Tools you use

[nerdsforprez]

I have "borrowed" one from my wife. It works very well when it comes to remove dust from models.

Lol......unexpected. Well, I guess it does say "professional" on it. Which adequately describes your models........

[Captainowie]

I have a pair of rubber-tipped pliers that I got from a hobby store. They're pretty crappy, so I'm on the lookout for a replacement.

I also have a couple of paperclips that I've bent into interesting shapes (useful for helping to thread a chain through a bunch of gears, or hook a rubber band onto its pulley in a tight spot), and a 12L axle with its end sharpened just a little (great for pushing axles through cross-holes - you don't have to get it in the exact orientation first).

Edited August 16, 2015 by Captainowie

[JohnBS]

Hi,

One of the "tools" I have found very useful is hydrogen peroxide. After a scrub with an old toothbrush in warm soapy water, a soak for a few minutes in dilute hydrogen peroxide will do wonders for discoloured old white, light grey and yellow bricks.

For example, I have just bought a fairly grubby second-hand set of the Supercar model 8880, largely on the strength of Blakbird's elegiac review in Technopedia. I dismantled and cleaned all the bits and, despite its twenty-year age, all, including the white interior, now looks as good as new. A great design and a lovely complex build.

Other tools that I use are finger nail buffing pads, great for getting rid of the raised bits on bricks that have been chewed by the dog (or by the kids) and metal polish for bringing a shine back to "tired" bricks.

We'll say nothing about the razor saw or the ABS solvent adhesive lurking in the bottom drawer.

John

[Edwin Korstanje]

I have "borrowed" one from my wife. It works very well when it comes to remove dust from models.

This is also mine favorit tool to

And this one when mine moc's are to big for transport

[grum64]

This is also mine favorit tool to

And this one when mine moc's are to big for transport

:laugh:

[Edwin Korstanje]

When it's good for transport i need after a lot of

Edited August 19, 2015 by VFracingteam

[JJ2]

I......I don't know what to say (Insert evil voice) THE KRAGLE!!!!!

[Geekphysique]

99% of the time I use my hands, or other Lego pieces to separate bricks/pins.

On rare occasion I use my surgical steel tools I use for aquascaping my aquariums. I have several strange curved forceps, tweezers, or long slender scissors that come in handy for cutting string in weird places.

Edited August 20, 2015 by Geekphysique

[Block_Smarts Lego Technic]

The proven method.

I did that once and I was like, EWW Legos taste really bad!

[N-4K0]

I used my teeth before and I may have broken small bits off some of them because of it

[Andy D]

Many of the tools mentioned here are great, and I use many of them, but...

I have been having some issues with my back and I just discovered that a reacher- grabber is a wonderful way to retrieve dropped pieces with no pain. I can even retrieve a 1x1 with it.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00THEDK0C?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00

Best new tool in my arsenal...

Andy D

[Vectormatic]

So far just my hands and other lego pieces (discovered yesterday that an easy way to push out an axle from a hard to reach place is to put an axle pin in a lift-arm for a very good tool)

As for dusting, i bought a can of compressed air to clean out a laptop a while back, turns out its awesome for lego-dusting too (or inflating a bike tire when your pump is shitty and the valve wont cooperate), they are expensive though, so i plan to get a smallish compressor sometime soon

[Dafgek81]

Hi,

One of the "tools" I have found very useful is hydrogen peroxide. After a scrub with an old toothbrush in warm soapy water, a soak for a few minutes in dilute hydrogen peroxide will do wonders for discoloured old white, light grey and yellow bricks.

For example, I have just bought a fairly grubby second-hand set of the Supercar model 8880, largely on the strength of Blakbird's elegiac review in Technopedia. I dismantled and cleaned all the bits and, despite its twenty-year age, all, including the white interior, now looks as good as new. A great design and a lovely complex build.

Other tools that I use are finger nail buffing pads, great for getting rid of the raised bits on bricks that have been chewed by the dog (or by the kids) and metal polish for bringing a shine back to "tired" bricks.

We'll say nothing about the razor saw or the ABS solvent adhesive lurking in the bottom drawer.

John

How much do you dilute the hydrogen dioxide with water?

I saw several percentages in bottles for sale in we shops, up till 35%.

[JohnBS]

How much do you dilute the hydrogen dioxide with water?

I saw several percentages in bottles for sale in we shops, up till 35%.

@Dafgek81

Over the counter hydrogen peroxide in the UK is usually only available at up to 9% dilution. I dilute with water to something like 3% H202. I don't think the precise dilution is crucial, a stronger mix will make the bleaching quicker and I haven't noticed any adverse affects.

John

[M_longer]

How much do you dilute the hydrogen dioxide with water?

I saw several percentages in bottles for sale in we shops, up till 35%.

Please note that whitening effect is not permanent.

I have used 30% hydrogen dioxide on 8880 wheels and they turned tan again.

This is how my wheels looked before the process:

And after:

After two years they started to become yellowish tan again, kept in a box, without exposing to sun.

[PeterF]

White has become quite a popular technic colour again. Is there any reason to think that these new white parts will age better than e.g. the 8880 wheels? Or will e.g. the cargo plane and arocs cab become just as yellow/tan in 10-20 years? (How long did it actually take for the 8880 wheels to discolour so much?)

[doug72]

A small LED torch to look for parts that fallen on the carpet below my work table / computer desk !!

[Boxerlego]

Recently I have been using a Drill Press for my LEGO project. Tho the most important tool I needed for the drill press was a V-block which I made that out of LEGO in order to hold the PVC tube. What else can I say, it works.

Drill Press LEGO V-block by boxerlego, on Flickr

Edited September 17, 2015 by Boxerlego

[oracid]

Recently I have been using a Drill Press for my LEGO project. Tho the most important tool I needed for the drill press was a V-block which I made that out of LEGO in order to hold the PVC tube. What else can I say, it works.

I am excited to see what you're doing.

[Vectormatic]

White has become quite a popular technic colour again. Is there any reason to think that these new white parts will age better than e.g. the 8880 wheels? Or will e.g. the cargo plane and arocs cab become just as yellow/tan in 10-20 years? (How long did it actually take for the 8880 wheels to discolour so much?)

Anecdotal off course, but my 8880 wheels havent discoloured that bad (compared to the pics here), kept in a box in the attic mostly. Most white parts of that age in my collection have yellowed a bit though

And i do hope current white parts dont discolour with age, id hate for my 42039 and 42000 (and other mocs/mods with white parts) to degrade :(

Maybe i should invest in loads of panels/liftarms in other colours to re-color my white models when the time comes..

[JM1971]

For those pieces that won't separate.

[Boxerlego]

I am excited to see what you're doing.

Awesome! I will tell you what I'm doing. I'm making a magnet rotor. I plan to use these hardware parts in the picture below and build a wheel from them, Then after that the next step it will become a magnet rotor. You can see more of what I'm doing at this link here (Link: http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=107703&st=50#entry2318007 ) I will post more about this over the weekend. I got one magnet rotor already completed I'm working on the second magnet rotor build now.

Magnet Rotor Hardware Parts by boxerlego, on Flickr

[oracid]

Oh yes, I am following this topic, I did not do the link.

I am looking forward to the result !

[Alien]

aaaa love this topic.

Barman on bricklink has created two pin removal tools.

http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=392178

and

http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=392179

I use variations of this to accomplish the same if pins are stubborn.

Also use blunt knifes to split wheel hubs if I need to. crowkillers method:

Edited September 18, 2015 by Alien

[Alegomind]

I use a dotter (a tools with doulbe small tip used for make-up) and a nipper for remove and move small pieces