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 Building / Mecha / 1961
1960  |  1962
Subject: 
Re: Need help with leg joints!
Newsgroups: 
lugnet.build.mecha
Date: 
Wed, 3 Jan 2001 14:52:05 GMT
Viewed: 
1448 times
  
Jeff Johnston at sakura@mediaone.net wrote:

> > Jeff,
> > Usually you'll need to put a "stop" in the knee joint to keep it from
> > falling down.  Or maybe you could double or triple up on the click hinges
> > though I've found that this method gives only slightly more stability.
> 
> Right now I've got 2 hinges on each joint.  I thought that would be
> sufficient, but now I wonder if there's not some kind of weird torque going on
> - because I don't think the model is *that* heavy, and the hinges hold up
> stuff like the LoM mechs OK.

One thing you need to consider is that the LoM mecha have their center of
gravity almost directly above the click-hinges. They also don't really put
very much weight on the joints themselves. Building something with a
"chicken leg" design like the AT-ST will put lots of torque on the joint,
because basically you have the mecha's center of gravity at the end of a
lever that is attached to the click hinge.

To use one of my own as an example:

http://www.nwlink.com/~sandlin/lego/mecha/juggernaut/juggernaut1.html

I used stops on the click-hinges in the legs of the Juggernaut. The legs
were still poseable to a certain degree, but the stops made it possible to
balance the model and give it a fair amount of stability. The spring shocks
are non-functional... just for looks.

<snip>

> 
> > You could scrap the click hinges and use a different kind of joint.
> 
> I was pondering this, but I'm really not sure what other kinds of joints are
> possible.  Well, I did use the 2x4 hinge plate method in Dr. Cornelius'
> machine, for the feet - although I wonder if those hinges ever loosen up over
> time.  I guess I was looking for a bit more guidance on other possibilities
> from more experienced mechaheads...

There really aren't a whole lot of choices in this arena. I suppose if you
wanted, you could use Technic worm gears at the joints and then adjust the
legs manually, like Klaupacius did on his Dark Gundams.

HTH

~Mark "Muffin Head" Sandlin
--
Mark's Lego Creations
http://www.nwlink.com/~sandlin/lego



Message is in Reply To:
  Re: Need help with leg joints!
 
(...) Right now I've got 2 hinges on each joint. I thought that would be sufficient, but now I wonder if there's not some kind of weird torque going on - because I don't think the model is *that* heavy, and the hinges hold up stuff like the LoM (...) (26 years ago, 3-Jan-01, to lugnet.build.mecha)

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