Creating a LEGO-compatible brick that doesn't exist

[@tim..indeed]

> has the opportunity to create any Lego piece he wants > creates a flat, black 1x15

[@uiopuiop3472]

yeah like me at the fanuc robot klub they said i can make any robot my friend akos made a tricolor cleanroom robot with a beige base and a ipendant that looks like a terminal from the 80s with amber colored text and everything and i made a grey robot with a grey ipendant thats on a black base

[@strider_hiryu850]

well in theory, you could check out the sponsor and use the coupon code and have them 3D print the compatible piece of your dreams

[@uiopuiop3472]

@@strider_hiryu850 yea if i had 100 euros left from ALL THE FORCE10 NETWORK SWITCH BUYS I DO id buy 650 new lego pieces made by. them.

[@nothinggoldstays8092]

Of all non-existent Lego parts, I think minifig tacos deserve to be mentioned. Why have they not made these yet? The curve of the minifigs hand would perfectly grip a taco shell.

[@UnaturalShadows]

what the hell youre right

[@verifios]

wtf those dont exist!?

[@gen2mediainc.577]

Nah cuz they wouldn’t be able to hold the taco vertically it would spill

[@nilsdock]

no taco Tuesday

[@BrickBending]

Truer words have never been spoken

[@obscurity3027]

The tolerances of LEGO parts are so small, it’s actually insane.

[@al_eggs]

that’s the cost of using non-flimsy plastic unfortunately

[@SwNero]

Lego is by far not that impressive anymore. There are a lot of other companies creating better bricks with higher quality

[@MizukiNoDoragon]

@@SwNero wouldn't necessarily say higher quality, but definitely high quality enough to be nearly unnoticable

[@bastiist5479]

@@MizukiNoDoragon i would definetly say better than lego though specially in color quallity

[@randelmatt]

Maybe... Not as critical as engine components though as there will be a bit of play in the plastic. Probably a relatively wide Margin especially if you have plates with more than one stud to spread the error

[@gnomeandgarden6157]

Instead of a 1x15, imagine a 1x16 with 2 missing studs (1-12-1). That would give you an actual connection at the end instead of just an overlap, and much freer hinging. Then progress through other lengths missing those penultimate studs.... Or even just alternating studs for the whole length (more difficult for even lengths, obviously) Then show how useful they are and petition LEGO to make official ones.

[@Vandueren5]

Yeas, I was thinking they would create plates with all the even stud missing to get extreme scissor angles :-)

[@BrickBending]

We are on the same wavelength. There is a v2.0 of this build that is bigger, and heads down that road of removing interfering studs. Well spotted.

[@billkeithchannel]

@@BrickBending Back when I was a teen in the 80's I used a knife to remove studs that were in my way.

[@remotepinecone]

I remember friends would cut pieces if they didn't have the right one. savages!

[@foopolo]

I’ve needed a 1x5 so many times

[@LeVraiPoio]

May I suggest a thin coat of spray varnish on these custom parts ? That could adress both the mat finish and the clutch if you're lucky.

[@BrickBending]

I will look into that. Thank you!

[@lukearts2954]

@@BrickBending in my search for cheaper bricks I came across a Chinese manufacturer who offered to use their lego brick die maker to make custom dies for me. The only catch was they had a minimum quantity of 10,000 per brick type (except for bricks they already have dies for. (In other words, they offered me bricks they were making for other customers whose initial 10k order had covered the die cost.) Never went through with it because of changes in import restrictions (tariffs) which suddenly made them over 3 times more expensive than original LEGO.

[@Alex-zi1nb]

@@lukearts2954 just fly there and smuggle them home lol

[@grahamwaldo331]

I’m pretty sure that that would overshoot the tolerance. Lego tolerances are crazy tight for plastic parts. Even a super thin coat of varnish could easily mess up the fit.

[@lukearts2954]

@@grahamwaldo331 he could electrocoat it with layers of just a few micrometer at a time... I believe The Thought Emporium is the channel with a video series on such a device, where he covers a butterfly with metal. Absolutely stunning.

