Bent Technic Parts

[CisFran]

I recently bought an incomplete technic model just for spare parts and found some parts that were bent / mis-shape

I took some pictures, the middle ones are the defective ones.

I put the 1x15 liftarm under the cabinet (to put some weight on) but after two days it's still the same.

Any ideas??Are they salvageable or not?

[Zerobricks]

Looks like soneone chewed on them. Maybe putting them in hot water so soften the plastic?

[Someonenamedjon]

If i were you i would take those curved liftarms and bend them slightly more to make things such as mud guards because you can't bend them back.

[CisFran]

For mudguards, you need to have two so you will need to bend another good one just to have a pair..

I haven't tried immersing it in hot water, but maybe it will work...hmmm

[Someonenamedjon]

For mudguards, you need to have two so you will need to bend another good one just to have a pair..

I haven't tried immersing it in hot water, but maybe it will work...hmmm

Oh, i thought all of them were slightly bent.

[TechnicMati]

francisalmario

These damaged bricks make me suspicious that maybe they are from some Lego Technic knockoff's set (or Lego mixed with a knockoff ?). Are You sure that You bought pure Lego Technic? I suppose that Lego's bricks have such quality and strenght that if You tried to bent them, You would rather break them than bent them. But I might be wrong about that.

[CisFran]

Yes they are original parts, not knock-offs. I compared these to the other parts and they have the same quality..Just bent, maybe heavily played..

[DLuders]

You could always "cook" your bricks at 375 degrees F. (190 degrees C.) to make a lampshade out of them!

[skylinedan]

I know what i would do with them, but you wont like it, LOL. I,d pitch them in the nearest trash can, but that's because I have lots of those pieces. I bought some stuff off Ebay last summer and the was a power puller set in with the 8421 I got. most all the yellow 16 long technic bricks were broke in half. Kids can be very destructive sometimes.

Dan

[THEBIGYINN]

Heat gun them ever so gently them immediately peg the heated piece to a cold piece so it sets in the correct way.

[OleBM]

I would save those parts for a rainy day (for a time when you actually need to cut or modify some pieces. That is, if you're info that sort of thing).

With a heatgun you might risk making the surface of the parts "bubbly". That tends to happen if you're not careful with the heat.

[The_Skirrid]

I straighten 3mm and ribbed tubes and soft axles from display models by heating with a hairdryer [not a hot air gun] and putting into a mould made of lego, or putting an axle down the middle. Flat plates get heated the same way, and stuck under a thick steel plate I use as a heatsink when welding, but a shedload of books will do. For beams I heat them for longer and them pin them with non-slotted pins to a frame made of studded beams, and then squish the whole lot for a few hours. I think I've thrown away three beams out of 4K or so. It does take practice, but you can get most Lego surprisingly hot before it deforms irretrievably. The trick is slow gentle heat, hot air guns heat the surface too fast,

Edited March 24, 2013 by The_Skirrid

[Someonenamedjon]

This sounds.. So dangerous.

[Boxerlego]

The 1x15 liftarm can be fixed by some heat treatment. The axle is ruined. Personally I would keep them.

[JunkstyleGio]

Easiest way to get the parts strait is to call the customerservice.

They probably will get you new parts.

[TasV]

I needed a dif. last week and found one in my Son's mountains of Lego (that we are slowly sorting out... such a huge job), and when I found it I noticed he had bent it. I boiled the kettle and then dunked the dif. in the boiling water for just a few minutes and whilst still hot pulled it out and bent it back into shape and held it in place until the piece was cool again. Worked very well. So I would try a heat treatment... if someone HAS been chewing on it, like someone above mentioned, it might help to sterilise it too My brother-in=law used to mould perspex sheets in the oven by heating then slowly and gently and allowing them to slump over a mould. You could heat these pieces slowly to about 100°C and apply some pressure to bend them back into place and allow them to cool while still clamped.

Edited March 25, 2013 by TasV

[CisFran]

I'm still saving them as I cannot afford to throw away any lego piece. the axle can be cut to form a much shorter piece. for the 1x15 liftarm, I'll try to heat it with a hairdryer... I also have some lego parts which were kinda chewed on / have some bite marks but i still save them...You wont know when you will need them

[cgg199]

A similar thing happened to one of my shock absorbers. It's now bent, because I left it in sunlight (stupid little child I was) and there was some pressure on it. I can only guess that it got heated up, and gradually bent itself.

[Meatman]

I doubt if you'll ever get them back to their original form.