What is the smallest LEGO component?

Question

When I purchase bulk LEGO bricks, one of the first things I do is to tip the whole lot into a mesh bag and give them a good soak in the bath (of course, I remove all the electrical bits etc. first). This usually gets rid of most of the accululated muck etc.

However, I am concerned that the very smallest pieces will slip through the net and end up getting lost en route to the bath or even disappear down the plugh hole.

The solution is obvious: to make sure that I use a bag with small enough holes that the smallest pieces can't fit through.

What, therefore, is the smallest component that LEGO have made?

Answer 1

The screwdriver is also very small, but I'm not sure it beats the lever handle. Also, one could argue it has to be detached from the tools wheel first. But if you buy second-hand lots, there's a good chance it would be detached, and it would easily escape through small holes.

Similarly, the various plumes aren't very large either:

Answer 2

One of the smallest pieces is the detachable handle on the 1 stud gear shift element.

The black part in this complete lever:

Answer 3

I had guessed that smallest piece I have owned is one of these (image courtesy peeron):

It really is stupidly small (so small that I've lost the only example that I possessed).

However, I have since discovered that the lever weighs less, and that the screwdriver will fit through smaller holes.

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Update: I've recently come across some of these:

It's an antenna from the Twitch minifig in set 7599: Garbage Truck Getaway. They're pretty small.

Answer 4

Minifigure hands are very small:

(picture not to scale)

Answer 5

The treasure coin (70501):

I think its one of if not the only element that doesn't connect to any other element.

Answer 6

I've always thought those flat, round 1x1 pieces were the smallest sphere-esque shape. Most of the other pieces here are longer in at least one dimension than these guys.

This is probably the smallest LEGO brick that is compatible with a stud/tube connection.

There's a version with a hole in the stud that is 'smaller' in that it weighs less, although the external dimensions are the same.

Answer 7

If we're going for the lego part with the smallest cross-section, I'll nominate x77ac15 "String, Cord Thin 15cm":

I owned the 75cm variant, as part of set 6361 (now lost and replaced, due to wear&tear). But if memory serves right, its thickness was around half a millimeter.

Answer 8

The smallest part in terms of fitting through holes in a mesh bag or sorting tray would be Technic Flex Cable, the shortest being 5L. This could fit through a hole of diameter 1.6mm (of slightly larger without friction).

Answer 9

The smallest Lego thing I briefly owned was a thin, extremely small, piece of a metallic substance (as far as I know). Possibly about 10 mm long and 4 mm wide, this little sliver was apparently meant to separate a small battery and a light bulb during storage, to stop the battery being drained.

Lego set: Creator 31062 comes with a light brick. I unpacked the secondhand set bought in a thrift store, and checked that all pieces were present. Then wrapped it for a Christmas present for my grandson. After the celebration and cleaning up, I found this little thing. Vacuumed it away with the rest of the crumbs not even realizing what it was.

Lol, looking up light-bricks, I found that the little insert was a tab and was probably not classified as a brick proper, but is part of a new brick's packing. I wish we still had it to eke out the battery which emptied very quickly.

I expect that there are more such extremely small but important components and so wouldn't tip everything into a mesh bag in the first instance. Get some shoe box lids and chocolate boxes and their lids. Spread new components in a single layer. Do a rough sort: big, medium, small into different mesh sized bags. The grit left will be the tinies. Use a linen bag to wash these. Good luck not throwing out tabs!