[HELP] Generic Building Help Topic

[ukbajadave]

Quick question,  does anyone know the correct search term for powered up motors on pick a brick? I've tried obvious stuff like "powered" "motor" or "control" but I don't get any hits. Are motors and hubs actually available to buy separately from Lego?

[howitzer]

26 minutes ago, ukbajadave said:

Quick question,  does anyone know the correct search term for powered up motors on pick a brick? I've tried obvious stuff like "powered" "motor" or "control" but I don't get any hits. Are motors and hubs actually available to buy separately from Lego?

I don't think they are available from PaB, but instead they are listed among the sets. Go to lego.com and find the online store and then the theme Powered Up and you should find them among the sets which include PU components.

Much more expensive that way than finding them in Bricklink though.

[ukbajadave]

@howitzer Cheers for that, easy when you know how 

Motors are a bit pricy at the moment but I've picked them up before when they've been on sale. 

[Technic tango]

whats the best pneumatic tubing for lego swtichless lpe?
every "silicone" tubing ive tried hasnt been soft enough that going switchless is more efficient than switches

[R0Sch]

Couldn't find a post on EB regarding this excellent Technic gearing ratio calculator web tool created by Technic Brick Power. Maybe it will help with your next creations. I find the animation part very cool, as I miss a function in Studio to mesh the gears.

Also this gear meshing guide is very well explained:

In conclusion we need a 32 tooth gear to complete the ratio chart.

[Johnny1360]

Hope this is the right place for this question, no need for a new topic anyway.

So by now most of us are familiar with the correct way to align multiple universal joints, to avoid cavitation. 

Recently though I have been using more and more CV joints rather than U joints which got me to wondering. Is it important to line them up the same way as the U joints, or with CV joints, is it even necessary?

[howitzer]

11 minutes ago, Johnny1360 said:

Hope this is the right place for this question, no need for a new topic anyway.

So by now most of us are familiar with the correct way to align multiple universal joints, to avoid cavitation. 

Recently though I have been using more and more CV joints rather than U joints which got me to wondering. Is it important to line them up the same way as the U joints, or with CV joints, is it even necessary?

No, CV means constant velocity, which indicates that the turning rate of the output is identical to to the input. This is in contrast to U-joints where the output rotates slower in certain phases of rotation and faster in certain others, which necessitates correct alignment of several successive joints.

More info: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_joint

[Johnny1360]

Thanks that is as I thought, now I can quit obsessing over my CV joint arrangement, lol.

[NathanR]

Not strictly a technic question, but I thought maybe someone with experience of GBCs might be able to help. I'm trying to build a working hourglass sand timer out of Lego bricks, with pairs of 67950 3x6x6 half cylinders for each chamber and a 2x2 square opening between the top and bottom halves of the hourglass. I would have thought that any 1x1 element would fall freely through this setup, but everything just locks together in the top half of the hourglass and refuses to drain out.  I've tried 1x1 round plates, 1x1 round tiles, 32606 flower, 11609 star tile, 30153 jewel, and even technic 1/2 bushes (which worked well the first 2-3 tries, then they all started automatically stacking up into columns). Will these elements mesh together and block up anyway, no matter what size aperture? If the aperture is too small, then what size NxN hole is needed to ensure smooth flow of 1x1 particles?

(Also, are there any smaller Lego elements that I could try to use as "sand"?)

[howitzer]

3 hours ago, NathanR said:

Not strictly a technic question, but I thought maybe someone with experience of GBCs might be able to help. I'm trying to build a working hourglass sand timer out of Lego bricks, with pairs of 67950 3x6x6 half cylinders for each chamber and a 2x2 square opening between the top and bottom halves of the hourglass. I would have thought that any 1x1 element would fall freely through this setup, but everything just locks together in the top half of the hourglass and refuses to drain out.  I've tried 1x1 round plates, 1x1 round tiles, 32606 flower, 11609 star tile, 30153 jewel, and even technic 1/2 bushes (which worked well the first 2-3 tries, then they all started automatically stacking up into columns). Will these elements mesh together and block up anyway, no matter what size aperture? If the aperture is too small, then what size NxN hole is needed to ensure smooth flow of 1x1 particles?

(Also, are there any smaller Lego elements that I could try to use as "sand"?)

Increasing the aperture enough will surely allow the elements to flow freely, but that will of course affect the runtime. I believe part of the problem is the fact that Lego elements are not spherical but have many edges which get caught on each other and perhaps on the sides of the hourglass clogging the flow.

One other element that comes into mind which you could try would be the antenna base 4592 which is small and somewhat more spherical than the others you've tried. Then there's the minifig ring 11010 which has rounded edges so it might not stack up as easily as half-bushes. Gathering enough of those might get pretty expensive though.

[kopylov]

Hi there! I am looking for something of a hulf-stud thickness to secure following connection.

The ideal solution would be thin 2L liftarm, but it does not exist. So, I can use thin 5L liftarm which is way too long here

So, I am looking for something small half-stud thick to put between the red part and the black liftarm to limit their travel. Maybe you know something that fits here?

 

[TomSkippy]

Hey everyone. What do I do to get rid of the little half bushing gaps in this build?

Also, is there a better or simpler way of making this without adding more height/width?

