Toastie

Hi Emanuele, very nice indeed! Very accurate and with much attention to detail. As always, that is ... and congratulations to decorating the front page, this is well deserved! All the best, Thorsten

When I need a piece/part TLG will never make (tailored electrical feedthroughs, LEGO enclosures for custom PCBs, and so on and so forth) I do cut, glue to make it fit. It is solely for my very own purpose - TLG's sold parts count on these is exactly >one<, and I believe a mold for producing that piece a a little over the top. Other than that: I go with the flow, as they say. Regards, Thorsten

Same here. Hmmm - is this what a large company does, when it runs out of good ideas for new products based on (way more than) half a century old principles? Do they make a new typeface based on their product? Or actions symbols. Or motion symbols ... in the end, the world will be rebuilt - using LEGO bricks. I am missing brick built symbols for feelings ... for starters, TLG could use #3176 or #39613 for true love ... would be a one-piece, no building necessary, hit-home symbol. No idea what's going on ... just guessing. Best, Thorsten

Thank you very much, Thomas! As said, you and Steffen made this happen. No joke or whatever. Well, I felt I have to. This is more than 90% of non-tolerated alternative brick usage - some call unilaterally "knock-offs" here on EB, regardless of actual source and source ethics - so I decided to show it here and then brag about it. The "12V monorail" is presented in the TrainTech forum, because that is made of 100% LEGO pieces. The wonderful train though - that TLG will never ever be capable of making nor wanting to make at any reasonable price - is inappropriate to show there. And so - I am here. And I am very glad you found this post and commented, as I admire your work very, very much! Thanks again and all the best, Thorsten

Well, inside the EU similar "things" (not exactly, as there are competing companies) apply. For sure, they will be totally complex and there are gazillions of rules and regulations. EU ^^, what do you expect. However, shipping is generally >much< cheaper within the EU than to GB. Brexit is Brexit, I guess. Best, Thorsten

Sure, that will work! BUT: Why not installing the full TLG EV3 software suite and have fun??? Just because some newbies or whatever that generation is called, call it old, outdated, whatever? These folks have certainly missed out I am a true boomer - and for me, an EV3 is a performance monster, hardly being challenged by many to the extent that it chokes or fails. There are some here on EB and maybe elsewhere (I am not elsewhere, so correct me if I am wrong) who came to that barrier, but mostly it is: "There is more. There is always more." as in PUp, Spike and Prime. Who cares? Do your EV3 experience. Enjoy it. Just get out the original software - it installs on modern computer hardware. Then play around. Once you feel that what TLG has provided is not enough - dive into alternatives, like pybricks. Make sure you have ideas for what you want to do with the EV3 power brick first. Then go nuts. Have fun and all the best, Thorsten

Hmmm - the question is: What is going on in the old tower? Memories come to life: Back in the days I spent some 8 weeks in Christchurch College in Oxford/GB to do some research in the physical chemistry lab. And my goodness, this college had some nice grass tennis courts!!! OK, back on track: Next to the entry doors to the old college was/is Tom Tower - and you simply don't want to know what a nice (party) place that was/is - back then in 1990 that is ;) Heehee - OK: You go down the road, into the beer store, stock up on beer and such, then just move on, stock up on - no, wait. Not smart: You gown the road, stock up on Tylenol, Aspirin, and this and that, and have still both hands free for getting some beer next door. Perfect! Now: What is going on in the tower??? Lovely building, very nice building techniques and: Thank you very, very much for sharing the instructions!!! Regards, Thorsten

The joke is not the text nor the picture, this is so 50's, it is the title. Finally, truth has come: It is "Legos" (ssss). Y'all were wrong. Happy Easter. Here is to feeling good

Yes: To get to the metal, the greasy stuff needs to go first. IPA is for that job; otherwise, the much more polar metal oxide removing ingredients can't do their job, as grease would not let them penetrate to the "problem". When you have cleaned the rails with good soap, a wash/rub with IPA is surely helping in removing remains of grease and such. I generally use this stuff for work on vintage plastic material as a first step; there is not a bit of non-polar stuff remaining on the surfaces. Also, your fingers/hands will be totally degreased , so it is better to wear some (cheap) gloves. Best, Thorsten

