Removing tiles easily

[Eilif]

OK, ever since the introduction of cafe corner, I've gone a bit mad with tiling the floors of some of my MOC's. This brings up the question of un-tiling my mocs when I am done with them. Some of the less than ideal meathods I've used.

-Fingernail. Works, but gets painfull after a while, and flexing basplates to make them easier to remove is just a bad idea.

-Butter knife and pocket knife. By far the quickest, but metal is harder than plastic, and can easily wear at the tiles and the basepleat

-LEGO minifig accessories. Swords and oars are good, but this tends to wear at the swords and create stress marks on the oar where the paddle meets the handle.

-Plastic flatware. Works ok, but can still scratch the LEGO plastic.

After all these, I think I have found the Ideal Solution!!

GUITAR PICKS!! (aka Plectrums)They:

-Are really cheap. $0.25-$0.70 USD each or ask a guitarrist friend for his worn out picks, they work nearly as well.

-are small, yet easy to grasp

-slide right under the edge of the tile

-Are available in hard, yet slighttly rubbery materiels that are easy to grip and pop the tiles out without damaging the tiles or the baseplates. Dunlop brand "tortex" materiel pics in a medium size are a great example of this

-Are available in ergonomic versions that are even easier to grip.

I just tried this this morning. I had a building in need of a re-tile, and for some reason I reached into my bag of "found" pics. I'm a bass player and don't use picks, but I pick them up at shows all the time. The tiles popped out so easily that I am keeping a few picks in my LEGO area for future use.

Edited July 11, 2008 by Eilif

[Stash2Sixx]

WOW!!! Nice one. I should have thought of that. I agree with you on the thumb....Takin' all those 1x1 tiles off wreaks havoc on the thumb, and I hate to use metal. I'm gonna have to pick a few of these up.

[Matn]

What about LEGO's own brickremover? And plectrums are a great idea, I'm gonna use that (I always lose my brickremover )

[ellerb]

I use this piece as a lever to remove tiles from baseplates:

http://www.peeron.com/inv/parts/4865

Ben

[Eilif]

Thanks folks,

Matn,

Brickremovers work great for plates, but I haven't been able to find a way to use them for tiles.

Ben,

that looks like a good solution. I assume you use the thiner edge to pry under the tiles?

[Endigo Vandane]

Removing tiles works in the exact same way as removing plates.

See this link.

I use it all the time.

[Admiral Blockbeard]

SNIP

GUITAR PICKS!! (aka Plectrums)

SNIP

wow i did this when i was a kid and totally forgot about it, (i played guitar for a year) thanks for reminding me!

Removing tiles works in the exact same way as removing plates.

See this link.

I use it all the time.

Hmm, i would have thought that if it was on tight and you have more tiles behind the one your trying to get off it would not work, must go and try this for myself! Thanks!

Regards Cpt. PB

[maiq the liar]

i personally think teeth and fingernails are effective.

[Mirandir]

wow i did this when i was a kid and totally forgot about it, (i played guitar for a year) thanks for reminding me!

Hmm, i would have thought that if it was on tight and you have more tiles behind the one your trying to get off it would not work, must go and try this for myself! Thanks!

Regards Cpt. PB

It actually works quite well. I picked down my beach house yesterday. And there the baseplate is full of 1x1 tiles. And that brickremover was, to my suprise, the absolutely best method to get 'em off. When you put on the brickremover like that It'll get pinned between the tile and the studs next to it. So when you turn the brickremover like in that animation it will force the edge of the tile upwards and it'll come off whithout complaint.

[Eilif]

Removing tiles works in the exact same way as removing plates.

See this link.

I use it all the time.

Oh my goodness, you're absolutely right! I just tried it and it works like a charm! I guess I assumed it wouldn't work with no studs. But we all know what happens when you assume...

I'm not sure which meathod I will be using, as I think the pick is a bit faster for me, but I loose things alot, and a Brick Separator is alot easier to keep track of on a table full of bricks than a guitar pick.

Thanks!

[Athos]

I've never had any problem with the brick separator... when I can find it...

Steve

[Erdbeereis]

I didn't know that tile could be removed with the separator as well!

Thanks a lot for posting that. I'll have to try the guitar pick as well.

[Millacol88]

Hmmmm. When I got my first tub of lego bricks when I was a kid, I didn't know what that brick seperator piece was for... I think I've lost it since then though so I usually use my finger nails.

[rriggs]

A few years back, a family member bought me a MegaBloks aircraft set which came with a nifty brick separator tool (I guess it was included to compensate for the poor fitting of MegaBloks pieces). Anyway, the set itself was quickly donated to a young nephew of mine but I hung onto the separator tool. It works really well with Lego and has a couple of pointy bits that work well with tiles.

Cheers

Rog

Edited July 13, 2008 by rriggs

[Dragonator]

I myself always use a brick-separator, however I think your idea with the guitar pick is very clever; I would never have thought of it!