I need Lego shavings for project, but how?

[Cloveapple]

I saw a cool MOC technique I wanted to try, but it requires Lego shavings. How would you do this?

Here's what I've tried:

* I (stupidly) tried shaving off bits with an exacto knife. I think you can all guesse how well that went. (Yup, I drew blood.)

* I tried using a sharp food-grater that was designed to grate hard parmesan cheese or orange peel zest. It worked safely, and cut shavings off, but they were so incredibly thin and tiny that they clung to everything with static electricity or else floated off in the air. So you couldn't either pick the shavings up or pour them into a container.

* I put some Lego round 1x1 tiles in a plastic bag and took a hammer to them. They flattened but did not fracture or break.

ETA: This thread shows the technique I want to try: http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=80574

Edited March 1, 2015 by Cloveapple

[Andy D]

Try a food processor or blender. Remember the guys advertising their blender (I forget which one) where they ask the question...

"Will it blend?" Well, maybe a blender is your best bet. Be sure to let us know...

Andy D

[jodawill]

What are you going to use them for? Crayon shavings might work too.

[Cloveapple]

Try a food processor or blender. Remember the guys advertising their blender (I forget which one) where they ask the question...

"Will it blend?" Well, maybe a blender is your best bet. Be sure to let us know...

Andy D

You truly hate my blender!

(Though this would be fun to try if I had an extra blender to get rid of.)

What are you going to use them for? Crayon shavings might work too.

I'm using them to make a melted-Lego paint that will fuse with the Lego underneath it. I'd use it on the minifig I'm customizing. ( See http://www.eurobrick...showtopic=80574 to see somebody else's experiments with chemically melted Lego paint.)

[Iria]

Andy D's suggestion about using a food processor or blender is pretty good (and safe!). I think the processor would work better as it has a sharp blade, so it can make fine cuts, while the blender would likely just break it into chunks if at all. If you do try a food processor I suggest adding ice cubes, unless you are planning to grind up a lot of bricks -- food processors tend to make the hard bits go flying if there isn't enough volume being processed. (Just use a strainer to get rid of the water afterwards and then let the shavings dry).

Another alternative* would be to use a small rotary tool (Dremel) with a small circular saw. *Though I don't recommend cutting LEGO with a Dremel unless you have experience using one, and preferably if you can clamp the LEGO down before you cut it, otherwise the outcome can be much more dangerous than your run-in with the xacto-knife.

Good luck with your project!

[Daedalus304]

Try a food processor or blender. Remember the guys advertising their blender (I forget which one) where they ask the question...

"Will it blend?" Well, maybe a blender is your best bet. Be sure to let us know...

Andy D

A Blendtec Blender? I dunno, given what it does to those iPhones I think all his LEGO would end up as a fine powder!

[Cloveapple]

Andy D's suggestion about using a food processor or blender is pretty good (and safe!). I think the processor would work better as it has a sharp blade, so it can make fine cuts, while the blender would likely just break it into chunks if at all. If you do try a food processor I suggest adding ice cubes, unless you are planning to grind up a lot of bricks -- food processors tend to make the hard bits go flying if there isn't enough volume being processed. (Just use a strainer to get rid of the water afterwards and then let the shavings dry).

Another alternative* would be to use a small rotary tool (Dremel) with a small circular saw. *Though I don't recommend cutting LEGO with a Dremel unless you have experience using one, and preferably if you can clamp the LEGO down before you cut it, otherwise the outcome can be much more dangerous than your run-in with the xacto-knife.

Good luck with your project!

Ooops. Sorry to Andy D. I thought you were kidding. I had no idea a blender or food processor could tackle something like this. Thanks for explaining, Iria. Unfortunately, I've never used a Dremel, so I won't try that. I think I have a friend with a food processor though.

Edited March 1, 2015 by Cloveapple

[raminator]

Why not use sandpaper?

[Cloveapple]

A Blendtec Blender? I dunno, given what it does to those iPhones I think all his LEGO would end up as a fine powder!

Holy.... that video is equal parts funny and disturbing. I had no idea a blender could do that.

Why not use sandpaper?

I don't understand how sandpaper would give me little shavings of Lego? Are you suggesting somehow collecting the Lego dust to use?

