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45 votes

Is connecting LEGO studs on Technic pins legal?

The presentation that senior Lego designer Jamie Berard held at Brickcon 2006 and that spawned the entire legal vs illegal discussion can be found here: https://www.hellobricks.com/pdf/jamieberard-...
Michael Verschaeve's user avatar
35 votes
Accepted

How do the various LEGO springs compare?

Over the years the LEGO group has made a number of different springs, dampers and suspension components. The most widely known ones are the springs in the 731 series, such as the above mentioned ...
Phil B.'s user avatar
  • 17k
31 votes

How can I get my motor to line up with a linear actuator?

The axle is misaligned by half a stud, so an obvious approach to this problem is offset your motor by half a stud. The technique of offsetting bricks by half a stud is known as AZMEP (from the german &...
IvanSanchez's user avatar
  • 9,646
27 votes

Is it possible to build a working 100% LEGO glider with the Technic Catamaran sails?

As it turns out, the answer is yes! Even though the wings are flat and can't generate much lift, I was able to get up to about 15ft of distance on a 10ft drop. click to watch the video Here's how I ...
Alexander O'Mara's user avatar
26 votes
Accepted

Realistic Lego car sets containing gearboxes and engines?

LEGO sets There are more than one set with such characteristics. While first four are from 20th century, I've included them anyway, since they are well-known and include characteristics you are ...
Alex's user avatar
  • 23.4k
26 votes

If I were to make a LEGO fan how would I make it blow air on me?

A fan is just 1/4 of a drone, right? Check out this lego drone that actually flies, for inspiration. https://youtu.be/wUVvQk7XLd4 The blade part in question is 89509
Mr. Shiny and New 安宇's user avatar
23 votes
Accepted

Which old Technic set included large yellow motor?

I actually managed to find the exact set while refining the question. It's set 744, released in 1980. Here are the reasons why the research I did prior to writing the question didn't lead ...
Angew is no longer proud of SO's user avatar
21 votes
Accepted

What is the rationale behind 32333 "Technic Pin Connector Block 1 x 5 x 3"?

This part was designed for use with the Technic Engine Cylinder 2850a (or 2850b). Like this standard V8 engine: source The strange geometry is due to the piston shafts needing to align with the ...
Matthew Jensen's user avatar
20 votes

How accurate is the model 42179 Planet Earth and Moon in Orbit?

The real Solar System is of course immensely complicated, so capturing all the details in a model would result in an impractical model in terms of size, complexity, and cost. The actual model's ...
zovits's user avatar
  • 17.3k
19 votes
Accepted

Is this a real Technic cloak?

this is a Playmobil cape, from the Zorro figure
Syberion's user avatar
  • 13k
19 votes
Accepted

How can I make church bells with a pull cord?

It sounds like you're trying to implement a fairly simple bell mechanism such as this one: You can certainly do this using some string and the pulley element that you mentioned. I'd recommend tying ...
jncraton's user avatar
  • 41.8k
19 votes

How can I place a motor in the middle of a Technic beam with an odd number of holes?

I'd address this with bevel gears:
Michael Verschaeve's user avatar
19 votes
Accepted

Why are there many hidden holes in 'Monkie Kid’s Team Van' 80038?

This likely has to do with the cost to manufacture the set. It is logistically simpler, and therefore more cost effective, to add an additional element already present in the set rather than to add a ...
jncraton's user avatar
  • 41.8k
18 votes

Motorized speedboat from Technic Catamaran alternate model?

With a few Power Functions elements and a pair of propellers, I was able to build a motorized boat similar to the alternate model. 1x: 8881 Power Functions Battery Box 2x: 8883 Power Functions M-...
Alexander O'Mara's user avatar
18 votes
Accepted

How can I place a motor in the middle of a Technic beam with an odd number of holes?

Something like this would work. Since this is just an idea pictured assembly doesn't feature any bracing required for this solution to work properly. Another thing to mention - 8T gears doesn't like ...
Alex's user avatar
  • 23.4k
17 votes
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What part(s) can I use to connect technic liftarms with modules?