[@sambauman69]

Competitor brands have a "double studded plate" with studs on both the top and bottom, or anti-studs on a double anti-stud brick. This allows you to very easily switch to building upside down in a standard construction. I want LEGO to officially make one of those.

[@amaryllis0]

No thanks. Snot building is an art form, with lots of techniques to choose which fit different contexts. Having a stud reversal brick would just be incredibly boring. No interesting techniques or part usages, just trivial

[@LutraLovegood]

@@amaryllis0 Then don't use it

[@ellie8272]

​@@amaryllis0But wouldn't it allow even more complex builds that are even harder to make?

[@TwiliPaladin]

​@@amaryllis0Translation: "It makes certain things easier thus leading to new ideas that were tedious or impossible before, so I don't want it."

[@Purple11011]

I have a random 1x1 rounded double studded brick, just one, and I have no idea where it came from. It even has the LEGO logo printed on it.

[@sanjuanfromsomewhere]

Glad you didn't give up and use the kragle

[@BrickBending]

14 years in and I have yet to do so

[@sanjuanfromsomewhere]

@BrickBending Wow!!!

[@stavinaircaeruleum2275]

Nice reference

[@Pixomite]

I haven’t watched that movie in ages

[@carlinday1015]

​@@BrickBending I have to say, why are you doing it nine years later?

[@asteroidrules]

I was not expecting the revelation that you have a voice.

[@whar3]

Real

[@Stupidsameehorghf]

i thought he was an ai

[@greenstonegecko]

In essence, LEGO is so simple, but if you're trying to replicate it, you'll notice how hard it actually is to make it

[@theredoctopus3196]

Actually there is tons of other companies selling these bricks. Some even in slightly better quality than what lego does. The issue here comes from the plates being custom so there is no quality control outside the actual testing here in video form

[@ausburnesdumbaltaccount9676]

lego's simplicity being fairly difficult to replicate is like the other side of "If I had more time, I would have written a shorter letter."

[@NickCombs]

The studs on the custom piece look much shorter than the official studs. I'm pretty sure that's what is causing the lack of "clutch".

[@SandBox86]

Well.. you’re pretty wrong 😂

[@FACEDUMMY]

​@@SandBox86I know yuur looking to start some beef but you really gonna say yes wrong whit no proof at all, not even word proof of it?

[@JusteazyGames]

​@@FACEDUMMY The clutch comes from the thickness of the studs combined with the tensile strength of the material. A real Lego brick halfway pushed in still has more clutch power than these JLC pseudo-bricks.

[@tiagotiagot]

Lego has put tons of work in their design and manufacturing processes to get the tolerances consistently just right. It's really not surprising that a first attempt of matching their connection characteristics didn't land 100%

[@Stupidsameehorghf]

wow 18 year old account thats insane

[@fire5281]

Honestly, I grew up buying fake Lego, and this "loose clutch" issue is very common. Sometimes, the opposite happens: it gets so tight together I had to use a razor blade to split them apart. if anything, you could modify the Lego model sizes when you upload to them, specifically the stud size, by around ×101%

[@ooc329]

Can confirm on that last statement... sort of. I can't speak for bricks with studs, but I 3D printed a bunch of custom technic-type parts back in college. It took a bunch of fiddling with the size of the connections, but I'd say that the final iteration I made has pretty good clutch power. The pins do break somewhat easily, but I'm sure the stuff that JLC3DP makes is considerably better in that regard.

[@Alfred-Neuman]

I think you guys should invest in some professional injection molding equipment. The quality of your DIY Lego pieces would be so much better. If you have 250.000$ laying around you should really consider trying this technique... 😋

[@JonathanHagen-if4pt]

The twelve point star would make an interesting clock.

[@abnormalweapon922]

You know what brick id make? ANYTHING as a 1x5. Geez man, i cant even tell yall how many times ive needed to make a connection where only a 5 long thing would work. A stud and 1x4 wouldnt connect it right, an a 1x6 is too long, so just give us more 1x5

[@Dewdrop0-6]

I believe those exist. Though I'm not sure how many colors they come in.

[@BrickBending]

The 1x5 plate is new, and it is SO useful. I did a little happy dance when I first got a hold of them.

