Brick Separator

[Spyder]

I was just wondering, is the brick separator worth it's cost on lego.com? And if so, could someone kindly post pictures on how to use it?

[Lego12]

I actually got it for free in a Creator Lego set. I don't know if it was on purpose or if it was on accident, but I sometime use it. I wouldn't buy it though, unless you build lots of MOC's and you need help taking off the pieces.

[Are92 RoWar]

It is. If you want to find out how to use it, go onto http://www.LEGO.com/ and search Creator on the search engine.

Then find the the site, find the Creator's building tips, and find the brick seperator seperator. You will find how to use it.

[Ricecracker]

I definitely think it's worth it. I used to think it was a worthless piece of junk, until a friend got one for me. I now use it all the time, and think it is better to pay for one of those, than pay for replacements of scratched bricks .

[Siegfried]

Yes, I've actually go two more on order! There is a great site here with images on how to use it. Here's an example...

[CP5670]

I would not advise buying this thing or using it. See my post here for details.

[Siegfried]

I would not advise buying this thing or using it. See my post here for details.

I've never had any problems, but I only use them when I wish to avoid using my nails...

There are other, better ways to remove the plates that don't cause this damage though.

I'm curious! Could you please expand?

[Brickaholic]

I use a butter knife! Much more effective than those evil brick seperators.

[Spyder]

Thanks for the great replies guys! I will probably get it just to try it out and see what happens to the bricks. Thanks again! For now I like Brickaholics idea of using a butter knife. I just have to be gentle.

Edited March 1, 2009 by Spyder

[Brickaholic]

Your welcome. Just use the non-serated side.

[Dragonator]

In my opinion this is a worthy tool to own, as it is very helpful to the MOCer, especially one who uses a lot of tiles. I love my brick separator, it feels the pain my fingers would otherwise be feeling trying to remove 200+ 1x2 tiles from my stupid medieval roads. Sometimes I really hate cobbles.

I haven't really noticed this damage that CP5670 refers too, apart from when I tried removing an 8x8 brick using two brick-separators on one side, and this definitely caused damage to the brick. Not to be advised. I do however find them very useful with smaller bricks, plates and tiles, for such things as what Sinner illustrated.

[Derek]

For seperating plates, I actually use this little tool originally intended for popping pimples. While it souinds digusting, it works pretty well. But if they put the brick seperators back on S@H, I would definately put one in my next order...

EDIT: I just checked, they are on there! And only $1.69! What a bargain!

Edited March 1, 2009 by darthperson

[JINZONINGEN73]

I would not advise buying this thing or using it. See my post here for details.

YES.

Brickaholic Posted Yesterday, 09:37 PM

I use a butter knife! Much more effective than those evil brick seperators.

NO.

Me, I have no use for such devices, for my hands are mighty lobster claws of might.

Seriously, these things are dangerous.

MIGHTY.

[CP5670]

I'm curious! Could you please expand?

The key is to spread the pulling force over the whole brick instead of doing it all from one edge like the brick separator does. I keep a couple of removal tools (bricks) at hand for doing this. If you need to separate two plates, for example, it's much easier to get a grip on them by attaching a brick to one of them, removing the plates, and then removing the brick. There are also some pieces with a particularly strong grip on studs, like transparent 1x4 antennas and the Technic pin joiners, which work well for this too.

I haven't really noticed this damage that CP5670 refers too, apart from when I tried removing an 8x8 brick using two brick-separators on one side, and this definitely caused damage to the brick.

You can mainly notice it with plates. An extreme version of the kind of damage I'm talking about can be produced like this: take a 1x8 plate and put a 1x4 plate and a 1x4 tile on top of it, so that they fully cover it. If you remove the tile by lifting it up from the short edge, the other side of the tile will get crushed against the 1x4 plate and cause the 1x8 plate's stud to dig into the tile's plastic.

