamped approval drawing or stress load calculations from a licensed engineer? Does he have a detailed maintenance plan, operating procedures, third party inspections? Where’s the containment fence to keep stray animals and wondering humans from walking into the danger zone? What parts of this contraption comply with industry standards? And most important, does his homeowners insurance company know about this?

I have certain libertarian values, so I do think he should be able to build this if he wants, but it definitely could be an “attractive nuissance” that could seriously hurt someone trying to ride it. Even the best run amusement parks with highly trained and educated engineers, managers, and technicians still occaissionally have catastrophic failures that lead to serious injury and sometimes death. I’d hate to think what the mean time between failure (and death) is for this monstrosity.

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