How To Clean A Lot Of Legos

This article is the third in a series most buying and selling used LEGO.

In my previous article, I looked at strategies to get a good deal buying bulk unsorted Lego. Hopefully there are some complete sets buried in the buckets you bought, simply earlier nosotros can start sorting the bricks into their respective sets, nosotros will need to sort them to see what we've got.

Disassemble random creations (left), but place partially assembled sets aside for later on (right).

This article assumes that the bricks you purchased are largely unsorted and disassembled. Bricks that are snapped together should be disassembled during the sorting process, unless it looks similar office of an official Lego model which you should set aside for at present. (A child's half-assembled "MOC" or My Own Creation isn't going to help you determine which sets you have.) I volition go into the process of sorting bricks into specific sets in my next article.

Sorting Goals

Earlier you start sorting, take a few minutes to consider how your sorting goals. This volition depend on your philosophy, the containers you volition use to hold the sorted bricks, and the number of bricks you need to sort. For example, y'all might choose to sort a small collection of bricks past colour alone, but y'all might want to sort a big drove and then precisely that every different color of every different part has a separate container.

When I started sorting, I thought that I would sort by rough type and colour. For instance, put all the 2×2, 2×3, 2×4, 2×6 bricks of the same color in one bag. Once I started sorting the bricks into specific sets I realized that information technology is better to sort by brick blazon than color, since it is a lot easier to find a ruddy 2×2 brick in a large container of two×2's than finding a 2×two in a large container of miscellaneous red bricks.

If you lot are sorting a lot of bricks, sort by brick type first. You only need to sort by color if yous accept too many bricks to fit them all in a unmarried container.

Sorting "Algorithm"

An "Algorithm" is a informatics term for a repeatable procedure to solve a problem. In our case, the trouble is sorting a ton of Lego, and we want an efficient system for getting it done. If y'all need to sort a lot of Lego, it volition be impractical to sort everything into their last storage location in a unmarried step. That's why I chose a two-pass organisation which first rapidly sorts the bricks by general part type, then I tin sort them more than precisely later.

Quick sort:

• Chunks of partially assembled models. (They may assistance you determine what sets you lot have later.)
• Minifigures, Animals, and Minifig accessories (swords, guns, etc…)
• Anything with unique stickers or printing
• Technics pieces (Confined, Pins, gears, etc…)
• 1x Bricks (one×i, 1×2, i×iii, 1×four, 1×6, etc…)
• 2x Bricks (ii×ii, 2×3, 2×iv, 2×6, etc…)
• Tall Bricks
• 1x Plates
• 2x Plates
• Large Plates
• Slope bricks
• Cheese Slopes (1×1) / Graters (1×2)
• Jumpers (ane×2, 2×2)
• Tiles (1×i, i×2, i×four, 2×2, etc…)
• Clips
• Bionicle pieces
• Other parts (Confined, BURP's, etc…)

Since I purchased the bricks on Christmas vacation, I had lots of time to begin the sorting procedure away from domicile. (It was football season and I don't care that much for the sport.) Every bit such, I did a lot of my sorting into 1 gallon Ziploc bags which I could purchase inexpensively from the Grocery store. Large plastic bins would be easier if I had them bachelor.

I constitute that the fastest way to sort was to grab a couple handfuls of bricks, spread them out on the floor. I then grabbed all the pieces that I could come across of a given type, then moved on to the side by side type. I usually started with big common parts like the 2x and 1x bricks; this thinned the pile making it easier to discover the smaller pieces that remained. (I didn't worry too much almost making sorting mistakes, since I would discover incorrectly sorted pieces in the 2nd phase.)

The goal of the first sort is to set aside all the like parts like this.

When the initial sort was complete, I ended upward with near 30 gallon-sized bags full of bricks. I had merely a unmarried small bag of Jumpers and Cheese, and but I had many i-gallon numberless of 1×i Bricks, ane×2 Bricks, Technics and Bionicle.

Precise sort:
After completing the quick sort, I took one large bag at time and sorted the parts into smaller containers. In most cases I sorted each brick into a purse containing only a single part type, although uncommon parts would go into a bag of miscellaneous less mutual parts. (ex: "Other" clips.)

Using the Lego Ruler and Sorting guide to sort through larger parts.

I don't know about you, but I tin easily distinguish a one×two from a 1×iii at a glance, whereas I demand to count the studs to choice out a 1×12 from a one×10. Technic axles are even worse! To brand this precise sorting a lot easier, I designed and printed a Lego Ruler and sorting tool which I discussed in a previous article. I highly recommend using this to sort larger plates, bricks and Technics parts.

Sorting and Storage:

Fifty-fifty if your long-term goal is to sort the bricks dorsum into the sets which they came from, you will demand to temporarily store them in their sorted state. I looked into and tried several solutions, so you lot can option the method which best meets your needs and upkeep.

• Ziploc Numberless – You could sort everything into minor Ziploc bags if you desire. In my feel, a 60 pound collection volition event in at least 200 bags containing all the parts of a given type. This is viable if yous take a large flooring you lot can use. In my case, I fabricated room in the center of the room to sit, and surrounded myself with four rows of individual bags of bricks on all sides. If you fold the lip of each handbag over, the purse volition sit upwards more easily and will stay open up then you tin come across the contents from to a higher place.
• Hobby Boxes – Hobby shops sell plastic bins with a lid which fold over for sorting crafts. Most have removable dividers allowing y'all to adjust the size of each bin. This approach works okay, especially of you take sub-sorted each role by color, but information technology can exist cumbersome if y'all need to find the one light-blue part in a tiny compartment since you can't dump the container out without dumping all the parts out of their cubbies. I use this approach for my collection of White bricks for building Architectural models, but don't recommend it for quickly finding and sorting bricks to recreate a large number of sets.
• Drawer Bins – Several companies sell storage units which consist of many removable plastic drawers. I found these to be platonic for this project, as y'all can see the contents of each drawer since they are clear, and they can be removed and dumped out to find a stubborn part of a specific color.

My storage system

As a movie speaks a thousand words, I wanted to prove a few photos of my finished sorting and storage system.

My Lego parts are sorted into these stackable drawers.

As you tin see, I am using five Akro-Mils plastic drawers. I have two units containing 64 small drawers which are perfect for fiddly $.25 like Technic pins, clips and hinges. I have three units with 24 large drawers which I apply for Bricks and Plates, since they are more common parts. I likewise apply them for Minifigures and other larger parts. I don't have a peachy storage solution for big parts like wheels, large plates and BURPS, so for now I'm using a few large plastic drawers and some gallon Ziploc numberless.

Each drawer has been carefully labeled.

I have painstakingly labeled virtually every drawer using a Brother PT-1230 label maker. It allows you lot to print labels from your computer on waterproof labels. I created the stickers chop-chop using images from Bricklink, but they have worked well for me and then far. I might share the files I used to print all the labels if that would exist useful to people.

4/2/2014: I am pleased to share the files used to create these labels. You tin can find the link to download and print the labels in this article: Printable labels to sort your LEGO collection. I hope you find them useful!

I hope you lot establish this article interesting. I'm very curious to hear the processes other employ to sort a lot of Lego – practice y'all exercise a two-pass sort also? Do you have a different manner to store your sorted bricks?

If you liked this article, please share it or exit a comment below. Thanks!

Source: http://tomalphin.com/2014/03/from-buckets-to-bins-how-to-sort-a-lot-of-lego.html

Posted by: haynesshols1954.blogspot.com

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