[@zackbuildit88]

1x5 plates are so cool tbh they should be everywhere

[@billkeithchannel]

As a teen in the 80's I have cut a 1x10 in half using a coping saw to make two 5's.

[@abnormalweapon922]

@@billkeithchannel glad to know it's not a new issue, haha. Pretty good solution too

[@0Defensor0]

Try spraying the printed parts with a few layers of clear coat, that may increase their thickness just enough to stick properly, and would give them the missing shine too.

[@AnonymousFreakYT]

TIL that the sound of LEGO plates clicking and clacking is my perfect form of ASMR.

[@AndrewBryan-n3h]

3:33 this right here Broke my brain when you did this

[@The-amazing-speaker]

I was acualy expecting that lol

[@jobobminer8843]

I think I prefere the all-lego one. The finish of the pieces, in my opinion, is worth the extra size.

[@BrickBending]

Fair. I could see using printed bricks as an interior scaffolding, but the final look of the finish is really important.

[@PTMoozr]

I teach a 3d printing class and the final project is to model and print a 2x6 ‘Lego-compatible building block’ given the exact dimensions.

[@coasterblocks3420]

Top of my wish list: A) 1x1x3 round brick with axle hole B) 1x1x1 hinge

[@SupersuMC]

Been working on a model where that hinge would be so useful.

[@Mike-mf3ed]

Building this in white or light blue would make for a good snowflake decoration.

[@BlazingSun72]

Pausing @12:41 to say maybe gloss black paint maybe solves both cosmetic and functional problems?

[@ubergamer0198]

Probably the most useful pieces i could think of are butt-to-butt and Nut-to-Nut adapter plates. N2N - a plate with studs on both sides B2B - a plate with anti-studs on both sides.

[@axolotlgaming9144]

it would make so many illegal techniques arbitrary

[@blockshift758]

4:29 since 12 pointed wasn't really in tension that means the original 7 pointed star was never in tension since it the is a lot of wiggle room. As seen on the 16 long plates(?)

[@BrickBending]

Because the smaller motif can hinge, none of the variations are under any significant tension. Some are probably zero.

[@MrLordZenki]

I think this video does a good job demonstrating why Lego imitations are never quite as good lol

[@Goernio]

There are quite a few competitors that make at least the same quality of bricks ( Clutch Power ) if not better ( in Terms of color and Print quality ). Just dont buy straight up ripp-offs of existing sets, those are mostly Made with cheap ass bricks. Cobi for example does awesome sets, produced in the EU.

[@goininXIV]

Except the "imitations" that people actually use aren't 3d printed? Get some Go Bricks and tell me how they're worse than Lego. ("imitations" in quotes because all the patents Lego had on the system are long since expired. And if you're coming at it from a moralistic point; don't forget to mention that Lego copied the basic brick system from Kiddiecraft to begin with)

[@phoenixdblack]

​@@goininXIVThe current Go-Bricks Iterations are insane quality.

[@F1R3B1RD_Gaming]

What about Mega Blocks ._.

[@dashielleheidt7223]

I rly like this process video where there is an explanation as you're building it. Would definitely love to see more of this!

[@BrickBending]

Thank you! I will definitely do more of these.

[@lilyrooney]

do you think itd be worth modelling a slight outwards taper on the printed studs? so like, the very top 1% of the stud is oversized and "plugs" the hole and gets a little squished to keep it in there. or maybe multi material printing where the stud is completely oversized but printed in a softer material so it has some give.

[@NickCombs]

I think they just need to be as tall as the official studs.

[@BrickBending]

I'm going to play with different materials to see how that affects things. There's also a small 'bit' on the underside that can be sized up. But I'm not sure just how much fine tuning is possible. I am a novice in this arena.

[@IonNight]

I have made my own stuff. 6 years ago I made gears with every tooth from 16 to 40.

[@theobserverfan]

Me too, I made shorter technic studs.

[@freshstat1csnow]

so you could theoretically make a 17:31 gear ratio if you wanted? wild

[@theobserverfan]

@@freshstat1csnow i don't know why anyone would do that

[@TheMegamaster44]

I think it would be funny if Lego actually adopted the piece but only released it in Lego police cars

[@BrickBending]

That would be awesome and hilarious!

