Wasn't happy w/ ABS plumber's cement, used too much and melted the bricks. Ordinary Chinese superglue works pretty well on the bricks - 2-part epoxy works well gluing the MOC to a separate object, as the epoxy fills the remaining voids.

Steel threaded rods from the hardware store, coated w/ the Kragle work well as reinforcement running through Technic brick holes.

Any other tips, or just facepalm memes?

What, it's not a facepalm meme.

Personally, I view gluing bricks and adding metal parts as unneeded and counter productive. Unless, of course you are making something for permanent display. Part of what makes Lego so great is the ability to take things apart, and use them for other things. And, if you do it right, you don't even need glue to hold things together. In my opinion, gluing things to reinforce them is a sign of an incompetent builder. But, if you want to do any of this, I'm not going to stop you. This is just my opinion on the matter.

If I were to 'glue' my bricks together I would probably use one of the Shoegoo family of products sparingly, they hold strongly but are removable given enough effort and once removed don't leave any stain on the surfaces... It is however a bit thick :) It is kind of like rubber cement extreme.

Chris

I've happily done it for some weird bits that i'll never reuse, are 30 years old and won't work cracked - toothed connectors holding the control rockets on the 8480 for example.

Basic superglue works fine. The trick is being sparing and clean so it doesn't show.

I got so fed up with the detail bricks between the bogies on My Emerald night falling off I eventually had enough and glued them in with UHU. They were built exactly to instructions and now stay put. However UHU is not so strong that it cannot be dissasembled and cleaned off, probably just as well since I have since decided to MOD the tender in to a full height corridor type in which these bricks will no longer be used.

Edited January 15, 201510 yr by Heppeng

I agree with Heppeng, sometimes there are those annnoying peices that constantly fall off a model that have driven me to a rage and glue has been used...normal superglue works ok and is normally reversible if needed as I find it creates quite a brittle join.

When I was younger, I kragled a brick-built Santa Claus to make it into a permanent ornament. Didn't work too well, since the Kragle actually became brittle over time. Happily, I've been able to rebuild the set out of fresh bricks.

Normally I wouldn't Kragle something, but I was trying to make a permanent ornament there.

Personally, I view gluing bricks and adding metal parts as unneeded and counter productive. Unless, of course you are making something for permanent display. Part of what makes Lego so great is the ability to take things apart, and use them for other things. And, if you do it right, you don't even need glue to hold things together. In my opinion, gluing things to reinforce them is a sign of an incompetent builder. But, if you want to do any of this, I'm not going to stop you. This is just my opinion on the matter.

I agree with this. There are much better materials to use for making real objects than LEGO elements. Is the 'LEGO look' worth enough to off-balance the loss of quality in a functioning product that could be made out of metal, wood, fully-formed plastic, clay, etc.? I suppose some of those materials require much more skill and equipment to use than gluing/bolting LEGO parts, but still...

To each his own, though. You are free to do as you wish with what you have. The only time glue has come in contact with any of my parts was repairing broken elements from my childhood play.

What, it's not a facepalm meme.

Personally, I view gluing bricks and adding metal parts as unneeded and counter productive. Unless, of course you are making something for permanent display. Part of what makes Lego so great is the ability to take things apart, and use them for other things. And, if you do it right, you don't even need glue to hold things together. In my opinion, gluing things to reinforce them is a sign of an incompetent builder. But, if you want to do any of this, I'm not going to stop you. This is just my opinion on the matter.

In answer to Captain Picard's question, and your assertion, I found my plastic brick rifle stock didn't hold together when I fired it, unless I used Kragle. And when I tested the new version on a 12 ga shotgun, I found that even some of the bricks sheared under the recoil. That's when I went to metal inserts.

Thinking about which glue might work with LEGO is the same as thinking which spices might work if I were to cook a dog. I simply don't theorize about things that are not done in a mentally stable society.

Edited January 15, 201510 yr by Sven F

In answer to Captain Picard's question, and your assertion, I found my plastic brick rifle stock didn't hold together when I fired it, unless I used Kragle. And when I tested the new version on a 12 ga shotgun, I found that even some of the bricks sheared under the recoil. That's when I went to metal inserts.

Is there a particular reason you are making the stock out of LEGO pieces? Metal, solid 1-piece plastic (injected or even 3D printed), wood, etc. would make a far more reliable gun stock (as shown with your testing, both the failure of the clutch of LEGO pieces and the failure of the material itself).

Is there a particular reason you are making the stock out of LEGO pieces? Metal, solid 1-piece plastic (injected or even 3D printed), wood, etc. would make a far more reliable gun stock (as shown with your testing, both the failure of the clutch of LEGO pieces and the failure of the material itself).

Yes - no one makes an affordable thumbhole stock for ARs, and it's not particularly easy to make an AR thumbhole stock out of wood, due to needing to bore out the receiver extension hole so deeply. Wanting to reinforce an ABS plastic lower receiver, I've set out to build a thumbhole rifle stock out of plastic bricks. I've been sidetracked along the way to making a kit for children to build a child length stock, so their dad's rifle will fit them better, and they can participate in building a significant gun part that actually fits them. Now that I've reinforced the plastic bricks with metal rods, I'm rather confident that plastic bricks will suit for my purpose - my last test was with 24 rounds of 12 ga 3"(76mm) magnum 00 buckshot, before my shoulder elected to stop the test.

