A Fantastic Introduction to LEGO Technic Building

Among the many reasons I like the holidays is because a variety of new LEGO books appear each year.  I recently got my hands on a few new LEGO books and here is the first of the reviews I will be posting on Amazon.

The review below is for The Unofficial LEGO Technic Builder's Guide, by Pawel Kmiec.

This well illustrated guide is ideal for both new and advanced Technic builders.
Image courtesy of No Starch Press.

Both new and experienced LEGO Technic fans will find Pawel Kmiec’s Unofficial LEGO Technic Builder’s Guide to be an excellent construction resource.  

For the new builder, Kmiec offers multiple, full color illustrations on nearly every page, along with an excellent overview of beams, plates, bricks, gears and pins.

Meanwhile, expert builders will find themselves immersed in detailed explanations of linear clutches, ratchets, Scotch Yokes, Oldham couplings and contraptions for which they never new the name!  Best of all, though, is that Kmiec offers both mini and complete building examples to help the reader master each type of mechanism.

Whereas this book contains an incredible wealth of technical knowledge for all skill levels, one chapter that has incredible universal appeal is Chapter 11: Building Strong.  Kmiec does a fantastic job of helping builders identify weak components or structural concerns, then offers robust tips for reinforcing gear boxes, strengthening load bearing structures and choosing the right parts from the start.

Since many Technic creations roll and/or move, Kmiec dedicates a good portion of his book to advanced mechanics, but even the newest Technic fans will enjoy these sections because he offers step-by-step instructions ranging from simple suspensions all the way to rough terrain tackling, pendular portal designs.   Despite the complex sound and appearance of things, Kmiec breaks down concepts simply, ensuring your next car, truck, crane or robot will be remarkable.

Fans of both the old and new LEGO pneumatic systems will find two chapters dedicated to air powered contraptions, concluding with impressive instructions on how to build both a single and a two cylinder pneumatic engine.

Technic motors are favored by many builders and Kmiec offers a complete inventory of these mechanical marvels from past to present, followed by an interesting chapter on the various LEGO power supplies and remote controls.  Kmiec concludes these chapters with a few fun projects on how to convert joystick-oriented remotes into more intuitive steering wheels (using Technic parts of course).  Brilliant!

Adult LEGO fans looking to either educate themselves or advance their technical building techniques will find this volume to be the most comprehensive Technic resource available to date.  LEGO MINDSTORMS builders, fans of construction vehicles, and builders who like to build crazy contraptions can all learn from this book, even if they’ve been building for years.

The Unofficial LEGO Technic Builder’s Guide gets five stars.  The amount of information and illustrations in this book make it well worth the $29.95 cover price.