One question for those who bought Effe's parts on shapeways : due to the "rough" and grainy surface of the parts, is there any risk to damage the Lego parts when you use them ? Did anyone of you notice that parts were particularly worn out when used with printed parts or is it totally risk-free for original Lego parts ? I hope I was clear enough.

egor, thank you very much for this vid and the credits to me. for the flexibility of the nylon at shapeways i have found this vid

leewan, the surface of the parts is not harder than the abs of Lego and even with lego only you have an abrasive problem.

http://www.technicbricks.com/2014/05/self-creating-new-parts.html

Reading some comments in the Jennifer Clark's Demag AC-50 Crane I was wondering how a big, "cheap", strong and of any length LA could be made, so I want to throw an idea.

Threaded rods are readily available and cheap. So some ¿M4? perhaps hide inside a few parts like this one...

.. and then a custom small part with pinhole threaded at one end of the rod and custom wormhole threaded at the other end of the rod could make the shaft?

And this part with wormgear threading instead of cross axle so the wormgear could slide trough it. It would need to turn, so some casing -the cylinder- would be necessary but that could be achieved with current parts... Of course a custom 3x3 part could be designed to make the cylinder more compact with half pin holes on the sides. to reinforce with a beam on one side.

I don't know if that would work, but something like that would allow any LA length as long as a suitable threaded rod were cut to appropiate length.

Edited May 20, 201410 yr by aol000xw

i think a metal M4 screw is not a good idea because it will harm any plastics to easy. or is your intention a metal M4 piece in a pistonrod?

i have ordered this piece to make a custom actuator and to check if it works. theoretical this would make a 32 studs long actuator possible.

why not cut a M5 screw thread in a 32m crossaxle?

edit:

update on the 24Z 2m

now with internals of 20Z 2m diff and 24z crowngear. i hope the crowngear works

diff in 4x6 von efferman auf Flickr

Edited May 20, 201410 yr by efferman

I was thinking In something like current LA

Done this way

So the only job of the metal rod is hold those parts in place. It could be hide with

And it would not damage any part as it does not move.

But part 3 needs to be done with custom parts, something similar to the one you linked but round and with matching grooves top and bottom so when stacked, the stack of parts turns as a whole.

Then a cylinder holding the stack can be done with parts like this for example

Or the more compact brick that I mentioned.... something roughly like...

Excuse my awful modelling skills.

As I said it is just an idea, don't know if its is worth further developing...

i will think about it

leewan, the surface of the parts is not harder than the abs of Lego and even with lego only you have an abrasive problem.

http://www.technicbr...-new-parts.html

Alright, thanks ! Well, that's what I thought, but I still wanted a confirmation.

Wouldn't the bottom fall out of the custom made LA. or the sides will collapse under weight .

As I picture it the cylinder container of the "wormgear housing" does not need to be perfectly round it can have 2x1 bricks with pinholes and longitudinal beams reinforcing it, so the base can be well supported and the cylinder be rigid enough, after all two concentric "cylinders" compose it.

Got the diff in finally was a little tight after getting it together but running it through with one of my brushless rc's loosened it up. I think the diff could handle a bit of torque might be awesome to use in some touring car builds!

and how do you think about the quality?

I had an idea today, a beam that has holes on alternating axes.

I could use one of these in my current moc for making tight corners. I think i'd need a 9L though. *

*Also i'm kind of a purist, but this thread seems like a lot of fun.

Edited May 23, 201410 yr by Bzroom

Tomorrow it will be online

When you design these parts, are they usable in LDD or any other LEGO cad by any chance?

i will think about it

I feel the quality of the parts is spot on like a lot of things i've ordered through shapeways the finish is abit rough but i'm curious to how the fitment would be with a polished set.

maybe someone can convert the file, then it should possible to use in mlcad

i have made a set of 3, 5, 7 and 9 holes. polished coral red fits nearly perfect to the lego red

maybe someone can convert the file, then it should possible to use in mlcad

i have made a set of 3, 5, 7 and 9 holes. polished coral red fits nearly perfect to the lego red

Awesome, Lego should really look into making some of these parts.

Also, reply 666, the most evil one

I've had many building moments where I could need such beams.

maybe someone can convert the file, then it should possible to use in mlcad

i have made a set of 3, 5, 7 and 9 holes. polished coral red fits nearly perfect to the lego red

Hmmm, I expect there will be some stiffness problems since there is almost no continuous material long any side.

maybe, but i think it will be strong enough, excepting someonte whant bulid a narrow craneboom with it.

a slide piece for crossaxles. the side with the tight crosshole has an reinforcment for a lego universal joint. the connector gives the possibility for a crossaxle movement of 6 studs in complete. four for travel, two for the guidance

and a 3L universal joint with a stronger crosshole part

and a U joint with slide function. 2 studs travel, one stud for guidance

Edited May 26, 201410 yr by efferman

Would it be possible to make a female cv connector with a female axle adapter on it compared to how it is now? This way you could use a 5.5 axle with stop if you wanted more axle to hold wheels on.

The opposite of this part with a longer crossaxle?

Edited May 26, 201410 yr by efferman

opposite part of that but with a female axle connector on the end like how the U-joints are where you can put axles on either side.

and what is the advantage to a universal joint?