Very nice that this worked out. Now, I have said that here and there on EB - and I don't want to be regarded as wise-***. However, this may actually do a better job conduction-wise, than ethanol or IPA can do: They both remove greasy stuff, as does soap in any incarnation. There are differences; when you apply "plastic cleaner detergent" they will perform more powerful. In removing anything greasy. Conduction-wise, you want to get rid of oxides, sitting on the metal rail, that don't care about any kind of soap at all. Sure, removing greasy stuff will help. And if that is the sole layer affecting any conduction issues: Job done. Now, if there is more (there is always more ), then try metal oxide removal agents. WD40 is such a formulation, but it bites into the plastic as well, plus it adds residue, you simply don't want to have. There are many formulations used in electronics for doing just that: Remove oxide layers from metal, be it copper, or in case of 9V rails, nickel (alloys). One product that I use quite successfully, not only on 9V rails, but many vintage electronics projects is "Kontakt-60" spray. I am sure, there are many other products doing the exact same. Just to give you a hint (and yes, I am not affiliated with this company, not at all): https://www.reichelt.de/de/en/contact-60-100-ml-oxide-removing-contact-cleaner-kontakt-2010-p9462.html?PROVID=2788&amp;gad_source=1&amp;gclid=Cj0KCQjwzZmwBhD8ARIsAH4v1gU4Xb17IYrV9eIIqsGUDuvtqJf5gShwveDUt3liQWwnMU7YFokCOEMaAi8BEALw_wcB&amp;&amp;r=1 It simply works. All the best, Thorsten

Hehe ... the "th" - simply forget it: Try "Torsten". The "h" apparently comes from "Thor" - the vikings loved to give their names an edge ;) and the "sten" apparently comes from "stein" which translates to "rock". So my name refers to Thor's hammer's head, made from rock. Yeah. I run around in this world with a name referring to Thor's hammer. Thank you, my parents . In Northern Europe, "th" translates to "t" in the English language. In other words: >NO< reason to apologize!!! In contrast: I love your smile and laughter in the video - this is how it should be - always. All the best, T_orsten

Welcome to EB! That "whole" refers to the "plastic" of these parts, correct? Best, Thorsten

Evan, so cool! Thank you very much for putting this together! I am sure this will be helpful for people wandering back into the good ol' LEGO days. Need to put a pin in this; a video is, when well-made as yours, better than "where on earth did I put the schematics" All the best, and looking very much forward to other videos you will hopefully make! Thorsten

Well. And you have been resurrecting/fixing a beauty of a vintage motorbike you own for weeks and months - totally successfully! That is what economists do all the time, isn't it? "Chemists" live in perpetual chaos, as in chemistry, it never, never ever gets to the apparently clean and mathematical pathways your wife certainly appreciates - on the other hand, I am convinced, that she very well knows chaos, i.e., reality, as well in her professional activities! This is why I weaseled out into physical chemistry: We pretend that PChem has come up with rules and regulations (heavily borrowed from physics) to tame chemistry, to turn it into a natural science. And yes, in an "ideal world", it works very well. In "reality", it remains mostly trial and error. OK, first we do calculations and build on experience going back to medieval ages (or the other way around) - and then reality hits hard, again, and again. If it works out, PChemists claim that the power of math, physics, and chemistry models are making the world a better place. If not, we just tell people that the models were too tight, and coarse, but eventually, they will work out. Yeah. Maybe. Chemistry, in my opinion, is some sort of an "educated guessing frenzy". This is how I came up with the above recipe; it may or may not work. It did for me ... Please say hello to your wife and family! All the best, Thorsten

Hi Emanuele, in other words: Copper (Cu) was just getting old - as in "corroded". Better; Iron corrodes, i.e., it constantly deteriorates, as iron oxides need more space than iron metal and thus iron surfaces "grow" and become more susceptible to further oxygen/water "attack" - without end. Cu, in contrast, "ages" (it builds a stable, hard layer of oxides that closely attach to the metal surface; this is why some folks like to use Cu for gutters, water pipes and the like. They also like the color changes due to oxidation). Now, what I would do is thoroughly remove [mechanically, then "Waschbenzin" (mineral spirits), then 96% ethanol] the "protective grease", hell knows what it does after years. Then treat the Cu-surfaces with something like "Kontakt-60" spray (https://www.reichelt.de/de/en/contact-60-100-ml-oxide-removing-contact-cleaner-kontakt-2010-p9462.html?PROVID=2788&amp;gad_source=1&amp;gclid=Cj0KCQjwwYSwBhDcARIsAOyL0fiMZ5UaDUog29NeEJtjffjIxihCVE6mzL1x9NrTPCqUs-dDSP1C8J4aAp-3EALw_wcB&amp;&amp;r=1), but certainly >not< WD40, thoroughly wipe off any excess after a minute or so and do it over again, this time less thorough removal, maybe use a brush to create some sort of very thin "layer". Did this on many, many vintage resurrections (IBM XT and the like), always worked. The Cu-insulating layer is tough. Lastly, mechanical force may or may not work; in most cases, one ruins the original "spring"-loaded contact force. I'd do that as last resort attempt. Well, just my two cents! All the best and good luck, Thorsten P.S.: For the push buttons: Just use repeatedly Kontakt-60 spray.