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I use LEGO for teambuilding workshops. The pieces are used time and
time again. After a while they fit together rather loosely.
Do you know of any material / powder / whatever I can put on the pieces
to make them fit together more tightly?
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Pete Smith wrote:
> I use LEGO for teambuilding workshops. The pieces are used time and
> time again. After a while they fit together rather loosely.
This is normal.
> Do you know of any material / powder / whatever I can put on the pieces
> to make them fit together more tightly?
Actually, the preferred approach is to simply not rely on the strength
of the stud friction alone to give the model any strength. Even when
heavily used, the stud friction alone should be able to _hold_ your
model together, but if you want more strength than that, you should
invesigate adopting other design techniques which can make the model
more sturdy.
The bracing technique described in this paper is probably one of the
best ways to overcome the weakness of the studs:
http://www.usfirst.org/jrobtcs/ArtOfLEGO.pdf
Bottom line, do _not_ rely on the friction of studs to give your model
strength or stability. That's not really what they were intended for
anyways (since the bricks should be very easy to pull apart as well).
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In lugnet.general, Pete Smith wrote:
> I use LEGO for teambuilding workshops. The pieces are used time and
> time again. After a while they fit together rather loosely.
>
> Do you know of any material / powder / whatever I can put on the pieces
> to make them fit together more tightly?
Try washing the pieces in hand-hot (40 degC) water with normal washing powder.
Allow the pieces to soak overnight and rinse them in warm water the next day,
leaving them to dry on an old towel.
I've found that when I wash 2nd-hand Lego parts, they grip tighter than new
bricks but are conversely more difficult to separate. I think there is a slight
softening of the bricks that allows the moulding stresses to be released but
this causes the tightness afterwards.
This won't fix worn studs but it will help the undersides of bricks to grip
better. It will also get rid of all the germs that accumulate from all the
people who've used them!
Mark
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Mark Bellis wrote:
> In lugnet.general, Pete Smith wrote:
> > I use LEGO for teambuilding workshops. The pieces are used time and
> > time again. After a while they fit together rather loosely.
> >
> > Do you know of any material / powder / whatever I can put on the
> > pieces to make them fit together more tightly?
>
> Try washing the pieces in hand-hot (40 degC) water with normal
> washing powder. Allow the pieces to soak overnight and rinse them in
> warm water the next day, leaving them to dry on an old towel.
>
> I've found that when I wash 2nd-hand Lego parts, they grip tighter
> than new bricks but are conversely more difficult to separate. I
> think there is a slight softening of the bricks that allows the
> moulding stresses to be released but this causes the tightness
> afterwards.
Actually, cleaning is probably just removing oils (oil from people's
fingers, and oils from manufacturing). I have noticed this fact than freshly
cleaned LEGO holds tighter also, and suspect oil as the cause. I do know
that new LEGO does have some kind of chemical on it. When sorting brand new
LEGO, my hands start to itch. I have not had this itching problem when
sorting used LEGO that has been washed (though my hands have definitely felt
yucky after running them through used LEGO).
Frank
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In lugnet.general, Frank Filz wrote:
<snip>
>
> Actually, cleaning is probably just removing oils (oil from people's
> fingers, and oils from manufacturing). I have noticed this fact than freshly
> cleaned LEGO holds tighter also, and suspect oil as the cause. I do know
> that new LEGO does have some kind of chemical on it. When sorting brand new
> LEGO, my hands start to itch. I have not had this itching problem when
> sorting used LEGO that has been washed (though my hands have definitely felt
> yucky after running them through used LEGO).
>
> Frank
The oil is a releasing agent used in the molding process. You will notice it
especially on softer items like new tires. My guess is that the parts aren't
washed down during the trip from the molds to the packaging machines.
-Duane
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In lugnet.general, Frank Filz wrote:
> Actually, cleaning is probably just removing oils (oil from people's
> fingers, and oils from manufacturing). I have noticed this fact than freshly
> cleaned LEGO holds tighter also, and suspect oil as the cause. I do know
> that new LEGO does have some kind of chemical on it. When sorting brand new
> LEGO, my hands start to itch. I have not had this itching problem when
> sorting used LEGO that has been washed (though my hands have definitely felt
> yucky after running them through used LEGO).
I noted that some bricks I "obtained" from the LLW model shop gripped much
better than regular bricks. In fact they actually squeaked when pressed
together.
I asked Guy, the main man in the model shop, about it and he said he didn't
think they washed the mold release off the bricks for the model shops. They
definitely don't in sets, I have found you can polish it off with a soft cloth
buffing wheel. (Dremel sized)
He said he suspected that as the molds age, they drift off tolerance, thus the
bricks wall sections thicken which tightens the stud grip. He indicated that the
parks sometimes used lots from old molds before they are finally dumped.
However, I had a close look at the bricks and they look "clean" to me.
So I would suggest a simple experiment - clean a couple of sample "sloppily
fitting" bricks with dish soap, as has been suggested, and see if they improve.
JB
.... never eat pizza while building ....
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John Barnes wrote:
> In lugnet.general, Frank Filz wrote:
> > Actually, cleaning is probably just removing oils (oil from people's
> > fingers, and oils from manufacturing). I have noticed this fact than
> > freshly cleaned LEGO holds tighter also, and suspect oil as the
> > cause. I do know that new LEGO does have some kind of chemical on
> > it. When sorting brand new LEGO, my hands start to itch. I have not
> > had this itching problem when sorting used LEGO that has been washed
> > (though my hands have definitely felt yucky after running them
> > through used LEGO).
>
>
> I noted that some bricks I "obtained" from the LLW model shop gripped
> much better than regular bricks. In fact they actually squeaked when
> pressed together.
>
> I asked Guy, the main man in the model shop, about it and he said he
> didn't think they washed the mold release off the bricks for the
> model shops. They definitely don't in sets, I have found you can
> polish it off with a soft cloth buffing wheel. (Dremel sized)
Hmm, it's possible the bricks used by the model shops are washed. The oil
would also hinder the effectiveness of the glue.
It's also possible the oil comes from the handling machinery, and model shop
bricks certainly get less handling than set bricks since they come out of
the molds and just about right into K-8s.
Frank
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