Pushing LEGO Limits: Unbelievable creations using 2x2 Inverted Slopes

[@dragonshadow1902]

I always look at these videos as another way to invent the wheel (and why the Caveman minifig fits so well at the end). Never get tired at seeing what 5000 identical Lego pieces look like bent into a new wheel.

[@BrickBending]

You and me both, my friend 🙌

[@a_block_of_ice_xD]

@@BrickBending I have an idea for you, What do you think about making a cone out of inverted slopes? I think it should be possible even in our 3 dimensional world.

[@-danR]

I've never seen this channel before. I believe this gentleman is planning on going into the oil pipeline business.

[@darkdruidsvale]

@@a_block_of_ice_xD i was also thinking that, i feel like it could be possible, though it may not be as well

[@dannyboy1350]

@@darkdruidsvale It would work if you removed 3.141 bricks per layer on average which would mean breaking the helices by moving some of the bricks to the side by a peg.

[@nilsdock]

in the high friction the wheels are interlocking with the surface. what you have made are lego ring gears. the next step is to make a planetary gearbox

[@Trouvist]

I was thinking the same thing!

[@7n7o]

@@Trouvistsame!

[@vialav]

Now you're thinking with portals

[@manoman0]

I was just *smiling in portals* .

[@MaxwellCatAlphonk]

Portal spoilers ahead: If the cake is a lie, then what is the pie?

[@L1nxdr1nx]

Saw the blue and orange and immediately thought that

[@Andrew-ww1hz]

Best comment

[@Anglow506]

@@MaxwellCatAlphonk it’s a die

[@gregp4819]

With the cylinder rolling on the track it seem that you may be able to make a cylinder roll on a fractionally larger cylinder - That's just where my mind went when watching. Thank you for the build.

[@BrickBending]

Cylinders upon cylinders. I love it.

[@puzzzl]

You could also flatten the center of the track and only keep the outer railings, reducing friction significantly. In fact, the middle doesn't need to be there at all, just connect the rails with ties, and now you've built a railway! It should be very well, too.

[@lukearts2954]

@@BrickBending I was thinking with the staggered pattern, you could make zigzags. And maybe the zigzags can mesh? Technically they should have the same tooth pitch, so regardless of size they should be able to act like sprockets.

[@lilllilill6033]

you need to UV test the orange bricks. I have found x5 different variations of bright orange. Some appearing bright yellow, orange, dark red, etc when exposed to UV/Black Light!

[@HistoricaHungarica]

Iirc that is because of the different factories use different pigments to color the bricks.

[@lenarsa66]

Love this ❤: "...if you really want to build something, crazy, it just takes you ten years to prep." 😂

[@BrickBending]

Aged like fine wine.

[@ryuuguu01]

does that mean in 2034 the smaller circle will be reassembled into an even smaller circle?

[@CrackWaffles]

@@ryuuguu01 hopefully

[@psidvicious]

When I was a kid, this is what you did with Lego. You built whatever your mind dreamt up. Lego wasn’t sold in kits designed to make this or that particular car or spaceship etc. It was simply sold by the quantity of pieces. A 50pcs set. A 100pcs set. 1000pcs etc. I had pretty much already grown out of Lego by the time the specialized kits came around but I always looked back at it as one of my favorite and educational toys growing up.

[@the_newt_nest]

Yeah. And I dunno, there was something so pleasing about the bags of identically colored pieces you could get from the catalogue.

[@AlmightyDoubleHelix]

I grew up in the era of Lego sets and this is still how I used Legos. I would build whatever the set was supposed to be once, throw away the instructions and packaging, and cannibalize the pieces to make a space ship.

[@FL0ra_favvn]

You do realise they only ever sold them in sets, right?

[@psidvicious]

@@FL0ra_favvn “Sets” yes, with a picture on the box of a particular “thing” you could build, but that went out the window after the first day. I remember the pieces being much more rudimentary, without a bunch of specialized pieces, made for a particular project. The most specialized pieces I remember were the axle blocks (white) with the receiver holes to accept wheels. But those were still just a standardized 2x8 block. When we got a new “set”, it was unceremoniously dumped into the generic ‘mother box’ and the pieces went on to make a bigger, better whatever.

[@flowshine74]

​@psidvicious Oh, and the distinct sound of searching through the mother box that is so nostalgic, it instantly brings back to my childhood and I get lost in the building, in the search and I'm 12 yrs old again ! this crazy loud, shrill sound is something I have grown to love! "The Motherbox", I love it!

