Moz

This is something I really, really hope they change. Having 10+ outputs but only being able to run one or two motors at a time will get quite frustrating. Even 2A would be better, 5A ideal. The 6AA battery would cope, I think, but you might have to parallel up a few sets of wires at 5A. I wouldn't be surprised if the reason they haven't done it is that the current TLG LiIon pack can only put out 1A. Gutting a 6AA pack to make a LiIon pack is doable, but the 3S limit and central partition makes it annoying to fit the 3 cells in. The big win with this device is the 16V limit allowing you to put 4 LiIon cells in so the central partition wouldn't be a problem. It makes me wonder if we'd be better off with fewer outputs on a smaller device, even though the cost saving would be small. That way people with larger models could run more than one controller (one in the body, one in the turret, for example). I suspect that it would just involve changing the input regulator in the device, so hopefully that's something they will do. It would only cost a few cents extra.

This. I always think I have lots of something until I build something and run out. 3L axles are the worst, IMO, because they seem like such a useless little part when I'm designing then once I start building I mysteriously have to keep refilling the little compartment that holds them. For the road train I ended up buying 10k black 2 long pin friction just because it was easier than trying to work out how many I needed. Since they're cheap and I got a further price break for buying so many it worked out well. If only 5x11 panels were like that.

Thanks for that. It's blindingly obvious now I see it, I was focussed on controlling one of the pivot arms rather than just using a traditional steering linkage. Now all I have to do is work out how to get it into a smaller model. It looks as though most of my problems have come from working at the 8109 scale where I want 1/2 and 1/4 stud offsets.

I find it hard to build good geometries because TLG generally don't make the parts. Building a steered, driven wheel with the pivot anywhere near the contact patch is beyond me. And controlling a virtual pivot point wheel (non-driven, obviously) is very difficult. That's something I'd really like to see one of the experts take on :)

In numerical order: 2: 2 votes 6: 1 vote 8: 1 vote 13: 3 votes

Yes, but that comes in 25m or 50m spools and the 50m ones costs nearly $10 :) I have a few bits of Lego string on the original spools because it's not worth selling on Bricklink. If it's cheap people are suspicious (I presume), but if it's priced like everyone else's it's too expensive and no-one buys it.

That looks like a pretty accurate translation to studless - very cool. Also eerily reminiscent of the older 854 go-cart that I had when I was a kid.

In my experience this never happens. I think it's more that it's always easy to find another function to put into whatever space is there. My road train has huge amounts of space and very few functions, but somehow I managed to use almost all of it and ended up clipping one IR receiver in where I would rather have a fuel tank. The original plan of a two speed gearbox had to be modified due to lack of space...

I've posted in that thread, as have other Technic builders. There's a bit more on my web page. IMO Technic makes it even more important to have lots of small compartments and to sort by part rather than colour. Tackle boxes are the easy option, but once I saw the way old Meccano sets were boxed I was convinced, so I build my own trays based on that idea. It means I can have a row of bins scales to take 12 long axles then 10 long axles then 9 axles and so on. Which only gets annoying when TLG decide to release a new length. I simultaneously would love an 11 long axle but would be annoyed because it would mean rearranging my bins of bits to fit it in. On the other hand, people like Sariel apparently just use a box with loose parts in it for most of their building. Presumably with spare boxes of parts and some sorting of the larger stuff. FWIW I also have boxes like that (that hold parts sorted and bagged) so that when I run out of something I can just dig it out.

Fixed that for you. I know that tie-in toys are where the money is, but for a company that used to say "no war toys" and mean it they've totally changed tack. Was it pirates or cowboys that broke the mold? Whatever it was, most of Lego toys are now based on violence. Thankfully Technic is (so far) free from that particularly undesirable taint.

I've been doing this since long before I had an engineering degree. I mean, I was about 10 when I got my first "expert builder" set (the early small race car, so less Technic than a modern Desert Racers set). It comes down to time on task - sit down, build something. Think about what you did wrong and how to fix it. Rebuild. Test. Redesign. Repeat... If you can out your computer next to your build area that will help, but I think you really want to be building in CAD as well as Lego. Get the various LegoCAD programs, especially SR3D, and get used to modelling in those too. That way you can build with the "infinite" Legoin CAD and the real Lego. So you can store model designs in CAD rather than buying duplicates of everything. One of the key things for me is having both the last version and the next version in front of me. CAD helps with that. Sometimes it's a grind - I've spent probably 60 hours on the drive system for my current MOC and it still sucks. The problem is gearing down and transmitting power, without losing too much to friction - I want a slow movement, lots of torque, times six, and the friction is killing me. So I will keep redesigning it.

