Some Hints for Building

  • A strong and light structure. Doesn't bend easily.


  • This way the axles turn more easily.


  • A clutch. The pipe keeps the axles in line.


  • A permanent joint.


  • Another permanent joint.


  • Use a "very hard joint" when you want the parts to stay together during the pull-down of the ride (see Himalaya).


  • Why to open a turntable?
    - To lubricate it. Silicone grease is good for plastic (see Flying Circus).
    - To screw nuts and screws when studs don't hold strong enough (see Chaos and Tornado).
    - To build a revolving electricity joint inside (I haven't tried that yet).


  • You can decrease the speed of the axle by using the inner cogs of a turntable.


  • This way you can hide an axle inside a beam.


  • An adjustable angle.


  • A revolving electricity joint made of circuit board.


  • An easier revolving electricity joint.


  • A revolving pneumatic joint.


  • Some technical data about 9V LEGO-motors.
    - Current on idle 6 mA
    - Maximum current before the cutout 85 mA
    (The motor cuts out the power when the current
    rises too high.)


    - Speed 4200 rpm (rounds per minute)
    - Inner resistant 15 ohms
    - Current on idle 48 mA
    - Max current before cutout 400 mA


    - Speed 350 rpm
    - If you don't use this motor for a long time, it may
    stuck and never work again. Spin it at least every two
    months to keep it "alive".

    All these lego-motors are too fast and too weak to spin a ride alone.
    Well, a micromotor (the red one) can turn a small and light ride.
    You can control the speed and make the motor turn slower by a train transformer.

    However it doesn't make the motor any stronger, only weaker.
    You have to use gears to make the spinning slower and stronger.

    An example: In a turntable there is 56 cogs (=teeth). Use the motor to turn a
    8-teeth gear and put this gear in touch with the turntable. Now when the motor
    makes 7 turns, the turntable makes only one (56/8=7). At the same time it
    is 7 times stronger.


    You can then put the motor turn 8-teeth gear which touches a 24-teeth gear.
    Then put a 8-teeth gear on the same axle with the 24-teeth gear and make it turn a turntable.
    This way the turntable is 21 times stronger than the motor (24/8*56/8=3*7=21).

    The speed of the turntable is now 16.7 rpm (350 rpm/21=16.7 rpm)
    The maximum speed of a Superbowl is 17 rpm so this is a good gearing for the Superbowl.

    When a smaller gear turns a bigger one, it is slower and stronger.
    When a bigger gear turns a smaller one, it is faster and weaker.
    When there is 3 or more gears in a row (=all on different axles), the middle ones don't count.
    Only the sizes of the first one and the last one matters.


    Hinge for the background picture. The instructions here.