Jump to content

RohanBeckett

Eurobricks Knights
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    811

  • Joined

  • Last visited

 Content Type 

Everything posted by RohanBeckett

  1. RohanBeckett
    I usually bring a small collection of spares... axles.. gears, pins. I also bring bricks/plates/panels - sometimes balls start spilling off the edge of a module, and you need a way to block it off Depending on your modules, if they are all built from others' ideas/instructions, they may be pretty reliable If they are your own creations, only you will know where they fail - Hopefully you've run your whole collection for several hours non-stop.. this will give a GOOD indication of where modules spill balls, jam, or otherwise fail. Always good to have a spare motor. I highly recommend building modules, or modifying them so that the motor can be quickly swapped out. I very much dislike modules where the motor is built-in, buried, or structural to the module Also factor in that the tables you display on may not be perfectly level, unlike your workbench, or dining table at home! be prepared to add shims (plates, bricks, or even pieces of cardboard) under corners of modules, so that they are level, and run better. Some modules are very sensitive to the level they are on! And lastly, ensure that your modules meet the standard as much as possible, especially with regards to input and output height. It's very hard to link up with other peoples' modules, who have built them non-standard! But have fun! GBC shows are hectic, but very popular with the crowds.. you can spend a lot of time talking with people, and explaining how everything works!
  2. RohanBeckett
    Axles, Gears, Pins, Liftarms, Conveyor belt tracks, and sprockets, motors But like Berthil said, it really depends on the modules you want to build... There are many that use a lot of regular System Bricks, and plenty that use modern studless technic Some of us have been building inventory for years (decades!) and still have to order new parts, if a particular interesting GBC design/mechanism needs 50 of the same part! (happens a lot!)
  3. RohanBeckett
    was there something wrong with the old thread? Threads on forums don't 'run out', and as long as the conversation keeps flowing, there's no reason they can't go on. and if the topic is the same (in this case, Akiyuki modules), then it's better to be in one spot
  4. RohanBeckett
    These Lego DACTA/Educational sets often didn't 'come' with instructions... As they were usually purchased by schools, and Class Guidebooks/building cards were usually seperate items Eg: you might have more sets than instructions packs, as students could share instructions, or build different things in each group (instructions packs were often packs of 10-20 individual instructions. Unlike normal technic sets, no creation would have used all the parts, and most of the instructions were usually mechanical ideas/concepts, to educate students, rather than fully fledged creations I've had a bit of a google around, but I can't seem to find any scans So you're pretty much on your own! I'm very envious! parts of this era are from my childhood, and would love to have a fresh set of parts/motors! :)
  5. RohanBeckett
    I've opened both the main unit, and the steering unit up before, as I'm a nosy person inquisitive... and there's not a lot to them You should be able to notice any dirt,or other damage to the parts inside when you open them up. They might just need a good clean, and fresh application of silicon grease
  6. RohanBeckett
    My version of Sawyers' Fork Conveyor.. quite a nice little module.. very suprised I haven't seen it more often at shows, as it was an easy build.. easy to get timed.. and after a few small mods, seems Very reliable! and fun to watch! :)
  7. RohanBeckett
    ah! that's great! much better.. and thanks to the nifty column button, I can hide columns I don't need, and fit everything on screen now! :) would be good to have an "All' rows option, rather than limiting to 100.. but it's not too bad!
  8. RohanBeckett
    Really cool! great work!! However, could you possibly change the page theme (for this one page), so it appears 'full width' - or just open up as a plain page, so we don't get ugly scrollbars. It would be great to see the full width, on nice modern widescreens, rather than constrained to the narrow theme on the site Thanks again!
  9. RohanBeckett
    Just a small update: Very proud and happy that The Mine performed flawlessly for 3 days.. this was the 2nd biggest Brickvention ever (nearly 20,000 people!).. and I would estimate several thousand kids and adults got a chance to operate my GBC The Dynamite Detonator never failed, however the hand-crank generator could do with some improvements. We discovered that small children - under age 8 just don't have the co-ordination to wind it fast, and smooth... children older, and adults 'got' it first try, usually, and easily operated it. The quick release crank ended up coming out too easily, as small children's hands went sideways, while winding.. and ended up splitting the axle connector inside the unit. (quick fix) But we were able to put it on Automatic, for the littlies, so they thought they were working it! ;) Here's some video of it in action: And... I won Exhibitors Choice, and People's Choice awards, for GBC.. so that was nice too! 42096 Porsche, and a box filled with new technic parts, as prizes! It really was great to see people interact with it - the smiles on faces, both young and old - even some grandparents loved operating it - the Tactile Feedback on the detonator really surprised a lot of people and also - very happy that I didn't need any instructions - people instinctively knew how to use both!
  10. RohanBeckett
    Great start into this hobby! :) They look like excellent starter modules... GBC is one of those things where you can easily watch a 1min video of someones' mechanism, and then just go off and build your own It's a lot of fun to try to figure it out yourself, rather than just follow instructions! I wouldn't call your first module a ball pump - but rather a single piston stepper... a ball pump usually refers to a stack of balls 'trapped' in a vertical tower... one ball in the bottom causes one ball at the top to come out again.. well done on your first modules!
