I first built a domino row building machine of this type in 1985 out of Lego, then built it again from memory in 2009 to make a video of it. The machine works by pushing a magazine full of dominoes forward along the table while a slider pushes them out one at a time as the machine slowly drives along.
In a new version of the project, Matthias Wandel of Woodgears.ca builds an automated domino row building machine with wood, including over 300 handcrafted wooden dominoes. He chronicles the build on his site and in the video above.
After you’ve watched that, check out his 2009 LEGO Technic version:
…as well as a disassembly video that might be useful for making your own:
Previous work from Wandel: A hand-cranked, wooden Slinky escalator and a Binary Marble Adding Machine.