[@gamingborger]

circles and sphere are actually pretty difficult they way you make them with lego, so i'm always impressed they don't just explode when you bend them or let them roll

[@Purple11011]

If those circles are 50 bricks around, and every two layers is offset by a brick, then you'd need 100 total layers for each helix to wrap all the way. Just twenty layers more...

[@BrickBending]

I ran out. But we are on the same page.

[@etheraelespeon1986]

@BrickBending I was fully prepared for you to bend that tube into a torus lmao

[@maxthebear7765]

@@etheraelespeon1986sameee

[@nathanielcooper4288]

maybe interchange the orange and blue? the orange facing one way and the blue the other so that you can get the amount of bricks needed but keep the visual of the spirals?

[@bbgun061]

The factory probably ran out when they filled your order...

[@LucasKeesee-vm8yp]

1staircase of 5 bricks 7 cases 14 doubled 28 doubled again Circle: 56-sided polygon.

[@Goober_hammafia]

Holy crap, that’s crazy man.

[@SamFams.]

Oh my God he speaks

[@BrickBending]

Therefore I am?

[@thirstyCactus]

The builds sometimes look like CGI, but with the imperfections of reality, they end up in an unusual, fascinating visual territory! Nice work!

[@diatonicdelirium1743]

It's a beautiful example of what scale can do with a relatively simple idea.

[@DanielKennedyM1]

Awesome video! Idea for your Magnum Opus: build 10 more of the final helix, stack them all up, and bend the long tube into a torus!

[@centurionpan3400]

That would be a wheel made of wheels

[@mikesoja9316]

This was amazing to watch. It was great to hear your thought pattern and your explanation of your process and the limitations of the bricks. I'm sure i speak for others, I wish you would do a Q&A episode one day. Keep up the great work! I love seeing what you come up with next.

[@BrickBending]

Thank you! And a great idea. I will ponder that.

[@mikesoja9316]

​@BrickBending, please do. I know i have a lot of questions, and I'm sure your other fans do as well. Please keep up the great work.

[@ーテイル]

19:13 How did all these squares make a circle?! That doesn't even-! No, no, it's okay, it doesn't bother me, it doesn't bother me... It bothers me, IT BOTHERS ME A LOT *AND THAT ONE'S STILL MATE!*

[@reddblackjack]

I really like what you do. I also think that there has to be some kind of engineering that can be done. At this scale for large machines, at microscale for far parts like screws and planetary geers, and at the nanoscale for nanobots and molecular machines. I feel like this is serving as inspiration for some kid who will one day make the first human built flagellar motor or prehensile cilia. Sorry if my science terminology gets on the nerves. But I think it's important. Think about it though. If molecules could be put together in the right ways, with chirality, poles and electron exchange could be used to make a transmission for a multi speed molecular engine, would that not be amazing!

[@iamsushi1056]

Cool story bro

[@BrickBending]

I am with you. I think there's something here about simplicity scaling up to complexity in wonderful and unpredictable ways. And, it's also beautiful.

[@minikawildflower]

Even just the first one looks like some kind of mysterious portal, I love when these designs are circular

[@principal_optimism]

You built tracks for your linear wall. Is there a partner track for the orange monstrosity at the end? Perhaps a blue one?

[@BrickBending]

That would make me so, so happy. Sadly, not yet.

[@aliasfakename-mf2jh]

23:54 the studs bumping is only a hinderance If you’re relying on a single push. Just attach the circle to a motorized axel and now you essentially have a gear and rack, or a wheel with loads of traction.

[@anujmchitale]

I was thinking the same. Its avtually helpful to oave rhe way for giant dynamic models.

[@alejandrojoselopezmartinez8489]

That last piece was amazing, it reminds me of a TooL album.

[@gcewing]

If you used alternating inverted and normal slopes, you should be able to build a track with grooves that are smooth on both faces.

[@mcmonkey26]

but then parts kf them would be interlocked as 2x2s. you’d have to alternate an inverted then a 1x2 then a regular slope

[@dannyboy1350]

@@mcmonkey26 not if you make the slopes and inverteds attach all four to one of the other kind, then they act as very tall 2x1s

[@thirstyCactus]

2:30 As you bend the long strip to close the circle, you can hear the sound-speed increase as the internal stresses go up. Really cool sound, but also kind-of terrifying!

[@emctwoo]

17:00 wow this really starts to look like a woven basket. The spiraling symmetry is great!

