Marble Lego is a Lego set where all of the bricks are made from marble.
Various vein patterns are possible, as each batch of marble is unique, resulting in no two sets of Marble Lego being the same. Because the bricks are precision cut using a combination of micro water-jets and hand finishing, this is a very expensive luxury item.
Each kit comes with instructions and the extra specialised pieces needed to complete a variety of constructions. These can be either of two types: sympathetic to the use of marble or totally inappropriate to such a luxury material.
One the one hand we may see an ornate miniature palace festooned with pillars and balconies emerging, but also a partly ruined military bunker surrounded by rubble after an assault can be created.
Other luxurious items can be added to extend the range, like gold plated roof tiles; silver plumbing pipes; miniature animal skin rugs and trophy heads for interiors. No expensive is spared in generating limited edition Marble Lego.-- xenzag, Jan 09 2019 Marble https://geology.com/rocks/marble.shtml [Voice, Jan 09 2019] Lego bricks https://images.ment...R7&resize=1100x1100Typical examples. [8th of 7, Jan 10 2019] Lego works because of the flexibility of the plastic. Marble will not snap.-- Voice, Jan 09 2019 I see what you did there... Does this come with a tiny country club membership?-- Whistlebritches, Jan 09 2019 // Marble will not snap. //
Incorrect. Marble is a brittle, metamorphic rock with no flexibility. The one thing it definitely will do is snap under load.
As you correctly assert, lego works because the "skirt" of the upper brick flexes round and grips the "lump" on the lower brick, thus gripping it. The components are an interference fit.
If marble were machined to such a close tolerance for assembly, the vertical pressure required to attach two bricks would induce fractures - particularly since marble is inhomogenous (it exhibits "veining") and the discontinuities represent regions of different strengths, leading to stress concentrations.
It might be do-able by cooling the lower bricks and heating the upper ones but the assembly would still be fragile.-- 8th of 7, Jan 09 2019 For most Lego structures, there is no need for a tight fit. You only need it for things like overhangs and beams. Marble Lego would lend itself well to traditional architectural models, where there are few instances of tension.-- MaxwellBuchanan, Jan 09 2019 I imagine if the round studs were slightly tapered and sandblasted to create some frosted texture, they would have similar adhesion to that of the glass stoppers used in chemistry equipment.-- xenzag, Jan 09 2019 That would probably work. It would make sense to prototype the design in glass initially, as a quick, cheap proof-of concept.
// traditional architectural models //
If, however, the builder's inclination is towards the creation of vehicles, non-gripping components would be vastly less suitable.-- 8th of 7, Jan 09 2019 Not really. Ground glass stoppers work because the taper can go into the neck as far as needed to give a tight fit. With lego studs, the fit limit is set by contact between the upper planar surface of one brick, and the lower edge of the other.-- MaxwellBuchanan, Jan 09 2019 I believe minimum levels of grip adhesion will work at this scale. Thorough testing will confirm.-- xenzag, Jan 09 2019 It should be fairly easy to CNC machine lego peices from marble to exact tolerances. Just suction should make pulling them apart something which doesn't just happen without some effort.-- 2 fries shy of a happy meal, Jan 09 2019 If the bricks are laid to stretcher bond, there will be a vertical joint under the centre of each brick. This will preclude adhesion by suction, shirley ?-- 8th of 7, Jan 10 2019 I can't be sure but just the partial vacuum created by the individual... indents and outdents should be good for a few seconds of grip. Maybe even longer if forced apart.-- 2 fries shy of a happy meal, Jan 10 2019 The interior of a standard 2 x 4 lego brick is mostly empty space <link>. There is no obvious way of creating or maintaining a vacuum.
Are you suggesting a different geometry for the underside of the marble bricks ?-- 8th of 7, Jan 10 2019 If you're willing to demean the material a little you could attach rubber linings to the female side.-- Voice, Jan 10 2019 Oh great, kinky lego ...
<Decides against googling for "lego fetish"/>-- 8th of 7, Jan 10 2019 //Are you suggesting a different geometry for the underside of the marble bricks ?//
Woops, yes I was. It's been many years since I played with them. If the surface was the inverse of the underside then suction would hold them together for a time.
Sorry. Not the way they are now. Just solid stone blocks which fit together almost seamlessly.-- 2 fries shy of a happy meal, Jan 10 2019 // Not the way they are now. //
They've always been like that.
// It's been many years since I played with them. //
You can get tablets from the pharmacy for that, now.-- 8th of 7, Jan 10 2019 //They've always been like that.//
They've always been plastic too. Things change.
//You can get tablets from the pharmacy for that, now.//
Not much you can't get tablets from the pharmacy for, now. 'magine that.-- 2 fries shy of a happy meal, Jan 10 2019 Lego started with wood before switching to plastic. Suction implies that you first overcame the air pressure to get them together. Drill tiny air passageways in the side?-- RayfordSteele, Jan 10 2019 If the bricks were stuck together with some kind of mortar, this would provide the necessary gription.-- hippo, Jan 10 2019 // Drill tiny air passageways in the side? //
You'd end up creating a thing like a minuscule harmonica, which is bad enough, but it's only a short step from that to trained tiny monkeys playing minature accordions, and then there's nothing for it but a flamethrower ...-- 8th of 7, Jan 10 2019 Van der Waals wotsits?-- not_morrison_rm, Jan 10 2019 I have an egg shaped wooden vessel my grandfather made as an apprentice in the shipyard. The two halfs fit together to perfection, as if made by a machine. There is very slight suction to be overcome in order to separate them. It is this type of precision that is proposed for Marble Lego.-- xenzag, Jan 10 2019 random, halfbakery