+1000000000000000000

Oh gods no! I came out of my Dark Ages to get away from the Kraggle. I was a regular plastic modeler and scratchbuilder and model railroader. Kragle Kragle everywhere along with paint and nasty paint and Kragle fumes. Hence the wife threatened my into a quiet hobby that did not change the carpet colors or permafix the furniture and pets to the floor. I model with Lego to take on the challenge of no Kraggle, no cutting, etc.

I've glued lego to wood before. I made my kids a castle diarama board, about 3' x 2'. The board was painted green and brown and I stuck plates in greys, greens, tans, browns, etc. down to the board at various points, to make one large buildable diarama. There are large spaces with no plates for free build or battles, carts, whatever takes their fancy and then areas of glued plates for building castles, forests, etc. It is ideal for play since it can be lifted and carried without the builds shifting. They tend to build what they want off the board, then attach them to the board. I also went to the trouble of making sure every stud is aligned and positioned perfectly, so in theory they could place plates in the blank areas and build all the way from one side of the board to the other seamlessly.

The only time I super-glue is when I'm working on a custom minifig and I need a connection that normally isn't there (wings and such before shoulder harnesses were common). When I do, I use super-glue GEL. It goes where you put it without running and melting your plastic.

I've found using the cheap super glue works well if you put just a dot on the top of the bump. Depending on what's attaching to what, I may put a line of glue on the surface in between the bumps - though you have to be careful not to get too close to the edge, so it doesn't seep out.

I glued this set:

I don't even remember why.... That was a lot of years ago

Edited January 18, 201510 yr by Robert8

Ah, glue......only to secure those string with studs to taps for fuel bowsers and wood glue at that.....it can be scraped off and the Lego part used again.

Dear goodness though never super glue......that's madness ! (start singing Our House.... )

I have only used it to repair broken pieces--for example, one of my kids broke the wheel clip on a motorcycle so the wheel would not stay in. I glued what remained of the clip back together and now the wheel stays in place and can still spin freely.

I can't imagine a situation in which I would glue normally functioning pieces together, though.

Why do you think there's such a cultural resistance to glue in the AFOL community? LEGO even used the Kragle as an evil super-weapon in the LEGO movie. But there's no laws against gluing LEGO - purely a cultural norm among AFOLers. Is it the expense of buying more bricks? Seen as cheating when MOCing?

I have only used glue once and it was on my Kre-O Star trek Enterprise because it wouldn't hold. Tarzan grip did the job fine.

once. One of the decorative clamshells on the roof of the PR would not stay closed for anything!

Why do you think there's such a cultural resistance to glue in the AFOL community? LEGO even used the Kragle as an evil super-weapon in the LEGO movie. But there's no laws against gluing LEGO - purely a cultural norm among AFOLers. Is it the expense of buying more bricks? Seen as cheating when MOCing?

I think it's because the nature of the toy is that it shouldn't need gluing, thus to do so is to contradict its design in most people's eyes.

Sure there are all sorts of crafters, modellers, and kitbashers who would have not problem with glue. By and large, however, it seems they live by a different set of rules than most FOLs, who prefer to see the system as a challenge to be mastered, where gluing constitutes cheating.

Also, Lego is made to be recycled, where every part can be endlessly repurposed as something else somewhere else. Glue negates that, tying pieces up permanently.

Basically, I think most people in the community could agree with the view of: if you are going to use glue, why bother using Lego?

Edited January 20, 201510 yr by rodiziorobs

Why do you think there's such a cultural resistance to glue in the AFOL community? LEGO even used the Kragle as an evil super-weapon in the LEGO movie. But there's no laws against gluing LEGO - purely a cultural norm among AFOLers. Is it the expense of buying more bricks? Seen as cheating when MOCing?

I think the reason there is cultural resistance to glue is that it defies a basic premise of LEGO that most MOCers accept: the challenge and excitement of the LEGO pieces as a building medium is due to the restrictions applied by utilizing parts TLG has made.

People generally consider MOCs amazing when pieces are utilized in interesting new ways. By using only parts TLG has produced, MOCers are forced to be creative with what is provided. An artist can use LEGO as an art medium by customizing to fit needs, but the most respect for great MOCs will be given to those who do not customize parts (generally speaking) because the builder overcame the restrictions by being creative in parts use. Once glue, cutting, painting, etc. are allowed, anything is possible and MOCs lose some of their charm as the builder did not overcome the restriction of parts in creative parts use. The main point of this is that if the restrictions of parts are removed, LEGO is not the best medium for making items that look realistic. Action figures are far more realistic than LEGO minifigures, for example.

Another aspect of LEGO is the ability to recycle parts in another MOC. A glued or otherwise customized part becomes very restricted for re-purposing.

I just noticed that Rodiziorobs is stating the same point: if you are using glue, why bother using LEGO? There are better mediums in most applications if the LEGO system of building is not necessary.