I've got photos of my setup online, it's basically tackle boxes and shelving,with the desk covered in a wooden version of the old Lego box-with-compartments: http://moz.net.nz/lego/storage.php I do that because I enjoy working with wood, and I prefer the slightly rounded edges I can put on the 3mm ply over having even more sharp-edged plastic. Also I can customise the sizes to exactly fit things like axles (there's two rows of axle bins, in order of size).

Remember that Cuusoo asks you how many you'd buy. So it's likely that each vote represents an average of 2 or more purchases. Plus there will be a few like me that say "I'll buy two, and if they work I'll buy at least 10", just because I can see myself using a lot of them. So it might only take 2000 or 3000 "votes" to get to 10000 orders.

I really have to get a camera with a smaller sensor, this thing where I have to use a giant tripod and 10s exposure to get more than 2-3cm DoF is starting to annoy me. A cheap second hand compact camera is overdue. Anyway, pics: and the older version in situ: The narrow version seems to be strong enough. Motor power is not the limit, it's the gearing. So 8:24 rather than 12:20 does help. But you can see in that last pic that this assembly already overhangs the LA underneath and looks a bit bulky. Making it wider will only make that worse. I'm updating my road train page now, so check here for more details.

Interesting. Going with your idea of making it a stud wider I've used 5x3 L liftarms on my design above with the 3x3 half width liftarms outside them so give a stronger structure and let me use the 8:24 gears for slower movement. It uses more pieces than your design and still has the 8:8 gears in the middle, but it uses cheaper pieces and moves more slowly which is useful. Now I have to decide whether it's worth the extra width in my project. My problem is that it's hard to support the unit on both sides, and they look bulky already.

OK, just looking on BrickLink and those mounts are $8 each. And there's a total of 7 for sale. Since I need 12 or 14 of whatever I use, that's not going to work. The cost also rules it out. I'll just have to eat 8T gears instead.

8043 recently, for sheer playability. It's one of the few sets where I've spent more than an hour just playing with the completed model, and even built a remote controlled dump truck to enhance the experience. And also for the amount of fiddling required to get it to actually work once it was "built" :) Way back when the go-cart was my first real Technic set (the tiny expert builder race car doesn't really count, you get same-size Town sets these days that have more Technic bits)). Because it was my only Technic I did so much more with that one set than I've done with a single set ever since. It was the chassis for everything from trucks to a sleigh.

Sometimes music playing, very occasionally a TV comedy if I'm in the mood, but usually I just have the whining of my girlfriend in the background. ( {grins} )

I've just built an assembly that consists of a large collection of liftarms side by side with 32 long axles through them. What I've noticed is that the lengths don't quite add up - I've got half a stud or so "left over". It's the liftarms being very slightly narrower than a brick. Is this common knowledge? The reason for using 32 axles as the longitudinal members is that there's a pile of 3x5 L beams going down to the pivot point on the axles, and it gets a little fiddly trying to get left and right drive into there (I'm using two XL motors, one left and one right, rather than differentials), so trying to also find space for axle joiners or whatever was tricky. The three units are 9 wide I'd need 11 long axles, which made it all a bit ugly. But it seems to work the way it is. If I need vertical reinforcement I can remove the 5 long liftarms that are in line with the suspension springs and support it there.

a: I only use Lego parts, but I do modify them occasionally. b: I try to be quite robust models, definitely able to be played with. Since I build Technic models that are usually powered, this is necessary otherwise when working they would leave a trail of parts behind :) c: I design a little in CAD, usually after prototyping some or all of the model in real life. Mostly I use CAD when I haven't got the parts, or not enough of them - I planned my tip truck bins this way, while deciding exactly what panels and slopes I needed. Then bought 240 1x5x6 red panels, 60 16x6 red plates and 30 16x2 plates. It would be quite expensive to change that design now. Since I build almost always with Technic parts, I sometimes cut axles either into lengths that are available from Lego, or more rarely into other lengths (my current project uses 3.5 long axles in the drive system). I am a bit of a colour purist, so I buy 12 long axles and cut them into 3/5/7/9 long axles, so I get the odd number lengths in black (3 and 5 long are available in black but rare and expensive). Before the odd number lengths were available I made my own that way. I also have a few black pin friction with the centre ring ground off so I can use them to hold a half width liftarm to each side of a full width one. Similar to the 3/4 long pin, but sticking out both sides. I also buy from Bricklink certain parts that are available in odd colours but are rare. Those I save up for and only use in the final assembly stages of a model. The other thing that happens with larger, powered Technic models is that parts get broken or worn. That's modifying the parts, but it's not something I like. Especially at shows where a model often runs continuously for hours or days, some parts inevitably wear out. In that situation I sometimes use silicon grease to reduce wear, but it's very hard to clean off parts so usually I end up throwing them out.