[@asheep7797]

3:05 Euler's Disk moment

[@EggBastion]

It's nice now I can watch some of your videos with just my ears my eyes have such long days

[@pauljackson3491]

Now take the circles and make a torus. It takes 336 just for the first slant one; I wonder how many thousand it would take for a torus.

[@BrickBending]

Phase 1: Does it circle? Phase 2: Does it torus?

[@toxicbavariankitten]

​@@BrickBending Phase 3: Can it run doom?

[@BrickBending]

@@toxicbavariankitten I now have a new life goal

[@toxicbavariankitten]

@@BrickBending I will be waiting paitently! (Actually it would be really funny to see doom run on an arduino with "mechanical" user inputs(really just levers and linkages that ultimately push a button))

[@thomasthemtman]

The giant yellow tube …. Reminds me of PEACH PIE ! it’s the color , the shadows , the repetition… take a look at fancy peach pie you’ll see

[@nicholascrow8133]

I can't help but wonder what it would look like if you did a criss-cross pattern on the helix model?

[@twille]

Awesome build! Love the color choice! What are the gloves you are using?

[@BrickBending]

They are practice gloves for guitarists. Lots of options out there.

[@twille]

Thank you so much!!

[@supremeinnovationsllc]

Lego CNC machines just became a reality.

[@chrisgriffith1573]

Alternate 2x2 rooftop bricks, with these 2x2 inverted bricks for the next alliteration!

[@biglandmark007]

Just a circle? Just?! Circle is perfection, it has no short-corners XD

[@seanpierce9386]

4:43 A platypus?

[@RegamerYT]

Perry the platypus??

[@Jaszi007]

31:15 OMG that’d be perfect for one of those you have to line up a pattern in the circles puzzles I’ve seen in TONS of video games.

[@TheAruruu]

i like how the yellow one, when taller, could actually be used to convey loose things like bricks or sand up a slope by rolling it. the inside forms a sort of inverted Archimedes screw.

[@MCHamii]

i like that your builds grow exponentially

[@xander1121]

i could totaly see this being the perfect way to make a large scale functional lego rc tank

[@Mr12161969]

I will never get tired of these videos! This was so cool! Thank you 🙏🏻 🤘🏻🤘🏻✌🏻

[@BrickBending]

You are welcome! I'm very glad you enjoyed it 😁🙏

[@kalunogaming]

would be cool if you only place the slope piece say every 4th spot in a ring, so it really highlights those spirals. OOOR randomly place them based on the digits of Pi so every x number based on the digit of pie faces inwards vs outwards. Might make for an interesting pattern.

[@BrickBending]

You are next level dreaming. I love it!

[@kalunogaming]

@BrickBending haha I've have been told I can be quite the idea generator. Tend to have out of the box ideas, if you ever need any just let me know!!

[@MikuJess]

I absolutely could not see the difference between the two oranges (I am a bit colorblind, but I've never had issue with orange before) - _until_ the shot of that one that was out of place, then I could see it plain as day, before you even said anything. Eyes are so strange! You know what's NOT strange? How cool Lego circles are. The comment you mentioned doesn't know what they're talking about.

[@kentremendous5112]

“I’m gonna be honest folks, we’re just throwing science against the wall and seeing what sticks”

[@tthbeige3332]

The slide at 24:23 was very satisfying.

[@Wolforce]

Love the long format

[@jamesi188]

If you could lay the final cylinder on a set of wheels powered by a motor to rotate it the swirling image on the inside would look mesmerising! 😵‍💫

[@flochristim9316]

I loved this video so much. But I have to wonder, this seems like it would (even for your standards) take an unbelievable amount of work. How long did it take you to create these beautiful creations? Also, is there a possibility if a number of bricks as circumference where you can start building another ring on the outer ring of the slope (with the all outward-facing ring) to create some kind of funneltop-type of structure?

[@Ell_Pacino]

I'd love to see more asymmetrical designs, similar to the rainbow/ramp. There's so much potential there

[@BrickBending]

Unfortunately that is my kryptonite. Another builder hopefully will take up that mantle.

[@NeunEinser]

For the tall tube, putting lose lego plates on the inside could be an interesting effect, having them tumble up and down the helixes depending on the direction you are rolling it.

