Thread: Lego

Puts another slant on segmented turning.

Cheers

Tim

Any reason you couldn't fill with epoxy and then turn?

what a unusual medium to turn who cares if it falls apart just put the piece back together and away you go again

I was going to write something but am a loss for words and cannot stop laughing.

Actually, contradiction. Didn't turn out well.

Was the tool sharp?
I know turners think a bit outside the main stream but what gave you the idea in the first place. I have been a leggo fan since as a small child in the 60tes and got some as a christmass present. My parents were happy also as they had a lot less stupid questions to answer.
Anyhoo you do not deserve a result, LEGGO IS NOT TO BE ABUSED LIKE THAT!
Regards
John

How did you come up with idea to turn lego? Theres plenty of lego in my house, but it never crossed my mind. Maybe I should take another look in the toybox.
Cheer Skewturn

Definitely Lego abuse!

Originally Posted by Pac man

Any reason you couldn't fill with epoxy and then turn?

I love the concept and Pacman's idea is a bloody good one. Would take a while but could be worth it

Need a fair bit of "grain filler" to get a smooth surface..
Jim

This thread struck a cord with me, I seemed to remember something about turning lego in our UK forum. So a quick search and below is an extract from the thread - might be a different way of looking at it as a turning material!

'as part of the restoration process I used to repair ABS plastics on the fairings and other plastic parts as opposed to the GRP which is used on modern bikes. The principles involved in this could, I suppose, be translated to the turning world.

It is very easy to do and very cheap - which is what I like.

Find some ABS, either old drain pipes or my favourite LEGO (which has the advantage of being coloured - Also 10kg of it on ebay for less than a tenner). If you can wrestle it from your eight your old son (DAMHIKT) cut it up small with some tin snips and put into one of those cheap ketchup squirters which are normally found in Pound Shops. This is a different plastic and unaffected by the process.

Next cover the ABS with Acetone. I use 95% Acetone which you can buy online for not a lot. Leave for a few hours to dissolve with the lid on (this is important or the acetone will evaporate and you are back to square one) then shake it up to ensure the ABS has dissolved evenly and pour into a mould.

Leave exposed to the air until it has set and there you have a block of ABS.

I have yet to try this in the size and thickness required for pen blanks but it seems to be a cheaper alternative to the expensive acrylics I see for sale online. I have no idea what its like to turn but when I am home next I will try it and let you all know.

The colour of the ABS may be a bit odd but it might be a good basis if you are going to use finishes or air brushing.

Posted by Gary_Claus '

I've never tried it and Gary has not posted anything showing he has but if anyone does give it a go it might be very interesting.

Might be nice inlayed rather than segmented. Maybe you could somehow sand off most of the thickness of a flat block and glue it round a pen blank so the blips stick up and then cast it in resin. I can imagine some lego people cast in a thick resin bowl.

Clean up the lego or I'll stick it in the lathe again!

Gary's idea is certainly interesting... Might look into that.

To answer a few questions; my tools were VERY sharp but at low speeds the plastic 'chips' in a bit of an unpredictable way. I had the 'piece' glued to a faceplate at the chuck end and supported by a jam chuck at the tailstock end too. At higher speeds I think the plastic was possibly becoming a little too hot. It didn't melt exactly, but the edges of any gaps were very 'ragged' and did not cut cleanly. The state you see here is after a little cleaning up with a craft knife.

I've always looked for creative ways of improving what I do... experimenting with different materials is simply part of that. I suppose it's thinking outside the box, to use an old cliché.

I see what Pac Man is getting at. It was all very carefully 'bonded' with medium and thin CA when it was assembled, but I suppose I could have 'filled' every brick with some resin or CA too, but it would have been a LOT of work. Also if I put each layer upside down to fill all the bricks with resin, then it would not really fit together like Lego properly. The only way I can see of achieving that is to drill a hole in each brick and fill them when it's all clipped together... somewhat difficult.

It didn't sand well either.

I don't think it's Lego abuse... and orraloon there's only one G in Lego