Parts that just can't be taken apart without swearing loudly

[Rick]

glad these hints are of some use. Thank you.

Thanks for the tips Chistopher. At this pace you could write a book on Lego de-assembly tricks soon. The whole presentation is great too and I like that you only use Lego, also for the removal instruments. For removing tiles from base plates, the 'screw driver' end of a minifig wrench has been suggested as wlel.

[allanp]

Oh good thread. The worst combiniation of parts I know of to take apart that was used in a set was this:

http://www.peeron.com/inv/parts/32017

pressed onto this piece:

http://www.peeron.com/inv/parts/32124

as found here:

http://www.peeron.com/scans/8466-1/81

Anybody found a good way of separating these pieces without using metal tools or damaging them?

[Superkalle]

I take my hat off for Legostein! I love those kinds of quality posts where great effort was put into explaining something.

And as icing on the cake, you're a microscale man. Respect!

[Captain Blackmoor]

I just experienced how frustrating it is to remove tiles from a sturdy baseplate. The thick baseplates.

I had to use a needle to remove them.

To remove a small 1x1 plate from a baseplate I place a 1x4 plate on the 1x1, pull it off and easily remove the 1x1 from the 1x4.

Nice topic!

[Legostein]

Hello again!

Let me assure that it's not my intention to hijack this topic. I took this effort as a special tribute to this great community here.

Anybody found a good way of separating these pieces without using metal tools or damaging them?

Ha! This is a really tough one! After some time of testing combinations, I'd like to propose a possible solution to you.

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Separating a TECHNIC® liftarm from TECHNIC® 1 x X plates:

Here we can use axles with stud at one end. The stud will fit into the liftarm. Be sure to use as many axles with stud as possible. Only together they're strong enough and provide enough grip for the following procedure.

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Have a great sunday!

~ Christopher

Edited March 7, 2010 by Legostein

[Matija]

Nice tip for the panels to take off handle bases, thanks!

My worst combination (I think someone already mentioned it) is a 4L "lightsabre" bar put into something like a technic half-pin. Once it took me really a lot of time, nerves, and force to take it out :/ The problem is that those bars (and possibly pins also) are made of the same material as transparent bricks (polycarbonate?), and taking apart 2 parts with that material is a hell...

[Zorbas]

Wow, Chris, your posts were excellent and very useful!

Thanks friend!

[samurai-turtle]

I think these slopes back to back are bad enough to take apart, but put them on a 2x2 Plate and it comes near impossible to get apart. If any one has a way to get that apart I would like to see it.

[Legostein]

I think these slopes back to back are bad enough to take apart, but put them on a 2x2 Plate and it comes near impossible to get apart. If any one has a way to get that apart I would like to see it.

Hello!

The halberd could help again here.

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Dividing two triple slopes:

The gap between the triple slopes is narrow, but wide enough that a halberd can be placed on top. Slight pressure from top will divide them.

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Hope it works for you.

Cheers,

~ Christopher

[allanp]

Hello again!

Let me assure that it's not my intention to hijack this topic. I took this effort as a special tribute to this great community here.

Ha! This is a really tough one! After some time of testing combinations, I'd like to propose a possible solution to you.

--------------------

Separating a TECHNIC® liftarm from TECHNIC® 1 x X plates:

Here we can use axles with stud at one end. The stud will fit into the liftarm. Be sure to use as many axles with stud as possible. Only together they're strong enough and provide enough grip for the following procedure.

Have a great sunday!

~ Christopher

Wow thankyou very much, that's ingeneous! I love the pictures they help alot, again thankyou

[SlyOwl]

Mf top hat stuck inside a barrel.

The detachable end of the old flex tubes over the narrow end of a sextant.

Old style skeleton arm inside 1x2x3 slope.

Red connector from old style plate hinges inside tube on a brick.

I also once built a technically impossible thing with technic, so that no piece could be taken off legitimately - lots of use of perpendicular bracing. I had to bend a couple of pieces to take it apart.

And as with others, a 1x1 cone and lightsabre bar.

[MarcusV3]

This piece with most things that have a hole in them It can be done sometimes by twisting while pulling but I still have a bunch of them stuck in places thanks to space police!

[CP5670]

Ha! This is a really tough one! default_satisfied.gif After some time of testing combinations, I'd like to propose a possible solution to you. default_classic.gif

Great idea. I had two of these assemblies from 8448 that I couldn't separate for many years. I did something similar to this last year to finally remove the pieces.

Do you know of a way to separate these pieces? This setup is used in several SP3 sets. I mentioned earlier that you can sometimes remove them with the antenna/liftarm method, but that only sometimes works since the stud pins have smaller "lips" than friction pins and don't get a good grip on liftarms.