[Wardancer]

A Blender surely is the best option. If that is too expensive, I could imagine it also works with a Hand Blender (stick blender?). They often habe pretty sharp blades and some half bowl cover around it, which might keep the lego parts close to the blades when in use.

I also like the idea with the ice cubes. Shaken, not stirred!

[raminator]

I don't understand how sandpaper would give me little shavings of Lego? Are you suggesting somehow collecting the Lego dust to use?

If you disolve the shavings in aceton, why not using sandpaper then?

The powder should dissolve faster and in the end you get the same "product".

Also it´s a lot saver than using knifes + you don´t risk to ruin your kitchen-machines.

[Wardancer]

Maybe use thinner parts like antennae. Cutting an antenna with a strong knife (bread knife, meat knife) cannot be harder than cutting a carrot.

[dr_spock]

You could use a chisel on large piece held by a vise secured to a table. I believe you can get chisel blades for X-Acto if you don't have regular chisel. A small wood plane could probably work too. You could shave a 2x10 or 2x8.

If you're using an X-Acto knife, I think a 1x8 or 1x10 plate would be easier to shave and provide a enough space to grip with fingers and slide blade away from body and fingers...

Maybe better to hold the piece with a vise.

[Andy D]

Ooops. Sorry to Andy D. I thought you were kidding. I had no idea a blender or food processor could tackle something like this. Thanks for explaining, Iria. Unfortunately, I've never used a Dremel, so I won't try that. I think I have a friend with a food processor though.

Well... My response was rather tongue in cheek, equal parts serious and joking. But I did think that maybe a blender would work.

If you are concerned about ruining your good blender (I would be), you can probably find one at your local thrift store, flea market or garage sale to use.

IHTH

Andy D

[nine09nueve]

Actually I've tried this - get a big old (ie one you don't mind destroying) kitchen knife and a decent chopping board and then chop your element into little bits...

I used an old 2x1 yellow brick... and took little bits off at a time - and then dumped it into some acetone for a day or so... it worked fine but the "paint" I'd created wasn't very consistent or reproduce-able!

Wardancer taught me how to mix lego yellow for ear painting and it works much much better!

What are you using the mix for IF you don't mind us asking? (well me)

[MAB]

You don't need to blend or break parts. Just pop the parts into a very small amount of acetone in a jar and leave them. Even if they are large duplo bricks in a tiny amount of acetone, they will slowly dissolve and as they dissolve, the upper ends fall into the solvent. If you want a decent thickness paint, keep adding lego parts until no more dissolves. You should leave it (with a lid on) for a few days to make sure they have fully dissolved. Then just pull out any undissolved parts and use the remaining thick paint.

You'll be surprised how much lego you can dissolve in acetone. The first time I tried it I physically covered the parts in solvent, and the paint was much too weak. You probably only need 10% of that amount to dissolve it all and end up with a nice thick paint. Also the more acetone in it, the more that will evaporate off later, meaning longer drying time but also more shrinkage. Thsi is definitely a problem if you try to use it to mold parts. I did this even with the really thick stuff, and they still shrunk afterwards why they started drying.

[Cloveapple]

A Blender surely is the best option. If that is too expensive, I could imagine it also works with a Hand Blender (stick blender?). They often habe pretty sharp blades and some half bowl cover around it, which might keep the lego parts close to the blades when in use.

I also like the idea with the ice cubes. Shaken, not stirred!

I found a usable blender, but, alas I will probably never find out how Lego blends. MAB shared a blade-free method.

You could use a chisel on large piece held by a vise secured to a table. I believe you can get chisel blades for X-Acto if you don't have regular chisel. A small wood plane could probably work too. You could shave a 2x10 or 2x8.

If you're using an X-Acto knife, I think a 1x8 or 1x10 plate would be easier to shave and provide a enough space to grip with fingers and slide blade away from body and fingers...

Maybe better to hold the piece with a vise.

It looks like I m going to vault right over cutting up the Lego though and straight to the Po'lish Remover of Na'il Apparently I don't have to chop it up after all.

[Cloveapple]

What are you using the mix for IF you don't mind us asking? (well me)

I'm working on a light flesh minifig that needs to be balding. I'm planning to use light flesh Lego to give him a bald spot.