[@KingTalion]

it would be interesting to see the same design with entirely jlc printed bricks, so that the plates of all lengths have the same connections

[@HowGamersPlay]

My favorite part of these videos are seeing the copy machine in action. Watching the build parts exponentially get bigger is extra satisfying for me! Keep on building!

[@Infernoblade1010]

I really like that design. I've always been fascinated with geometric design and a neat thing is that if you look at it just right, you can see a series of right angles.

[@SammyBFilms]

Not sure if it counts, but my custom brick would be windows for technic cars. The older technic cars had gaps everywhere, but the newer ones are designed with far fewer gaps and much more accurate looking bodies, so I'd like to see them have windows as well (I think😅)

[@IONATVS]

as an engineer, a large part of the clutch power from lego comes from a slight interference fit, called a press fit. IE the studs are SLIGHTLY bigger than the hole you jam them in. different materials with different give need a different amount of interference (overlap) for the same effect, but you should be able to achieve it with trial and error (iteratively increasing the stud size and decreasing the hole size *just* the tiniest bit each time until it has the same "feel") if JLC3DP's process has the tolerance for it.

[@rerere284]

I was thinking you were gonna want a plate that only has studs every 3 studs, so you could do more than 12 of those modules.

[@Jaysin412]

You're channel is amazing. Been here since the beginning. Don't get to see every video, but I think this is the first time I've heard your voice. Keep it up man!

[@BrickBending]

Cheers! Thanks for sticking with me on the journey. It's evolving, but I'm still having fun. : )

[@turtleb01]

In the 7-pointed star, one element has an angle of 90°-2*sin(1/3). 1/3 comes from the side, which has an angle of one stud per three studs. Multiply that by 7, it comes to 367.5°, so the elements aren't squared

[@sage5296]

Yes, he said there was a small amount of strain in the build but it's about as close as it gets to unstrained / perfect 90

[@handsomerob1223]

It’s very generic of an answer but odd number plates and “skip stud plates” so say you have 1010101 and 0101010 so you could have tighter acute angles and not running into studs.

[@BrickBending]

You are speaking my language. An array of plates like that (along with other double 00 variations) would be a dream come true.

[@handsomerob1223]

@@BrickBending if the olden times went differently I bet we’d have just such parts but in the modulex? line from Lego in the 60s. It was an architectural design “tool” ment to mimic scale accuracy for architectural mockups.

[@LittlePixelTM]

Sweet - looks like the 80s Technic Arctic Explorers logo :)

[@bensnipes7288]

You, sir, are the Bob Ross of Legos! Such great Lego art / creations and such calming educational narration. Keep up the great work!

[@giga-ratsey1420]

You could also save money by using a Cobi piece, equally high quality as Lego with way more unique pieces.

[@The-amazing-speaker]

You missed the 5x1 bit when you put them in line “yes it does exist”

[@ezekielrobinson1776]

4:48 I genuinely did not know that. Really interesting, you would think there would be but I guess there hasn't been a Lego set that's needed it yet.

[@wesallen3926]

If it wasn't for the "clutch power" issue, I think that between the fact that the inner-most points are one layer thinner than the rest of the piece as a whole plus the fact that the color is slightly off actually looks pretty cool. because it accents and defines the extra depth... Also you might be able to fix the clutch on the inner points by using Le-glue, it's a water-soluble glue made specifically for Lego, I'd just recommend brushing it on very sparingly as it tends to day an opaque/tan color which might really stand out and look a bit EWW if it squishes out from between the bricks. you can find it just by googling the name. " Le-glue "

[@viquezug3936]

I would design technic bricks where the holes are neither aligned with the studs nor halfway between studs, but instead a quarter of the way between studs. It would allow exact meshing of gears of all sizes, eg 28T with 16T, which require center spacing of 2.75 studs.

[@marchawkinson2548]

Towards the begining I was really thinking you'd have a 1*15 made with the second stud missing on each end to enable a tighter attachment angle.

[@juleo1000]

I actually like the matte effect on the jlc one

[@RaymondHng]

18:33 They look like Olympic emblems.