This is essentially what the brick separator does, although to a lesser degree. The damage adds up when you do it many times though.

[paul_delahaye]

I would not buy 1, I would make sure you buy 2, they are really good for separating two 2x4 plates or 2x8 plates, these damage easily if you use your teeth or some knives. let alone the damage to teeth,

For a £1 it's a no brainer!

[Dadster]

I use mine all the time and since my youngest (who has neither nails nor strength) has gotten her own lot of Lego to play with, I've gotten her one as well.

\

Oh yeah - I just wish there were other colors sold other than green...

Edited March 1, 2009 by Dadster

[Spyder]

On second thought, I might just buy two of 'em! There are some negative aspects of it, but if I use it wisely and carefully, the pros out way the cons. Thanks guys!

[drdavewatford]

Having been builing Lego for more than 30 years, I'd always thought that there was no need for a brick separator. I was recently in a Lego store, however, and bought one for £1 more out of curiosity that anything.

I REALLY wish I'd bought it sooner - it's become my number 1 essential item for removing stacked plates in particular (if you've ever tried disassembling the UCS Imperial Star Destroyer, Death Star etc. you'll know what I mean).

Be careful when using it to remove big plates, otherwise its a total no-brainer for £1 as a previous poster already said.

Dr. D.

[WetWired]

I was the same, I thought they were a useless waste of money.

But when in Berlin last year I went to Legoland Berlin and picked one up while there for the hell of it. Now I love it, can't live without it and it really helps getting those frustrating pieces apart without damaging them with fingernails or butter knives.

I don't see how you need 2 of them though? If I need any extra leverage I just stick a large 2x4 brick underneath the offending piece to extra support.

[drdavewatford]

"I don't see how you need 2 of them though? If I need any extra leverage I just stick a large 2x4 brick underneath the offending piece to extra support."

Agreed - for the really hard plate separation jobs, e.g. two 2 x 2 plates stuck one on top of another, attach the bottom plate to a standard 2 x 4 or 2 x 8 brick; for some reason it makes them easier to separate. Laws of physics or something !

Dr. D.

[Skinny Boy]

Definitely worth having. Its onl a few Dollars/Euros/Pounds isn't it? I don't remember buying mine, can't remember where it came from. But I use it all the time.

[CP5670]

Agreed - for the really hard plate separation jobs, e.g. two 2 x 2 plates stuck one on top of another, attach the bottom plate to a standard 2 x 4 or 2 x 8 brick; for some reason it makes them easier to separate. Laws of physics or something !

Dr. D.

It increases the contact area between your fingers and the bricks, allowing you to get a stronger grip on them without slipping. Without the brick, it's much easier for your fingers to slip if you hold one of the plates too tightly.

As I said earlier, this is my preferred method of removing plates too.

[Deepwoods]

Definately an essential tool for every builder's toolbox!

I've only ever seen them damage the newer more modern plates (softer & thinner plastic, I'll bet) & only if you try & pop long thin plates in one go rather than taking several loosinings along the entire length... older pre-turn-of-the-century stuff seems quite abit more stable. using two separators makes short work of stubron stacked 1x2 plates or when used side-by-each on 1x10s etc.

[Eilif]

For years, I was also one of the scoffers of separators. LEGO invented them shortly before my dark ages, and I never purchased a set that had one. However, when I came out of my dark ages, I started buying assorted lots of LEGO and ended up with one. I now have several, and now I consider it an indespensible tool for my building table.

I still use my fingers for almost all brick separation, but for the hard cases I'll use brick separators. I also find that it is usefull to have two for certain jobs. I use a guitar pick for removing tiles, but found out recently that a brick separator will remove tiles as well!

Finally, for those of you who don't like green separators, old dark grey separators are plentiful on bricklink, and the average price is only about 60 cents, with some less than 15 cents.

[Natman8000]

Oh yeah - I just wish there were other colors sold other than green...

Not true, it comes in grey in some sets.