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

[not-in-use-anymore]

I knew there was something wrong with my question earlier, because I already knew how to get plates out of a sea of tiles. What I should have asked is: How can I take tiles out of a sea of tiles without taking all of them out? I've tried other bricks, my fingers, a hammer(not really ), my mind...

[SlyOwl]

Razor blade as a lever?

Other than that, can't help you, unless you've got an industrial-strength vacuum pump at home!

[Fugazi]

Razor blade as a lever?

Other than that, can't help you, unless you've got an industrial-strength vacuum pump at home!

Or just pre-drill your base plates so that you can push from beneath

Actually, you probably should leave a few gaps in your 'sea of tiles' until you're sure of the final position of everything. There's no easy way out of this one!

[ziljin]

Any sort of stacking plates.

[Big Cam]

Awesome tips Legostein, there are a few in there I had not thought of and will be most useful.

[Matija]

Any sort of stacking plates.

Hm... you do know about the brick separator, right? Or did I misunderstand your problem?

[not-in-use-anymore]

Nevermind... A stack of plates shouldn't be too hard if you have a seperator.

[CMP]

Light Cover with Internal Bar / Bionicle Barraki Eye inside a Cone 1 x 1 or a Technic pin.

[not-in-use-anymore]

I think there was something on the last page or so that had to do with a 1x2 handle piece.

[SheepEater]

I could use pliers but it would damage the plastic.

[LegoCityMann]

I could use pliers but it would damage the plastic.

You should be able to use one of these with ease. They come in almost any Lego Game these days.

http://www.bricklink.com/catalogItem.asp?S=630-3

~LCM

[SheepEater]

Well, I don't have that new separator but thanks anyway, I managed to apply the same type of pressure by building myself a "tool" consisting of three angled connectors joined by a long pin, with a 4L axle in the middle connector.

[Phoxtane]

I managed to take a Jack-Stone era rim that only has the one pin hole for mounting to the vehicle frame and stick one of the Technic pins that's designed to put plates on Technic beams - that weird 1.5 unit long piece. Took me six years to figure out that my teeth could do the job...

[LEGO Historian]

Wow... thanks for all the tips folks....

From 1965 (when they were introduced) until the early 1970s ALL TILES (back then there were only 1x1, 1x2 and 2x2) were like the jumper plates... there was no lip at their base, unlike those since circa 1974...

So those were some of the worst pieces to take apart....

It was at some point in the early 1970s that TLG realized that they were not easy to remove... and if we have such problems with tiles and plates today.... image what it was like back then for children to remove them.... ARRGG!!

________________________________

On the flip side of the hardest pieces to take apart... how about the easiest to take apart??

From an "older" perspective... I would definitely say the 1x1 round bricks without the tapered base (1955-65). If you stacked them up... say 10 high.... they would not stay together... unless there was no wind and no one sneezed!!

That's one reason why they were remodeled in 1966 to the tapered base 1x1 rounds (solid stud).

[Runamuck]

Does anyone have any advice on how to get a stuck crash helmet out of a trash can? Unfortunately it’s the round part that is facing upwards, so there isn’t any good surface to get a grip on.

[JackJonespaw]

Does anyone have any advice on how to get a stuck crash helmet out of a trash can? Unfortunately it’s the round part that is facing upwards, so there isn’t any good surface to get a grip on.

When that sort of thing happens to me, I use a Lego spear. It's the thinnest piece I know. If there's space, just try to wedge the spear in there and pull upwards at an angle. That should turn it so you can see the hole.

[Fugazi]

Failing that, you might need to decide on which part you value more and drill the other one to push/pull it apart.

[Lego Otaku]

LXF file: http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/Lego-0taku/misc/impossible_2.lxf

Once you put that together, you can spend the next 100 years swearing every known foul word in over 600 languages, you will not be able to take it apart without destroying a piece.

[Clone OPatra]

Here's another that I once (stupidly) did, and I think is impossible to undo:

One of these:

Line this up in the little section for it, in front of the hole in the back of the above piece:

But instead of pushing in a 3L axle as you are supposed to do, push in a 2L:

And good luck getting that one out.

[prateek]

Here's another that I once (stupidly) did, and I think is impossible to undo:

I did that too!

[Vindicare]

That 1x1 plate on top the 1x1 round...pure evil.

[Aanchir]

LXF file: http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/Lego-0taku/misc/impossible_2.lxf

Once you put that together, you can spend the next 100 years swearing every known foul word in over 600 languages, you will not be able to take it apart without destroying a piece.

Incidentally, the one on the left could potentially be taken apart without necessarily having to destroy a piece... since the Technic bushings have grooves in them, you could carefully use a hobby knife to slowly push the axles out of the structure to the point where they can be pulled out by hand. The axle would likely be scratched, but still usable.

My dad had to resort to a similar tactic to remove an axle which became lodged in a BIONICLE part much like the gear in Clone O'Patra's example above, though a bit more complex Specifically, I attached a Y-joint to one of the back holes of a Toa Hordika torso using a blue Technic pin/axle, then foolishly locked it in place using a 2M Technic axle through one of the shoulder holes. Since there was still a 1/2M gap between the Y-joint and the shoulder hole, my dad was able to force the axle out and no pieces were lost. The gap in a Technic bushing is smaller and would be a lot more fiddly to exploit in this way, but I believe it could be done.

Edited July 5, 2012 by Aanchir

[Phoxtane]

Maybe a screw grabber would work? It's got three curved wires that spread out as you push on the top. You could be able to get at the the grooves in a 2L axle pin with that.

[Runamuck]

Thanks for the tips. I tried the spear thing and it at least made the helmet move about more, which helped me eventually shake the helmet out of the garbage can.

[JackJonespaw]

LXF file: http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/Lego-0taku/misc/impossible_2.lxf

Once you put that together, you can spend the next 100 years swearing every known foul word in over 600 languages, you will not be able to take it apart without destroying a piece.

Wow. How did you manage to make that?

Here's another that I once (stupidly) did, and I think is impossible to undo:

One of these:

Line this up in the little section for it, in front of the hole in the back of the above piece:

But instead of pushing in a 3L axle as you are supposed to do, push in a 2L:

And good luck getting that one out.

Good, I'm not the only one! I try once every week or so - for about seven years.