[@progoproductions]

Haven’t watched vid yet but I’d want a 1x1 plate with a clip on 2 sides rather than just one!

[@BrickBending]

That would be cool

[@TheAruruu]

Well, there's a sentence I never thought I'd hear someone say... "My lego bricks are rusting."

[@zackpoppers2842]

Wow I just found this channel for the first time as someone who hasn't used legos for 10 years and just wanted to say. This is some cool ass content. Thank you for giving me a reason to procrastinate another 5 hours on my college work

[@SupersuMC]

As a few others have said, definitely double-stud plates. We actually technically already have a double-anti-stud plate - it's the One Ring. (It works best with hollow studs, though.) As for me personally? Definitely more studded slopes. We only have them at one angle right now, and it's too shallow and too long for the model I need.

[@TactiDM]

this is my first time hearing your voice and omg, it's so soothing. Combined with the LEGO sounds, your videos are perfect to sleep to

[@michael1234252]

I've 3d printed a few 2x4 and 2x2 bricks on my 3d printer at home using files I found online. I've found that the ones I printed have that same clutch issue. Now the thing is that I printed them out in PLA with an FDM printer VS the SLS printers that JLC3DP uses.

[@AugRing]

the sound of lego pieces sliding on a table is so maazing and ive never really appreciated it until now

[@SpeedyScorpion]

I work at a lab that uses absolute top-of-the-line 3D-printers for making medical implants/equipment, and have about a decade of my own experience. It's still insanely difficult to get the tolerances just right on custom bricks lol. I've made a few with nearly perfect tolerances, but most of the time they still end up more like the ones you have here. Lego's manufacturing is an art of its own

[@Cry_Like_A_Swamp_Puppy]

That’s because they use injection molding instead of 3d printing. Much more accurate as the mold is always the same size.

[@DanBowkley]

Some custom parts I've wanted are larger diameter shafts and bearing blocks, gears and stuff to fit those bigger shafts, metal parts to handle higher loads, and longer and thicker pneumatic cylinders. I was always much more into mechanical chicanery than the artistic side of things.

[@scottevensen2615]

17:51 Whoooa Duuude that's metal! 🤯

[@heavywave81]

Hey really glad to have your commentary now. Its nice to hear your thoughts on things as we watch you build these wild creations.

[@alfadorfox]

@6:47 "two-thirds the height of a standard Lego plate" *two-thirds the height of a brick, twice the height of a plate

[@PatrickKniesler]

When I saw the title for this I was split between thinking you were going to do something crazy or just filling the gaps. Perfect choice

[@GardensAndGames]

After reading the title, I gotta say: "1x plate, but longer" isn't what I was expecting.

[@marcelreiter181]

When i was young i really wished for a brick which made a sturdy rotating connection. Like the one you'd need when connecting a crane arm to a crane base. And then LEGO actually made that happen 😍

[@Damaniel3]

If this video demonstrates one thing, it's that Lego is built to insanely tight tolerances and that making your own is always going to be a challenge (though the ones you got are pretty respectable compared to some attempts I've seen).

[@Robert.Zimmermann]

This method would apply exceptionally well for full-size car rim designs!!

[@MilanRubiksCube97]

I'd say another great way to get longer plates or bricks is to take multiple regular ones and use rubik's cube modification methods (cutting, apoxie sculpt, scotch brite, low grain sandpaper, polishing paste) to make some incredibly precise pieces with lots of grip power

[@badtaste311]

I have atleast 4 pieces I've been sitting on that I've taken the time to make sure they incorporate into both system & technic. Very highly useful & once you see them it's like "of course!".

[@KyleDB150]

Just calculated it: The arcs spanned by those 7 joints add up to 371°, 3% over the 360° spanned by the design. This means the joints have about 3% strain (actually more because they're at an angle from the tangent to the circle).

[@shotybumbati]

holy smokes, if you prototype an internal combustion engine in legos, then have them all recreated in stainless steel, that would be an interesting experiment lol

[@potatlerr]

THE ONE PIECE IS REAL ahh brick

[@wabbledee5229]

what do you mean 😭

[@JoBot__]

@@wabbledee5229 The One Piece is real. What more is there to say?