[@MohamedAli-oy6kg]

What about cylinders inside cylinders? Rotating freely. What about a wheel (strip) on a track with the helix formation? The helix on the wheel would interlock with that on the track but shouldn't produce much friction. Do you need help assembling some more? 💕

[@puzzzl]

You could introduce some really cool patterns with the forward/backward bricks besides just the staircase pattern. A diamond pattern could be really nice, and might look like the famous Indian temple of stairs, Chand Baori. You could then introduce counter-patterns across the cylinder with colors instead in/out. The artistic potential is huge.

[@erinic04]

Now you need to make a full circle out of this, bend the circles into a circle :P So many bricks

[@bellsnewpy1043]

Amazing ❤❤❤

[@BrickBending]

Thank you

[@Noise-Bomb]

What if you put one layer of 1x2 plates between each layer of the pattern on the connecting part and 1x2 tiles on the unconnected part and then try the rolling test again? It seems like it would fit together perfectly then in the "correct" orientation with the slopes actually being parallel.

[@BrickBending]

Very intriguing 🤔

[@WobblycogsUk]

I wonder how many layers you'd need before you had enough flexibility to form a torus. My guess is it would be impractical but that helix running around a torus would be impressive.

[@jameslincs]

It’s like the science of Lego building

[@johnbolt2686]

There is such great beauty in life

[@borincod]

Can two rings link to each other only by slopy sides? Of course the rings would be needed to have a bit different radii for this. These two may also slide along like bearing rings. If it is doable, then it will be possible to add additional external ring and so on and finally build a tower with rotating "floors"

[@mnevula]

if you had a circle with only some of the slopes facing outwards you could make them into little platforms for minifigs

[@CaineDM1955]

Now I'm wondering... ... starting with a 56-brick circumference, could a larger, concentric, 64-brick circle be linked to it, by 8 helical spokes? If so, the spokes would be separated by 6 brick's worth of air at the inner circle, & 7 brick's worth of air, at the outer circle. Could multiple concentric rings be linked by spokes in this way?

[@rfresa]

The next step is to build your own custom music box with the pieces sticking out of the cylinder playing notes on a metal pin instrument.

[@maxthebear7765]

I never saw this pattern as a staircase, I always saw it as a bunch of zig-zags next to each other, like if you alternated sides as you build up and down

[@donaldstewart9873]

Sub'ed and lovein' it! Keep it up. 😛Lego, It's what's for Dinner! The other, Other, building blocks!

[@watcher314159]

What I really wanted to see is the concentric rings be made ever so slightly tighter so that the rail structures interlock. If each neighboring helix's chirality is different you should get relatively constant friction.

[@oliverbart749]

Hey I was wondering where you got the gloves you use in these videos, I have hyperhidrosis which can make Lego building quite annoying for me when all my peices get covered in dirt and sweat lol. I've never been able to find nice tight fabric gloves like this, thanks for the awesome content ❤

[@donaldstewart9873]

I hope you do something other than stress test Lego and knock-offs!

[@kobeee8045]

not sure if u have done it, or it has been done before, can you put a smaller lego circle inside and fill the space between with ball bearings to create independently spinning layers?

[@BlameItOnGreg]

The individual slope pieces are not chiral, but the total builds with the helix structures are.

[@eusouodan01]

sooo satisfying ❤

[@TheOtherGuys2]

What different could be done using normal sloped 2x2 bricks? Or a mix of both?

[@BrickBending]

Amazing possibilities. I just need to find a few thousand. : )

[@keithtwombley]

only since you expressed concern using helical vs spiral, the bricks here do not have chirality. You can rotate an inward to be identical to an outward. An example of chirality is your hands; no matter how you rotate your left hand, it cannot be a right hand.

[@RikMaxSpeed]

T’unit upside down and you’ve built the first Lego model of the Apple loop!! 🎉

[@vladimirpain3942]

It is beautifull, but I am calling Lego Police anyway

[@BrickBending]

Please do. I need help.

[@realityChemist]

How many layers do you think you'd need to start bending the big orange cylinder around *the other way* to form a torus? Seems like it's much less flexible around that way (and you'd have joints in both tension on the outside and compression on the inside), so I guess it'd have to be *really* big.

[@Assorted12]

How big would the circle need to be to be made in 2x2s?

[@BrickBending]

REEEEEALLLY big

[@myfatherisdoingverywellhbu]

Builders could make a Christmas tree with the slopes upside down

[@flesby]

And now make that cylinder so large, so that itself can be bend into a hollow donut.

[@dallencorry]

I want to see the two colors spiral into one another, like a nut and bolt. I wonder how hard it would be to get that spacing right?

[@dubalo]

You should put a one-way mirror on the top and bottom. Make one of those endless pit effects.

