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I am trying to make a brick-built alternative to the swivelling door piece that's frequently used to provide secret entrances in castle sets.

Example: this combination (images from Bricklink)

The pre-fab Lego piece has several advantages but is also fairly ugly for use in builds that don't rely on panels for walls. Its main advantage though is that it is compact and swivels around the centre, which is possible because the inner piece is very thin and slightly narrower than the outer piece.

I have achieved a similar pattern using the 2x2 turntable tile but getting the turntable positioned under the wall so that the wall spins on its centre means I need to use two levels of jumpers, both at the top and bottom of the wall. This consumes a lot of vertical space and also juts out horizontally at the top (Why doesn't Lego have an inverse jumper? one stud-hole on the bottom, two studs on top?)

Here are pictures of my creation. I'd appreciate any tips on how to make it more compact. Note that the round 1x1 bricks are needed on the sides to make enough room for it to swivel. It still rubs a bit but it's fine.

The first layer of jumpers offsets the turntable so that the wall spins on its central axis. The second set of jumpers allows the wall to be centered over the turntable. On top, I have to hang the jumpers out, then repeat with the turntable and then more jumpers. In this prototype the dark grey layers are jumpers and the black layers are turntables.

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3 Answers 3

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13

Why not use just two jumper plates (3794), one on the top and one on the bottom? No more additional are pieces required.

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You can also replace the stack of 1x1 round bricks with a single Support 1 x 1 x 6 Solid Pillar (43888) piece. The piece is used in conjunction with a large swinging vault door in the Bank & Money Transfer (3661) set. The brick is stronger then a stack of 1x1 round bricks and the round part of the brick (at five bricks high) is tall enough for most minifigures.

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  • I considered the single jumper approach but thought it would be too ... I'm not sure. Too tight to turn? Too easily knocked out of its frame?
    – Mr. Shiny and New 安宇
    Oct 1, 2014 at 21:22
  • If you plan to build more of the wall on each side and maybe above you will add strength to the frame. It actually isn't as difficult as I expected to turn the wall but the turntable is certainly easier to turn.
    – Ambo100 ♦
    Oct 1, 2014 at 21:27
  • I like the idea of using the pillar piece. I have a bunch of those, I just wonder if I'll have the right colours. Otherwise, I would probably have stuck a 6L bar in side the 1x1 round bricks.
    – Mr. Shiny and New 安宇
    Oct 1, 2014 at 21:31
  • I built a prototype of this type of swivel door and in my prototype I find that the door no longer smoothly fits between the round bricks; it rubs too much and bends the round bricks outward.I can't figure out why, though.
    – Mr. Shiny and New 安宇
    Oct 3, 2014 at 4:33
  • That's very strange. I can't think why that is when both your wall and mine are 1x6.
    – Ambo100 ♦
    Oct 3, 2014 at 11:48
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You could try something like this if you have Technic beams available:

step 1 step 2 step 3 step 4 step 5 step 6 step 7

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  • This solution looks nice but your prototype is only 1 plate shorter than mine. It does look like it should be possible to make it shorter though. And I like that it's the door that's rounded instead of the wall; in some circumstances that will be a huge structural advantage.
    – Mr. Shiny and New 安宇
    Oct 2, 2014 at 12:48
  • It should be possible to make this a little shorter. One simple way would be to build a full size Technic brick into the floor rather than the half size one that I used. This would allow you to flip the pin at the bottom the other way around and allow the platform that the minifig is standing on to be lowered down to the level of the ground. That assumes that you have space to build into your floor, though.
    – jncraton ♦
    Oct 2, 2014 at 13:23
  • I played around with this solution and found a couple of issues. For one, I don't have enough technic beams to make this work, but that's not a flaw in the solution itself. The bigger flaw is that the ledge where the minifig stands can only stick out by one stud or else the door can't swing all the way open. I need at least 1.5 studs to fit a fig or else they lean awkwardly. (My use case is that the fig is a statue, not a character). Also due to my lack of technic pieces I can't build it well AND have a platform. It'd still be a great solution for a swivel wall with no platform though.
    – Mr. Shiny and New 安宇
    Oct 3, 2014 at 4:31
  • If you need more space on the platform, you could use 7 wide beams for the door rather than 5. While being bigger than your original design, this should give you plenty of space for your statue.
    – jncraton ♦
    Oct 3, 2014 at 15:02
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    If you're asking why I used Technic parts, it's because they provide a very compact, sturdy, and nearly frictionless way to create a pivot point at the top and bottom of the door. They are also rounded on the ends, which prevents the door from binding.
    – jncraton ♦
    Oct 22, 2014 at 12:41
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Ok, not quite what was asked, but this might spark some new directions for other people.

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As to your statue, a few 2x1 plates at the base instead of the tiles could attach to the legs.

This solution would allow weapons, etc, to be displayed on the secret walls.

Re-edited to include final improvements.

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Using tiles and inverted tiles lets the wall be two plates thick, which allows movement without looking ugly, this build is surprisingly sturdy. All in grey this would look much like a castle wall.

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4
  • This works and offers some interesting possibilities for the outward facing side, on account of the snot construction. But the back side of it doesn't look as nice and is rather clearly a door. Maybe that could be disguised better, by using a 2x4 plate with two pin holes underneath instead of just one, and then extending technic tubes up to the top, and building the same structure (but non functional) on the other side. considers
    – Mr. Shiny and New 安宇
    Oct 3, 2014 at 19:36
  • I tried this construction. It's promising, but ultimately doesn't work for me. When I build it your way, with the hinge set on a jumper, I don't see an easy way to attach it at the top of the door and that makes the door too flimsy. When I use a 2x2 tile with a pin on it, this moves the door half a stud forward and then it rubs too hard against the frame and can't really be opened.
    – Mr. Shiny and New 安宇
    Oct 3, 2014 at 19:51
  • Fair enough, the, 'back of the door,' problem could be solved with inverse tiles (bricklink.com/catalogItem.asp?P=11203), the attachment at the top of the door could be a half-peg onto one of those rods underneath the 1x? plates, but the stiffness is still a problem, maybe some more SNOT with some L-panels (bricklink.com/catalogItem.asp?P=4865). mounted on a sideways 1x? plate.
    – Windfire
    Oct 3, 2014 at 22:08
  • I worked out that an upside-down plate would function as a bottom hinge, this design is still not perfect.
    – Windfire
    Oct 4, 2014 at 18:08

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