Looks interesting. I think I need to get some of those LA mounting blocks and have a play. It looks stronger, as well as simpler, albeit it'll move a lot faster. I wonder if it might be worth using two 8T cogs instead of the 24T on the motor. I'll have a play. thanks for the idea. Moz

Yes, it does seem weird in a way. But it works. I'm not sure I'd make custom plastic trays even if I could. And I spend a fair bit of time cursing the awkward sizing of the plastic trays that I do use... especially the "almost 16 long" larger compartments. So wood is all about being able to make it exactly the size that I want (and cursing myself when it turns out that what I want doesn't work )

Age: 42 3/4 Age you started building: 6 Country: Australia Occupation: software engineer Married:n Children:n Does your spouse or child/children build: n Do you have close friends who build: n Do you build together with your friends: kind of, go to MUGS meetings and occasionally build there Do you regularly attend Lego conventions:n How much money do you spend on Lego product a year: I don't work that way. When I'm actively building I spend $200-$2000/mo, otherwise little to nothing. In the past I've also sold Lego and MOCs, so the net spend is lower. Outside dark ages perhaps averaging $3000 a year. How much time do you spend building/playing a day: 1-2 hours Favored theme/themes: technic shading into model team. I buy other themes primarily for parts. Do you primarily collect retail sets, build MOCs, or both? : MOCs. I do build one of each of the Technic sets I buy, but rarely leave them assembled unless I'm using them as the basis for a MOC. Did you experience a "dark age": twice so far. Got sick of lugging 100kg of Lego around, sold it, 5 years later started buying it again. Bah! If yes, what age did you enter your "dark age": was active from age 6-15, 22-25 and 41+ Other hobbies (other toy collecting, sports, drawing etc.): building stuff with wood and metal, green activism, cycling, sex In your own words what makes Lego bricks so special: they're a cheap and compact way to build ideas/models out of reusable materials. To clarify that since other people don't seem to think Lego is cheap, I can easily spend $5000 over 2-3 months building a couple of bicycles, or $1000 buying a new power tool for my workshop. And I have stuff lying around that I don't use because it's not easy to take it apart but I don't want to throw it away and I haven't come up with a way to reuse it yet. By comparison spending a few thousand on Lego is cheap, especially since it lasts so long and is so reusable. May I PM you with a request for a personal interview: yes.

Went out today and bought some timber to make shelving. And more storage trays for Lego to put on the shelves. So now I have a desk covered in Technic in wooden trays that I've made, then shelves over that to hold plastic trays of parts. FWIW, I progress from a compartment with "parts like that" to several compartments with specific parts to specific parts split by colour. You can see the trays full of red bricks on the shelf plus the other with yellow/white and "other colours". The gap back right of the desk is intentional - it gives me somewhere to put extra parts and sub-assemblies while I work. Right now the big red bins I'm making use a lot of red 1x5x6 panels, so there's a bag of those there. Plus other stuff, like the IR remote control and battery boxes etc. When I'm working I push the right front tray further right to give me more space, but it gets moved left when I'm doing other things. Like, say, building shelves...

DLuders: thanks. Fixed. Doug72: yes, I need to buy more clutch gears and they're expensive. But necessary, I fear. At the moment it's quite practical for me to use the speed controller I have, one channel for steering and the other for this (set of) LA's. I'm hoping for some design ideas from the forum that will shake up my current setup because I can't see a better way but I'm sure there is one :) Erik Leppen: the 36T and 40T gears are wider than the 3 stud design can accommodate, I'd need to make it 5 studs wide and I'm very reluctant to do that. This is one place where I think a smaller, slower motor would be ideal :) In fact, TLG might even design the motor and a new LA bracket to work together, it's something that I can imagine working with their "smaller models, fewer parts" philosophy quite well. And it wouldn't be too hard, if there was a ~2mm groove in the motor it would fit one stud closer to the LA making the whole thing much easier (ie, a 12/20 or 8/24 would bridge the gap perfectly), and the squarish LA bracket is almost the right shape to do the task already. But a bracket that The attachment point for me is the axle hole bottom right of the top picture. Having it slightly offset doesn't affect my project. Or I could use 3/4 pins and attach to the black 3 long liftarms that have a round hole colinear with the LA.