[Mac]

Here is what it can look like put together as part of a desk. This is one that is 36 inches long though. So this is not the largest size.

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[Mac]

Hello,

I joined the discord channel but it says that I dont have permission to post in any of the channels. Has anyone else had this problem? Am I missing a step somewhere?

[Mac]

@timf That is very possible to do. Just let me know how big you want the design to be. I will look around and see if I can find some material. But honestly this seems like a super easy project.

[Mac]

@timf A .svg is just a scalable vector graphic. So it just means a image file that you can scale up without it looking all pixelated or grainy. You can think of it as just another image file format similar to .jpeg or something like that.

Honestly, if you can just share any image file with me of what you want I can probably convert it in a matter of minutes and show you what it would look like. Then we could try using the laser cutter.

I was also thinking it might be cool to take the club logo and make some leather keychains with it on them. If I have time before this weekend maybe I will test the idea out.

@joshhall Yeah it is odd having more than one Josh, maybe I need to pick a nickname. lol

Josh

[Mac]

@bengood921 Thanks for the information. I was just looking online and saw several examples using the 4×4 plates on top. Here is one example from brick train depot.
https://www.bricktraindepot.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Cams-Brick-MILS-BTM-Green.pdf

I was just curious is there was an advantage of using lots of smaller plates on top, rather than fewer larger plates. I could see it giving you more control over your design perhaps, or maybe there was a cost savings. I was also thinking it might help with the plates being flatter since it would allow a little more movement between plates.

But it is good to know I can use whatever I want.

@pnbrenem and @willmcdine Thanks for pointing me to the instruction 5 on L-gauge’s site. I had seen the site, but not dug into their instructions yet. I like your idea of just using the baseplate without MILS. I might start there and then slowly upgrade to MILS. I have some baseplates and could get my tracks set up on that. Maybe I will wait until the LUGBULK parts to start converting to MILS.

Sadly I dont think I can make Brickfest Live. But perhaps you can post a couple photos.

Thank you all,
josh

[Mac]

@timf I do have a cnc mill that could engrave on legos. I have never tried that but I have engraved on aluminum and it worked fine. So I would assume we can do it.

The laser can cut foam. I have only tried cutting EVA foam but I dont see why it would not work on other foams too. I would just google Glowforge Laser Cutter and see if someone else has done it and what settings they recommend.

I work in the strip district so if you could drop off the materials we could easily give it a shot. I would just need a .svg file of the design you want cut out. There is a good free program called inkscape that lets you created .svg files easily.

Let me know if you want to give either of the ideas a shot.

Josh

[Mac]

@greg Happy to help on anything I can. I manage a prototyping shop at work so we have lots of fun toys. It is a little unrelated to lego but might have some opportunities for cross over too.

We have some really nice measurement tools and 3d printers, cnc milling machines, laser cutter and even 3d scanners. I also have an injection molding machine in my garage I need to fix one day.

A few random ideas I had were the following:

Using our pull testing machine to actually push and pull Legos and measure the forces. Perhaps compare to megablocks and tyco blocks.

Use the 3d printer to make some custom parts. Name tags, or some swag for the group. I donno.

We have a laser cutter that can engrave on things too. So wood plaques or leather keychains for the club.

I saw someone do a oled display for the their trains that actually read the real train arrival / departure data and updated the little display on their train display. Might be cool for a train display to show the Pittsburgh T-Shedule

Josh

[Mac]

@greg Thanks for letting me know about the Trolley Museum. I will look into it further. This weekend was already pretty full but perhaps I can take the boys out to see it next weekend.

I have been involved with Lego Robotics a little over the years. I coached a team while I was in high school and also another team while in college. Since I moved to Pittsburgh I have not done anything with lego robotics but have helped the high school teams with BotsIQ which is similar but not using legos.

If anyone knows of programs that need support let me know.

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