Put two plates between each layer of Technic bricks and the holes will align. This technique was used commonly in studded Technic sets. Here's a page from the instructions for 8042 where you can see ...
Huw Millington's user avatar
17 votes
Accepted

How can I motorize 42077 Technic Rally Car with LEGO Power Functions?

With some Power Functions elements and a few extra pieces, it's pretty easy to turn the Rally Car into an RC car. Here's a quick demo video of my design in action. And here are the instructions I ...
Alexander O'Mara's user avatar
17 votes

If I were to make a LEGO fan how would I make it blow air on me?

The easiest way to do this would be to use a motor with a high speed (or gear up a lower speed motor) and then attach one of the larger propeller elements to it. You can probably build a custom prop, ...
jncraton's user avatar
  • 41.8k
16 votes
Accepted

How do I take out this pin from an axle connector?

I usually attach it to a Technic beam, then put something to fill the hole so it can't squeeze together and come out, to give a handle. The flexible rods tend to be a nice options for filling the ...
Alexander O'Mara's user avatar
15 votes

LEGO 42095 wheels going opposite directions

I believe you forgot a critical step in the instructions, namely step 84: It shows how to position the black switches on the remote control, they reverse directions.
Michael Verschaeve's user avatar
15 votes
Accepted

Identify an unusual double-ended ball socket link part

That is 4 separate parts. They can be disassembled, but they are somewhat fragile. The ends are part 6644 Technic Flex Cable End - Ball Connection with Cage: The middle section is made up of a length ...
jncraton's user avatar
  • 41.8k
15 votes

Why doesn't this Technic bar fit?

It will fit, see photo. But you have to keep in mind that the distance between the two horizontal beams is not 4 units but will be sqrt(6^2 - 4 ^2) (Pythagoras), or ~4.47 units (the length is the ...
Joost's user avatar
  • 8,083
14 votes

Technic Pin/Travis Brick Legal Connection?

In general, this sort of connection is illegal, but I think that it works fine with a Travis brick. Technic pins must be "in click" in a model, or the pins will be held in compression and can be ...
jncraton's user avatar
  • 41.8k
13 votes
Accepted

Pattern for oscillation with LEGO Technic

What you're looking for is reciprocal motion, or to convert rotation motion into linear motion (and then back to a limited rotation). Building out the key parts of the fan head you have the following ...
Zhaph - Ben Duguid's user avatar
13 votes
Accepted

Alternative to LEGO CONTROL+ app

There is an alternative app called BrickController 2. This open source software is available for both Android as well as iOS. This application is actively developed and its maintainer can be reached ...
Alex's user avatar
  • 23.4k
13 votes

Is connecting LEGO studs on Technic pins legal?

According to LEGO, this type of connection is illegal, since the pin is stressed when connected to an anti-stud and eventually deforms. People's MOCs do not follow same policy as TLG does. So you ...
Alex's user avatar
  • 23.4k
13 votes
Accepted

Why do gray axles appear black and black axles appear white and black in this manual?

I don't have this set, but used 8421 as a test. This set is also released in 2005. Looking at the PDF you see the same color scheme of the axles, were the black appear to be gray and vice versa When ...
Joost's user avatar
  • 8,083
13 votes
Accepted

What is the purpose of the 8 tooth timing gear?

When looking at Blakbird's Technicopedia page for this Technic set, this part is indeed used as a rotary encoder in combination with the bar code scanner. See the last entry on the page.
Joost's user avatar
  • 8,083
13 votes

Does anyone know what brick this is? Looks like half a cylinder

That is Vehicle, Tipper Drum 3 x 6 x 10 Half with 4 Pin Holes. Red colored piece was used in just single set - Neptune Carrier (8075):
Alex's user avatar
  • 23.4k
12 votes
Accepted

What are the dimensions of a technic axle?

I found CAD files for LEGO technic axles here: https://grabcad.com/library/lego-technic-axles-1 and some gears which have holes for technic axles here: https://grabcad.com/library/lego-technic-gears-1 ...
Josh King's user avatar
  • 1,911

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