[@wabbledee5229]

@@JoBot__ the 1x15 brick is hidden on raftel

[@YensR]

Interesting adventures! I have 3D printed (PLA) some lego parts, mostly studless beams. The pins you use to connect those are much more tolerant of tolerances (ha!) than the stud-antistud. Many different things factor into the tolerance of 3D printed pieces. It's definitely possible to get decent clutch. But you'll have to finetune the CAD-STL-slicer-printer chain. And you probably want to assess that after a couple of test pieces and *not* find out that the 100 pieces you printed don't clutch.

[@billkeithchannel]

I'd like to see the over-sized gears from the 1960' and '70's make a come back. The last time they were used in a set was a bulldozer to hold the wheel track. I used one of those gears on a LEGO motor to clack a button on arcade games to hit it super fast.

[@cmyk8964]

This is also unintentionally a good answer to "Why are LEGOs so expensive compared to compatible competitors?"

[@NatsuDragn33I]

Mannnnn, coming up with lego parts? As a kid I'd thought of it, but LEGO is just so darned good at what they do, I ended up never actually getting serious about it at all.

[@phoenixgaming4185]

I kind of like the look of the matte and gloss together, it gives another element with the pattern that is nice to look at imo.

[@philopharynx7910]

Your mention of angle is interesting. What about a plate with half of the number of studs? Say a 1x15 with eight studs placed twice as far apart? You could geta much tighter angle with that.

[@skmgeek]

You have a really nice voice! You sound like you have a lot of experience recording your own voice :3

[@erobwen]

Add a layer of clear coat. First it will make the brick shiny like ABS, and the added material on the surface will increase clutch power.

[@-NoahChannel]

I'd make a three by three flat plate. Believe it or not, it does not exist. Why doesn't it? Because screw convenience, who needs that?

[@oliviashepherd-uq1ji]

I happened to have classical music playing on the radio in the background, and your voice was relaxing too

[@chrislewandoski3383]

Something I discovered when 3D printing LEGO is that the clutch power and scaling are almost perfect but not quite. I had to scale up or down by 1 percent, depending on the filament.

[@hollt693]

I say just make your own 1x15s by solvent welding two official Lego plates together. The perfect use for that stainless steel plate would be to hold the two shorter plates in position while the solvent (acetone, most likely) evaporates. My only concern is that I often get bloom (white splotches) on the surface of ABS when the acetone evaporates off, which would obviously look terrible on these shiny black plates. There are ways to avoid that problem, but I don't know them well enough to describe here. Or you could friction weld two plates if you had the correct tools, but again that's beyond my area of expertise.

[@BrickBending]

Intriguing!

[@WeyounSix]

My god… you actually used wriggle vs wiggle correctly…. Insane!! Oh yeah nice build too lmao

[@Steeeved]

Godspeed in your search for a better material for that added clutch. A 15 would have been great for some of the things I was doing in the past, the extra height from a constructed longer piece just didn't work out well at all.

[@Birdie.mp4]

I’d make a brick that could connect 2 tiles together without using cheese wedges

[@satibel]

given the current prices, I think you could get an anycubic m5s or m7 (or some other resin printer, the m5s is the one I use and I'm happy with it especially at the price) and some abs-like resin, it should allow you to prototype the exact tolerance way faster if you're not just doing a few sponsored one-offs.

[@tommy.eklund]

Your voice reminds me of Ze Frank, I keep waiting for you say something along the lines of ”That’s how a Lego brick do…” 😅

[@whengchung90]

If Lego illegality had a GTA wanted level, making your own lego parts to make an illegal build work just got this guy 6 stars

[@randelmatt]

What were the original model dimensions? Generally the clutch i would say is around a thou interference.. probably anfew rounds of adjustment for skrinkage of it exists to get it right. You may have to model over or under by a few thou to hit the right value

[@risunokairu]

You would give up on designer legos and convert to PrintABloks because LEGO is like Nintendo. They think they own any discussion of their product. They think they own any demonstration of their product.

