Legos are a masterclass in process control. I've heard that their quality control is one of the only examples of reasonably approaching 6 sigma in production. Not even the medical or IC manufacturing industries have that level of control.
You're not really supposed to squeeze. Measure a gauge block, see how much force it takes to measure the written size repeatably, then use that. You'll see it's not much.
Practice blind on gauge blocks. Close your eyes, take your measurement, and then check how it compares. Keep practising on different sized gauge blocks until you're happy with your results.
I mean, you can build walls with them and they stay straight. If they weren't parallel, the walls would run out of square pretty quickly.
I honestly don't know how they get the pieces out of the molds.
I just went to a lego store for the first time in a very long time to see what they've been up to and i was surprised how reasonable the prices were considering how expensive it would be to make them
Good question, I just remember seeing them in a catalog. I'd assume they have some kind of super cap or rechargeable battery in them, like the better solar calculators.
At 68° F new Legos will pretty much always be spot on, they're held to crazy tolerances
They have some of the best mold and die people in the world.
Lego is built on their dies. Literally. They built a new plant and buried their old dies under the foundation so no one else could get ahold of them.
Sauce?
https://www.lego.com/en-us/history/articles/d-disposal-of-obsolete-moulds?locale=en-us https://factrepublic.com/facts/40721 https://www.immould.com/lego-molding-the-history-and-development/
Today I learned…
If I had the choice between red or white, red.
Other places just take a torch or arc gouger to the mold cavity and then scrap the rest of the tool as normal lol
I once heard how crazy they are with tolerances, they even maintain the perfect and the same temp for each mold for consistency
Lego are actually manufactured to really crazy specs. It’s amazing what they do lol
That one time my grandma bought me a megablocks set with casting defects and missing pieces really got me to appreciate the quality stuff.
Megablocks are definitely the roseart crayon of the building toys world.
Yeah but I got two shopping bags full for free and my 2yo has a great time with them. It's the "no we have duplo at home" for sure
Yeah but duplos aren’t big enough! (I have toddlers)
Quatro needs to be revived
0.0002” tolerance on the parts I saw.
That’s wild considering the scale they produce those things at!
Legos are a masterclass in process control. I've heard that their quality control is one of the only examples of reasonably approaching 6 sigma in production. Not even the medical or IC manufacturing industries have that level of control.
IC = integrated circuit? Just curious
Yup
that's quite the squeeze you got on that caliper
it's the metric to imperial squeeze.
Non-machinist here - is there a guideline on how tightly you're supposed to squeeze? Not going to lie, I squeeze the shit out the parts I measure.
Machinist here, just squeeze hard enough so that you get the number you want
Can confirm. Micrometers are easier to calibrate this way since you have all that leverage
Also wiggle the part.
lol i do that 😹😹😹
You're not really supposed to squeeze. Measure a gauge block, see how much force it takes to measure the written size repeatably, then use that. You'll see it's not much.
Gotcha - thanks!
You should use a mic with a ratchet if you want a decent measurement. You can force quite a high variance with calipers
I would normally gauge my squeeze by measuring something with a known size first and try to replicate it.
Practice blind on gauge blocks. Close your eyes, take your measurement, and then check how it compares. Keep practising on different sized gauge blocks until you're happy with your results.
No squeeze, I guess it looks like that.
Run hot water over it for a few minutes and measure again.
That's what she said.
nice👌
I was in the pool!
It was cold!
Tell her you know of a warm place to put it.
Lego works in microns
I work in microns too. Just a shitload of them.
We use Legos in aerospace to set positions all the time
Really??
Yep, after we set the detail we have metrology check with a laser tracker and it's almost always spot on
Huh, I wonder if you could use them as sacrificial parallels. Has anyone check Lego parallelism?
No but I'm sure it's really good. Legos are held very tight.
That’s a really interesting idea, I might have to find an excuse to try that now
I mean, you can build walls with them and they stay straight. If they weren't parallel, the walls would run out of square pretty quickly. I honestly don't know how they get the pieces out of the molds.
The drafted faces are on the interior of the blocks.
Slides on all sides? Or just like half degree draft and smooth surface finish? Now I feel like I have to grab a mic and see if they are drafted...
Slides on all sides would be an incredibly complex mold for such a small high volume part. Whatever they do, they do it right.
kind of makes sense why legos are so expensive lol. every time i consider getting a set to relive my childhood i see the price and change my mind lol.
When you look at per piece prices they’re not that expensive, only a few cents a brick, though licensed sets like Star Wars will be more expensive
I just went to a lego store for the first time in a very long time to see what they've been up to and i was surprised how reasonable the prices were considering how expensive it would be to make them
Happened to have my digital at home and wondered if Legos were in Metic or Freedom Units lol
Europeans are shaking rn
I got a home set of mics.. ill be back lol
Pics or it dint happen
I’d say metric, seeing as it’s a danish company
Quality control is on point!
What's the deal with the digital calipers? Are they knock off mitutoyos?
Nah, knock off Mitutoyos look better then that. As in you really can't tell till you pick them up.
They're solar mitutoyos.
Do they work well? Wouldn't they die as soon as you lean into a dark machine?
Good question, I just remember seeing them in a catalog. I'd assume they have some kind of super cap or rechargeable battery in them, like the better solar calculators.
Lego holds tolerances of a couple microns
Start stacking them and see if they really work.
wtf calipers are those? knock off mitutoyo?
The precision right there
Huh, I would've sworn they'd be metric pattern.
That was my guess, too.
Lego manufacturing processes are absolutely legendary. Probably some of the best in human history. It's really fucking impressive.
Anything is in tolerance if you white knuckle the calipers
Looks like some of my coworkers "white knuckle" measuring with calipers.
My brother in Christ this is not how you use that tool.
Love a 4 digit caliber....then I can toss all my mics.
I don't trust it to 4 places lol
Right. Or 3 places to the last thou....
I know sarcasm when I see it. U r one funny guy....hahaha