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I've played enough with 2x2 round plates and 1-stud-wide plates to know that it's possible to attach a plate underneath a 2x2 plate and perpendicular to it, like so:

round plate connected to 1-wide plate

The same connection is possible using 2x2 round bricks instead, or using 1-stud-wide tiles.

An observation: each of the 4 wall sections of a 2x2 round brick/plate can flex slightly. This does not happen with the continuous walls in a square brick/plate.

So:

  • Is this connection "legal"? (i.e.: Does this connection stress the parts involved?)

  • Has this type of connection been used in any official sets?

A word of warning: Do not attempt this technique on part 6143 "2x2 round brick reinforced": it won't work, and you risk denting your plates (as I just did). Do look for a flat wall section at the bottom of the round plate/brick.

comparison between similar round parts

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    Nice find! I have yet never seen this connection style, neither in an official model nor in a collection of illegal techniques - but my lack of experience doesn't mean anything conclusive.
    – zovits
    Aug 5, 2022 at 8:15
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    TBH I "discovered" this during the 90s (with the supports from 6930-1); but it was only yesterday, while trying to reverse-engineer the SNOT technique used in this other question, when I realized I haven't seen this technique documented anywhere.
    – IvanSanchez
    Aug 5, 2022 at 8:34
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    Does the receiving plate/brick have to be round? Seems to me that a plate fits between any center tube and the element wall...
    – Michael Verschaeve
    Aug 5, 2022 at 8:56
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    The fit between a plate and a pre-2004 brick is way too tight IIRC - tiles can easily get stuck inside and require pincers to get removed - so I suspect that would stress the wall of the brick. Post-2004 bricks have thinned walls (to save on plastic, AFAIK) so the wall-tube gap is larger than the thickness of a plate/tile. In other words: the connection is loose. Also, an observation: the "wall" in a round 2x2 plate/brick can slightly bend "outwards" without being supported by other walls; this intuitively tells me that the connection is flexible.
    – IvanSanchez
    Aug 5, 2022 at 9:37
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    Thx for the clarification, however "to save on plastic" is in my opinion not the reason walls were thinned... The thinning was done to have a more uniform thickness of injected ABS in the mold. Non-uniform thickness causes warping because different parts of the element cool down at different rates...
    – Michael Verschaeve
    Aug 5, 2022 at 10:10

1 Answer 1

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It's an illegal brick technique due to you breaking the bricks and it makes the bricks wear away faster and the technique was never in offical Lego sets.

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    Do you have any sources (studies, expert opinion, experiments, etc.) for these statements? I know the last one ("The technique was never in official Lego sets") is not possible to prove, but the "it makes the bricks wear away faster" should be citable.
    – zovits
    Oct 5, 2022 at 8:57
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    I think my question is clear enough about damaging the bricks - using part 6143 will dent plates (and is therefore clearly illegal), but I'm asking about part 3941 et al, as pictured.
    – IvanSanchez
    Oct 5, 2022 at 10:43
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    When I asked a similar question in an FB group, in a MOC where I wedged one plate by its edge, on another at its edge at a right angle to each other, I was told an unusual move that doesn't damage pieces is called 'unorthodox'.
    – MocBird
    Dec 3, 2022 at 4:27

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