[pleegwat]

Vertically stacked bricks with pin hole have their pin holes 1,2 studs apart (centre to centre). You want to put two plates between each to to get exactly 2 studs between the pin holes.

[2GodBDGlory]

5 hours ago, kopylov said:

Hi there! I am looking for something of a hulf-stud thickness to secure following connection.

The ideal solution would be thin 2L liftarm, but it does not exist. So, I can use thin 5L liftarm which is way too long here

So, I am looking for something small half-stud thick to put between the red part and the black liftarm to limit their travel. Maybe you know something that fits here?

 

A couple minifigure rings could work, or maybe you could make this part work:

Part 6643

[kopylov]

@2GodBDGlory thank you! I will try minifigure rings

[Technic tango]

Im trying to make a very compact 6 cylinder ross yoke engine with a 9x15 stud footprint for use in my moc, and im wondering if anyone could help me with a linkage for my valves. If you are familiar with the engine, im trying to use the centeral stabilizing rod to facilitate movement of the valves. Here is a detailed video of the situation on youtube:

Ross yoke video

[ZdenekBricks]

On 7/14/2023 at 10:47 PM, 2GodBDGlory said:

A couple minifigure rings could work, or maybe you could make this part work:

Part 6643

 

On 7/15/2023 at 1:07 AM, kopylov said:

@2GodBDGlory thank you! I will try minifigure rings

This is actually a brilliant idea. I ran into the same problem. Have you tried it? I am not sure if it's legal because there are these tiny stoppers around Technic pins, and ring doesn't seem to be able to deal with them. Another topic is the stability. Tiny liftarm would be of course much better.

[NathanR]

I have a question on Lego tolerances. When I build a ring using 4L axles and the #3 axle connector (157.5 degrees), Stud.io tells me the resultant 16-sided polygon has a diameter of 500.2 LDU. If I put 1x1 technic bricks with the +-shaped axle holes on four of the sides, can I safely attach them to a single baseplate without stressing the elements?

I've done this before with an octagon using 4L axles, #4 axle connector, and the side-to-side diameter was 241.4LDU, which worked (and has appeared in an official lego set) but was a bit tight. Unfortunately I don't have enough #3 connectors to test a hexadecagon.

Edited August 5, 2023 by NathanR

[anyUser]

11 hours ago, NathanR said:

.. When I build a ring using 4L axles and the #3 axle connector (157.5 degrees), ... can I safely attach them to a single baseplate without stressing the elements?

Don't have 1x1 bricks with axle hole at hand, used 2x1 with two pin holes instead:

I'd say there is (some) strain.

Edited August 6, 2023 by anyUser

[NathanR]

52 minutes ago, anyUser said:

I'd say there is (some) strain.

Ok, many thanks for checking. Guess it's back to the drawing board for me.

[Davidz90]

7 hours ago, NathanR said:

Guess it's back to the drawing board for me.

Considering the large radius, this amount of misalignment is negligible. I've built this assembly just now, works fine.

[Erik Leppen]

On 7/14/2023 at 5:11 PM, kopylov said:

Hi there! I am looking for something of a hulf-stud thickness to secure following connection.

The ideal solution would be thin 2L liftarm, but it does not exist. So, I can use thin 5L liftarm which is way too long here

So, I am looking for something small half-stud thick to put between the red part and the black liftarm to limit their travel. Maybe you know something that fits here?

Minifig Ring 1 x 1

Edited August 6, 2023 by Erik Leppen

[Berthil]

On 6/18/2023 at 4:40 PM, NathanR said:

Not strictly a technic question, but I thought maybe someone with experience of GBCs might be able to help. I'm trying to build a working hourglass sand timer out of Lego bricks, with pairs of 67950 3x6x6 half cylinders for each chamber and a 2x2 square opening between the top and bottom halves of the hourglass. I would have thought that any 1x1 element would fall freely through this setup, but everything just locks together in the top half of the hourglass and refuses to drain out.  I've tried 1x1 round plates, 1x1 round tiles, 32606 flower, 11609 star tile, 30153 jewel, and even technic 1/2 bushes (which worked well the first 2-3 tries, then they all started automatically stacking up into columns). Will these elements mesh together and block up anyway, no matter what size aperture? If the aperture is too small, then what size NxN hole is needed to ensure smooth flow of 1x1 particles?

You need an agitator. From bigger opening to smaller opening will 'funnel' and get stuck unless agitated, even GBC balls. But in such a small space also the agitator will probably get stuck. You're trying to let LEGO elements behave like a fluid but they are not.

Edited August 6, 2023 by Berthil

[cornn flaek]

So rn im building the Bugatti Chiron, and I have finished the first booklet, but have not merged the two parts yet. for the back part with the engine, I noticed that when I move the two wheels, the engine doesn't work. idk if something is wrong, or if im just tripping and it never worked like that.

[Lego Tom]

4 hours ago, cornn flaek said:

So rn im building the Bugatti Chiron, and I have finished the first booklet, but have not merged the two parts yet. for the back part with the engine, I noticed that when I move the two wheels, the engine doesn't work. idk if something is wrong, or if im just tripping and it never worked like that.

I've not built it but that doesn't sound right. Might take a look at this thread: https://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?/forums/topic/158657-42083-bugatti-chiron/&tab=comments#comment-2917739