Introduction: K'nex Lock

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About: Hello, my name is Ondrew. My main interests all lie in design: from mechanical to digital to sound to graphic to... Past me finds it important to go to www.legoblockshell.org to help prevent Shell from dama…

These are the instructions for my very own K'nex lock, first shown here.  The locking mechanism is powered entirely by tension, and when closed, it’s impossible to open it with force unless you rip apart the lock itself, or bend the pieces enough so you can yank the shackle out.  It is opened by pressing the button on the side shown by a note in the intro picture.   I could mess with this lock for hours.  I wouldn’t recommend actually locking anything with it, because someone’s just going to disassemble it.  Bad things could happen to your sweet loot, and we certainly don’t want that.

Step 1: Piece Count

Connectors:
White Eight-Prong: 2
Red Three-Prong: 18
Grey Two-Prong: 3
Orange Two-Prong: 7
Grey One-Prong: 11
Tan One-Prong w/ Extruding Bit: 4
Orange One-Prong w/ Extruding Bit: 1
Small Blue One-Prong: 3


Rods:
Green: 23
White: 17
Blue: 3

Miscellaneous:
Y-Rods: 6


(It's always useful to grab a few extras just in case I'm off, and if I am inaccurate in the piece count, please tell me.  It took a while to make this piece count, but I am only human, and I easily could've made a mistake.  If you're confused about what piece I'm referring to when I assign it a name, please don't hesitate to ask.)

Step 2: Shackle

This is a rather long step in which you build the shackle.  The shackle was the most difficult part of this design, because I had to remake it multiple times so it could be as sturdy as possible, yet relatively thin, with a sizable hole in the middle.

Step 3: Lock Box

This is the part where all the magic happens.  Here, you build the mechanism that allows the lock to lock.

Step 4: Connect the Shackle & Lock Box/Finishing Touches

Finish it all up.

Step 5: Hours of Mindless Entertainment

Listen to this playlist or anything you want (relative silence works too), contemplate the universe, and fiddle with the lock you just built.  You've got enough mindless entertainment to last yourself quite a while.  Have fun!
-DarkOwl

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