[@IamAJoe]

Yeah sure, on the surface circles would be boring but the idea that a square block can be a circle is neat.

[@sometimesidiot5642]

the next step is to make a pillar tall enough that you can turn it into a circle

[@Varler_]

That's really neat! Would it be possible to use these pieces to make Lego gears?

[@Request_2_PANic]

11:42, I've noticed some similar variation with the K'nex pieces I have. 18:41, Now you're thinking with portals. 1. Would making a circle with the diagonal studs of a 2 by 2 be too easy? 2. Could the same offset as the inverted slopes also work with 2 by 2 bricks?

[@Aviertje]

36:44 I can see at least three different non-translucent oranges where there should be translucent ones... In another note.. if you aren't going to somehow create a gear system out of these where one cylinder gets lifted up by the other, I'm going to be disappointed... although I guess brick spacing would prevent it from working well enough to be super practical...

[@BrickBending]

Once we are into actual engineering I am no longer useful. But I completely see your point.

[@anthonymunoz6013]

My curiosity compels me to ask, can you turn that beautiful monstrosity into a GBC module? Like on a roller carriage to have the ball climb?

[@clausbitten]

I would love to see your brick figure storage area. :)

[@jonassoderberg6817]

The orange tube looks like a James Bond intro.

[@thehellriddenBaron]

36:24 You know you're not done before the helix makes one full rotation

[@solarusthelonghaulerrailfa3226]

This could be the start of a power plant cooling tower

[@bob_._.]

The sliding around 23 - 24 minutes... Seems like if you invert (or replace with non-sloped) some number of the orange blocks, you might be able to tune the force needed to move the orange pad along the blue track.

[@anticarrrot]

You should do a James Bond / Golden Gun gag looking down the length of it.

[@robertc8157]

Take Lego balls and put them inside the orange tube while rolling it. When rolling through the tube, in which direction does a ball have less rolling resisance? Because in one direction it's gonna be rolling against knobs while in the other direction it's rolling against slopes, right? I know it's giving GBC vibes at this point but how about you differ the pattern of the inside and outside staircases (left/right chirality as you call it i guess) and add rightside up sloped 2x2 bricks to the mix. I'm imagining a pattern like: upside down slopes, facing inside (left hand chirality) upside down slopes [or any other kind of brick] , facing outside (right hand chirality) rightside up slopes, facing inside rightside up slopes [or any other kind of brick] , facing outside How would this look as a circle/cylinder/tube? And how would a possible track for this kind of wheel look like or is it even possible to build a track for it? Thanks for making awesome and mesmerizing stuff like this! Cheers

[@puzzzl]

Alright so the obvious extension of this is to continue building out layers of the cylinder until you can bend the whole 10 foot structure around to form a closed torus, thus completing the ultimate brick bending challenge of bending on bending. (This torus will now become the first layer of your future 4-dimensional hyper-torus; build a few thousand more of these and get bending :)

[@joelcecil4900]

34:10 Instead of joining rings together, would it be easier to just start with a base of 3 or 4 layers, then build up brick-by-brick from there?

[@Dormazain]

That's one big Rigatoni

[@puncherinokripperino2500]

how tall this cylinder needs to be to make a torus out of it? i imagine it is possible with large enough build, but maybe it must be like earth circumference large, i don't know

[@pangolinwithahammer]

I was served 12 adverts over the run of this entire video. Normally I would've left by around ad 5 (just because the ads are programmatically inserted and so cut ideas in half and ruin the flow of sentences making the whole video less appealing) but I was grabbed by a perverse desire to see how many ads the algorithm would give me.

[@BrickBending]

Apologies. But if you join my patreon supporters you get early access to my videos ad free.

[@pangolinwithahammer]

@BrickBending It's not really a complaint against you so much as the platform. The ads would be way less annoying if they happened at predictable spots you could design around. Good patreon plug, $3 a month ain't bad :)

[@ChrissyWillowRothgeb]

Since you can make circles... would a klein bottle be out of the realm of possibility?

[@LittlePixelTM]

Portal! Interested if 2x2 non inverted slopes would work - feels like they would but you probably have good reasons :)

[@russellmaurey5927]

How many Legos do you have?! They are very expensive from what I have seen. I can't imagine how much money I would have to spend to get halfway to what you have! Kudos!

[@BrickBending]

Not so strangely, most people don't want thousands of bright light orange / medium azure 2x2 inverted slopes. bricklink.com is my go to.