  11. RohanBeckett
    I thought @kiwinewt was referring to the main train system... I almost had CACC running at Brickvention.. but didn't realise that the minimum radius for standard track + 1 straight was wider than our tables! I have modified the code on the new Powered Up platform, so now, you only need 1 device to control the Boost Loader + cars (I have only enough parts for 2 cars)
  12. RohanBeckett
    But that's the whole point of the Akiyuki train system - the train itself powers the loaders/dumpers. If you don't do that, then you may as well just have a 'dumb train' go around, and trigger dumpers/loaders via levers... Or come up with Mindstorms, or computer controlled. And as soon as you head down that path, it's no longer an Akiyuki-style train People have been building regular train GBC's for over 15 years, using trains, or monorails
  13. RohanBeckett
    thats hilarious.. a year ago, I was buying the transparent scoops from england!! I do like your way of attaching them.. very neat! I don't think I had many, or any of that part at the time, when I built mine
  14. RohanBeckett
    Oh you young whippersnapper.. I expected a slide rule!!
  15. RohanBeckett
    There's no piece with a directly downward facing pinhole There's a few bricks/plates with built-in Pins facing up or down, and various bricks/plates, similar to the one you pictured, with different combinations of pinholes between or aligned with studs There are lots with Axle Holes facing up, and you can use 2 x technic plates stacked together, or a technic plate plus a 2x2round tile with hole in the middle to produce something you are after
  16. RohanBeckett
    Thanks for the comments.. I'm really confident this will run well at a show.. just under 2 months before BV.. so plenty of time to keep testing The only change I wish I'd thought about, would be to have each section independant, which would allow a 'challenge' of automatic explosion, but manual conveyor (can you keep up with the explosions?! :) Maybe a redesign after it's proven itself first!
  17. RohanBeckett
    After 2 months of building, here is my latest, biggest, and most complex GBC yet! The Mine I've had an idea in my head for a couple of years now, to build a really solid, fun, and original Human Powered GBC, and this is what I came up with. There are three modes: Fully automatic - where the GBC 'runs itself' Semi Automatic - Humans operate the Detonator, and the Conveyor/Stepper run automatic Fully Manual - One or Two Humans operate both the Detonator, and the Hand Crank Generator. It has a built in bypass lane, so if no one is operating it, balls will continue to flow through to the next module in the layout. Video includes a Behind the Scenes section, as well as a photo diary and commentary of build progress It's been a lot of fun to build (and play with!) and I'm super happy how it came out. It will be shown in public for the first time at Brickvention 2020 in January - Melbourne Australia.
  18. RohanBeckett
    I challenged my son to build this for Brickvention in January... hopefully it will work well... will need to work out the input system, of course!
  19. RohanBeckett
    But do you have to say it in a Dutch accent?
  20. RohanBeckett
    excellent video Mr Froden! although rather than direct off the first gear, it would be good to see one, where the red indicators are at the end of 2 differentlly aligned universal joints...
  21. RohanBeckett
    I've used it at 3 shows since January.. running all day... Clutch gear doesn't seem to be affected!
  22. RohanBeckett
    A couple of recent shows that I've done A solo effort at a local School Carnival, back in March: - 22 Modules And last weekend, as a fundraiser show for a local non-profit organization, with the Brooks Family contributing alongside my modules: - 38 modules This will be the last show for a few of my bigger, older modules - time to retire, and build new things! :)
  23. RohanBeckett
    quickest way to drive them, is simply to put a 2x2 round plate (or 2x2 round brick) on either side, and then insert a regular axle I used the small white on in a recent GBC - you can see in photos here: https://bricksafe.com/pages/rbeckett/gbc-stuff/gbc-hailfireloops it was the only thing that meshed with the outside teeth on a Hailfire wheel! In general, these old gears were designed to be pressed into the red wheels with the metal axles They are really are an oddball design, not quite up to the standard we expect from the Lego System @TechnicRCRacer Samsonite gears refers to these ones: (1965-67) The 2nd generation of gears were these: (1970-74) Before finally the 'current' standard of gears arrived in 1977 We can also say that there is the newest series of gears, starting with 12t bevel in 1993, and then the 12t double bevel, and 36t double bevel in 1999
  24. RohanBeckett
    It's a definite fact: Power Functions IS coming to an end. Lego will certainly be ramping up production of PoweredUp parts to replace it I would imagine they'd keep a decent stock on hand, for customer service replacements and yes.. I would also imagine that initially, PU will be more expensive, and then gradually get cheaper, like PF did Nothing wrong with buying 2ndhand.. I've bought dozens before, and they've done Many, Many GBC shows just fine
  25. RohanBeckett
    I took it to a show last weekend, and it worked better.. but it's very sensitive to the angle of the table.. I was on plastic blow-mold trestle tables, that are never perfectly level... when I jacked up one side, it behaved better But in the end, after 5 hours running, it broke down.. snapping the end of the 3L thin liftarm, forming the crankshaft - I suspect due to being jammed against dropped balls - the infamous akiyuki-style-frame-ball catcher :( But I have a few ideas to improve it!
×
×
  • Create New...