You don't need to blend or break parts. Just pop the parts into a very small amount of acetone in a jar and leave them. Even if they are large duplo bricks in a tiny amount of acetone, they will slowly dissolve and as they dissolve, the upper ends fall into the solvent. If you want a decent thickness paint, keep adding lego parts until no more dissolves. You should leave it (with a lid on) for a few days to make sure they have fully dissolved. Then just pull out any undissolved parts and use the remaining thick paint.

You'll be surprised how much lego you can dissolve in acetone. The first time I tried it I physically covered the parts in solvent, and the paint was much too weak. You probably only need 10% of that amount to dissolve it all and end up with a nice thick paint. Also the more acetone in it, the more that will evaporate off later, meaning longer drying time but also more shrinkage. Thsi is definitely a problem if you try to use it to mold parts. I did this even with the really thick stuff, and they still shrunk afterwards why they started drying.

This is awesome news.

[Str0ngbad]

MAB is right. The shaved piece was my first try, I later just threw whole bricks in. If you ever DID need to shave pieces for some other crazy reason, I actually just used scissors... held at a ninety degree angle and dragged across the side of the brick. I am really looking forward to seeing your project.

[Cloveapple]

MAB is right. The shaved piece was my first try, I later just threw whole bricks in. If you ever DID need to shave pieces for some other crazy reason, I actually just used scissors... held at a ninety degree angle and dragged across the side of the brick. I am really looking forward to seeing your project.

It's a bit of a mess right now. At least I don't think this version works. It's an attempt at Arthur Weasley's balding hairstyle from the Harry Potter books. It ought to be an exact color match for his face, but it doesn't look it. (Plus it just looks messy.) I'm definitely going to try the melted Lego approach again, but for this hair I might have to go another route.

Edited March 16, 2015 by Cloveapple

[MAB]

That doesn't look good at all. It looks like the dark orange is leeching into the painted flesh, which suggests that the "paint" wasn't thick enough so that the solvent is still dissolving the hair surface. It might be tough here, but painting the original surface white also helps show the correct colour, especially on a darker piece.

[Cloveapple]

That doesn't look good at all. It looks like the dark orange is leeching into the painted flesh, which suggests that the "paint" wasn't thick enough so that the solvent is still dissolving the hair surface. It might be tough here, but painting the original surface white also helps show the correct colour, especially on a darker piece.

"Doesn't look good" is a rather kind understatement! I hesitated to post the picture, but I figured seeing what could go wrong might be useful to somebody else.

The "paint" was as thick as I could get it and still apply it. I wonder if there is always a very slight color bleed when using acetone, and the contrast between the two colors just makes it more obvious? It also might be worse because I was filling in a groove I'd cut instead of painting up on top of the surface. That might slow the evaporation of acetone and cause more color blending. I think the idea of painting it white first might do the trick.

Edited March 20, 2015 by Cloveapple

[nine09nueve]

Not to be too picky but IF you were doing a bald spot wouldn't you remove some hair to cause a depression before you put the flesh colour in?

What you have here is more of a comb over.. Like the minifig is trying to hide his thinking hair...

[Cloveapple]

Not to be too picky but IF you were doing a bald spot wouldn't you remove some hair to cause a depression before you put the flesh colour in?

What you have here is more of a comb over.. Like the minifig is trying to hide his thinking hair...

I did cut away hair as deeply as I could without having the whole thing fracture. (You could actually see through some spots in the little trenches I'd dug, before I filled them with chemically melted light flesh Lego.)

I agree totally agree that this is a comb over, and *if* it had worked I had hoped it would look like a comb over used to hide a bald spot. I'd be ok with any type of balding, red-haired look. The books don't give an exact description, so I've got some room to experiment with different balding looks. This is the third approach I've tried, and obviously I'm not there yet.

[rodiziorobs]

I would suggest after painting to put the fig in an area with a strong air current--not strong enough to blow the paint off, of course. Maybe a fan on a low or medium setting. That would help evaporate the residual acetone quickly (rather than simply air drying) before it has a chance to cause the color to bleed.

Also painting it white first might make matters worse, as the acetone will likely dissolve the white almost immediately, depending on the kind of paint.

Edited April 3, 2015 by rodiziorobs