[SlyOwl]

Bar up the middle, pull down on the 1/2pin? A lightsabre blade may get stuck, so I would use a metal bolt, so you've got a good head to push against and it doesn't cause another problem, providing it's thin enough.

[Legostein]

Do you know of a way to separate these pieces? This setup is used in several SP3 sets. I mentioned earlier that you can sometimes remove them with the antenna/liftarm method, but that only sometimes works since the stud pins have smaller "lips" than friction pins and don't get a good grip on liftarms.

Until I finally pushed one of those bulb covers with bar into a TECHNIC® half pin I couldn't believe they really stuck that hard together. But they do! And how they do! Oh my!

Bar up the middle, pull down on the 1/2pin? A lightsabre blade may get stuck, so I would use a metal bolt, so you've got a good head to push against and it doesn't cause another problem, providing it's thin enough.

The problem is that the bar of the bulb cover is so long that no other bar gets grip in the loose end of the TECHNIC® half pin. And you would really pull very hard with an iron grip of your fingers to get it off. Let other bricks help us.

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Getting the bulb cover with bar off again from the TECHNIC® half pin:

The bar in the bulb is not the problem alone. When the outer lip of the bulb starts to move over the stud you have to push really hard to get the bulb over the stud. Once done, however, they stick very strong to each other. We have to find a way to fix the bulb from 4 sides...

We need another bulb with bar to help us.

Stuck them into the tile with handle as shown below.

Hold the handle with one hand, the rotate gently the TECHNIC® half pin (in one direction only) ...

... until it comes off.

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This is by the way, a nice building technique as well. It's not yet that well-known that two bulbs fit nicely into the tile with handle. Here's an example I built a while back. The Star Trek Deep Space Nine "Runabout" which brought me to the solution of the problem above.

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With that I'd like to say goodbye for this week. Real life starts very soon, and unfortunately I won't be back until next week-end. I hope to have helped you all with the last 50 images.

See you soon!

~ Christopher

Edited March 7, 2010 by Legostein

[samurai-turtle]

Thanks for the pictures. I think it will help any one else with 7036 Dwarves' Mine if you look at the doors that is the exact combination on them. But I wonder if it would dent the halberd it looks their is a possible for that? (If their is I guess I would just use an older one that all ready has dents on it.)

[CP5670]

Getting the bulb cover with bar off again from the TECHNIC® half pin:

The bar in the bulb is not the problem alone. When the outer lip of the bulb starts to move over the stud you have to push really hard to get the bulb over the stud. Once done, however, they stick very strong to each other. default_classic.gif We have to find a way to fix the bulb from 4 sides...

That's a really clever idea, but I tried it out on a few of mine earlier today and was only able to remove some of them that way. From what I can see, the trans-blue ones have a noticeably stronger grip than the trans-red ones. Not sure how the other colors compare. Still, thanks for taking the time to post all this.

There is actually one alternative I found that is a slight variation of what I mentioned earlier, although it's still not a perfect solution. You can put the pin into a Technic brick, stick a 1x4 antenna into the other side of the pin, and bend the antenna to the side. Even though the antenna is not held in place, this actually gives the pin's lip a surprisingly good grip on the Technic hole. You can then push against the Technic brick to remove the bulb.

[Whittleberry]

I just center a 1x2 brick over it and tilt while pressing down. Never had a problem getting one to pop out.

Ah, thanks for that Shadows! I'll remember that for next time

EDIT: Thanks for your nice explanations Chris! I've learned quite a bit. I gotta get me a special halberd for taking my creations apart!

Edited March 9, 2010 by Whittleberry

[Thee Pirate]

I goofed up by attaching this piece in the middle of a plate for a nice little patch of grass. Next time, I'll do it on a seam.

[awesomebrick]

A helmet in a bin/thrashcan is impossible to get out without making a hole

[Rufus]

The parts I hate separating are hinges from hinge-bricks .

It's not that it's particularly difficult, just makes a really nasty 'don't break me!' noise when you do

[Aanchir]

The parts I hate separating are hinges from hinge-bricks .

It's not that it's particularly difficult, just makes a really nasty 'don't break me!' noise when you do

I know what you're talking about. >.< Drives me crazy sometimes, especially since I have ones of those parts that have broken (although usually out of carelessness rather than design flimsiness).

[antp]

I never had problems with these hinge, but I understand what you mean as I feel the same with 4275/4276 :

(and I already have one or two of these broken)

[Matija]

(and I already have one or two of these broken)

Oh... never found these to be a problem. But the ones before, totally.

[VBBN]

Quck tip for those who only own one brick seperator and have very tight lego bits in a similar configuration as this...

(Add the stuck pieces on a plate, and add a larger plate next to it. In this example, you can see the 4x4 as the larger plate.)

Apply heavy pressure to the back of the seperator where it touches the plate.

I know that this is one of those things that can make you swear loudly if you ony have one seperater,so there you go.