[@DJMetalstone]

You can say what you want but if you let them print 3d lego plates no matter how impressive it is , if it doesn't clutch together tightly it doesn't even deserve to be mentioned besides lego really :) If you can't use it as lego you can't compare it to lego and the fact it doesn't clutch while you need the printed parts to do that as well makes it a failed print in my opinion. I would've not been happy with that. The different black color and finish I could live with and is understandable that that is so hard to precisely match. I already see how hard it is when I try to paint something myself and the color is only like 10 years old , it's near impossible getting the matching color again and even if you got the same color code if you got a different brand because you can't get the old one anymore it's still gonna be slightly off. Anyway enjoyed watching this video. Seeing people manipulate their Lego's is always fun :)

[@relariis_the_paradox]

It makes you think that LEGO probably not only specs their bricks to have the studs and tubes be ever so slightly oversized (probably by something like a 0.1mm radius addition), but also has to quality control every single produced brick to make sure they are within those tight tolerances. Suddenly the cost of Legos makes sense : (

[@msbrickkitten6882]

The challenge I've had creating and printing parts from scratch, is accounting for the printing tolerances. I had several technic custom designs that I dialed in on my 3D printer, but, when I shared the model files with another person, they couldn't get them to work. I'd adjusted in the model files for my printer, and theirs didn't print to the same tolerance as mine did so they thought my designs were junk. Which was funny because I had several builds relying on my printed pieces. :D It's always the clutch power that's the challenge with these.

[@TheGreatSteve]

I'm still waiting for the perfect pulley.

[@Photostar625]

Honestly? a really tall thing with technic pins on the top and bottom. Also: A 1x1 with top-and-bottom studs (so kinda like a 1/2x1/2 technic pin. that would be so useful) A 1x1 with top and bottom holes Will update with more ideas when I have them (nothing simple like 1x5, it would need to add something)

[@Normonaut]

"How many lego pieces do you have?" "Yes."

[@Vlow52]

That’s a good example of what most of people don’t realize. We are in the beginning of total atomization era, where everything you can imagine can be also built by you using precise technologies like a 3d print, from a weapon to a living organism programmed for a specific function. All the companies like Lego will eventually go obsolete with a model of limited demand, only the ones who are making new technologies and get the basic resources for them will be left, and that sounds simple enough for a AI.

[@hoobsug]

>precise >3d print You can only pick one

[@Kuba_K]

Not really, lego limitations are exactly why people love playing with it. After all you could 3d print whatever you like even now, yet its still more amazing to see imperfect lego model than hyperrealistic 3d modeled and printed model. Even this channel, do you think so many people would watch it if it showcased just 3d printed shapes?

[@FelineFelon42]

@@hoobsugin fairness, 3D printing is getting more and more refined and precise as printers improve, although plastic injection is still more precise at the moment (just ask anyone who plays Warhammer). That said, it’s exciting to see where the technology could end up

[@FelineFelon42]

@@Kuba_Kexactly, you can’t have a jigsaw puzzle where all the pieces come pre-assembled, that’s just a photo!

[@waylandsmith]

When you're manufacturing parts by the millions, and the parts are not designed with shapes or materials that require exotic manufacturing techniques, it won't be cheaper and faster to 3d print them.

[@sunnymon1436]

Technically you need to contract the 3D files in certain places to account for shrinkage, which happens with a lot of 3D prints. You can probably go look up the shrinkage characters of different 3D printable materials. Some have more shrinkage, some less.

[@TankR]

With the metal one, have it printed with a hole in the center of the buttons, or drill one for a machine screw. It would be like a marriage of lego and mechano/erector sets!!! I realize its just basically bracketry, but MAN DO I MISS ERECTOR SET KITS!!! Sturdy metal parts all day long!!!

[@Gin-toki]

I do regular minifig scale builds and not fancy art like you but a 1x16 plate is something I've wanted for many years. There are afterall many other lego pieces that are something by 16 long.

[@BrickBending]

From what I'm learning the longer plates have a greater chance of deformity. The 1x16 can probably avoid that because of the thickness. But I am just a novice.

[@Gin-toki]

@@BrickBending yes, that is most likely the case of why there is no 1x16 plate, although I still wish there were xD