LEGO used for other purposes than playing

[kolbjha]

I regularly use my USB mobile monitor stand made of Technic parts, especially on work travels. In meetings, people are amused by the fact that LEGO can be used for "serious" purposes.

Ok, it's not creative, it's ugly, simple and banal. But it's quite sturdy, adjustable, foldable, and it does its job.

Folded:

In use:

Now to the reason I started this topic: I am curious about what others have come up with using LEGO for other purposes than playing/MOCing.

Edited April 7, 2019 by kolbjha
Embedding pictures

[Josephiah]

We use it for prototyping stuff fairly often at work, especially for fast iteration  around mechanism design.

Complex hand tool mechanisms, an adjustable wind turbine blade, bits of a wheelchair, a folding table mechanism, even a new type of horse saddle...

(Unfortunately not stuff I can readily share as pictures, as they now form parts of our clients' IP!)

[suffocation]

I use it as an alternative to C₁₇H₁₇Cl₂N.

[fosamax]

Sertraline. Good alternative.

[deraven]

Pretty mundane, but I've used Lego for supports and shims for various items around the house.  Nothing that requires critical structural stability or anything, but out-of-site places that need a semi-permanent solution to stabilize or align a fixture- that kind of thing.  I've also done a few utilitarian items like kolbjha's stand to use for an iPad, and for properly aiming a projector that didn't have quite enough adjustability with its standard mount.  Lego is definitely useful stuff.  

[Samer]

The best use of LEGO is "real" applications. I once built a motorized handle that grips on a small bottle to effectively mix the eliquid I was making for my vaping. There is such handle that can be used with a drill but I couldn't find one in a local shop.

My kids built once a nice balance scale which can weigh stuff the old way.

[dr_spock]

Fixed a broken refrigerator door handle with a 2x8.  2x2 bricks worked well holding up my car's fender liner after the metal clips rusted away.   

[mocbuild101]

I've used Lego for many things, but most commonly for custom camera supports, such as the one that I use to film the intro for my YouTube videos (which let my usual camera tripod hold my phone), and another one that got it's own video. 

[Lipko]

Once I build a projector box for my wedding.The box worked fine (it had a slot for holding mobile phone, a mechanism for sweep on the screen and an adjusable/lockable cartridge to focus, adjustable legs, etc), but I couldn't find a proper lens for it. The lens itself would have been more expensive than a full, simple projector machine...

I'm a bit sorry I didn't take pictures because after adding cardboard to the box (to close all gaps for maximum performance) the thing looked like a space probe.

[MAB]

I've also built a small picavet style rig for holding an SJCAM so it could hang from a kite.

And more simple things around the house like hanging keys up on a 8x16 plate.

[Attika]

A few years back I've built a pair of scales, with 0.2 gramm accuracy. 

[powerwindows83]

i had the bearings fail in one of the little gears in my mountain bike derailleur and the gear came out. it turned out that the bearing ID/ODs were exactly the same as the 2 stud technic sleeves. i cut one to length (roughly 1.5 studs) and with a shot of oil it worked perfectly. a year or so later the chain caught a stick and the entire mechanism crumpled under the force i was putting on it, so i can confirm it worked at least that long

[agrof]

Long time no LEGO for me, but for explaining what kind of tool we need in our production, Technic was the obvious choice. Unfortunately not enough panels for nice appearance.

Edited April 16, 2019 by agrof

[Kaero]

I have builded a tea cooker from lego. However there are non-LEGO parts, but with LEGO mindstorms it could be done LEGO-pure (but expensive):

 

[Leif]

this is from a Swedish 80s heist movie, “Jönssonligan”

Lego at it’s best!

 

Edited April 27, 2019 by Leif

[Touc4nx]

Amazing 
I really like the mechanism to go up the stairs.

 

[Lasse D]

47 minutes ago, Leif said:

this is from a Swedish 80s heist movie, “Jönssonligan” 

Lego at it’s best!

 

Also seen in the original Danish movie: "Olsen-banden overgiver sig aldrig" from 1979

 

 

[Samer]

This is amazing!