LEGO pieces are precisely designed to fit together snuggly. This gives you the ability to build huge creations that won’t fall apart. The downside is that it can be a real pain to separate bricks or plates that are stuck together!
If you played with LEGO as a child you probably used your fingernails or teeth as a solution. OUCH! DON’T! This is a really bad idea for your nails, your teeth, and your LEGO! Your nail will grow back, but your teeth won’t. Both your teeth and your LEGO are long-term investments, and they will reward you nicely if you take care of them.
A much better solution? Use a LEGO Brick Separator. This is the one tool that you should definitely invest in early in your LEGO hobby. You should get at least two LEGO Brick Separators, but more the better. Especially if several members of your family build with LEGO.
It is also a good idea to encourage children from early on to use a LEGO Brick Separator instead of their teeth! Make them available, and have them around while they play.
Unfortunately most department stores won’t carry the LEGO Brick Separator, but you can get them at LEGO’s own store location and other brick-and-mortar stores. They are also available on BrickLink: LEGO Brick Separator on BrickLink, on Amazon: LEGO Brick Separator on Amazon, and on eBay.
If you have several bricks or plates stuck together: grab steadily the stuck LEGO-pieces with one hand, attach the LEGO Brick Separator to two LEGO studs on top of the stuck pieces, and press down on the handle portion of the LEGO Brick Separator. The topmost LEGO brick or plate will come right off with little effort – much better than using your nails.
If you have only two plates stuck together: you will need two LEGO Brick Separators. Attach one at the bottom, and one at the top of the stuck parts, then press the handles towards each other (like if you would use pliers). The parts will separate like a charm!
Removing tiles: the LEGO Brick Separator also has a little ledge which can be used to remove tiles. Slide the LEGO Brick Separator under the tile at an angle, and push down on the handle-part to pry the tile off.
Alternate solution to remove tiles: the little LEGO minifig-wrench has a nice flat edge at one end that can also be used to remove stuck tiles. You see Mr. Dummy at the beginning of this post demonstrating the technique. 😉
Great little tutorial on a neat little tool. It never occurred to me to use two in tandem. I’ll have to order another now.
Yep! Actually that is one of their neatest features, as plates can get stuck together so tightly! We always learn something new! 😀
Gosh! I should have read this before! I never knew about using two together!
LOL! Love the little guy chewing on his bricks!!!!
i didn’t know about the tandem use either! I do have several brick separators just because they always get misplaced, so I did try this, and it works! Thanks for the tip!
Great use of the wrench! Never knew that!
Lego Games does a good job of showing kids better means of tile seperation. They include a wrench or crowbar (New Heroica sets have this) with every set with the purpose of removing tiles from the Lego die. Now if they’d make Brick Seperators more widely available…
That’s great to know, Jim, thanks for sharing! I love that crowbar! Yes, anything is better then broken fingernails, or even worse; teeth! 😯
LEGO did include a brick-separator with the first Master Builder Academy, so hopefully this will make it more popular. I have found that most kids still don’t know about them. I just wish they would make the brick-separator in brigther colors so it is easier to find them in a pile of bricks! 😛
ok, 2 comments in 2 minutes 🙂 new site added to my faves 🙂 i LOVE my brick separator- i have a grey one i think came with my mindstorms set, and i actually had it for some time before i realized it was a tool and not some kinda landing gear piece or something. and now, i have my awesome green one from MBA! (i ended up with 2 mba sets-longish story- so yay i have 2 MBA green separators!) but yep, no more tooth marks or broken nails. if you wanna do LEGO you need a separator as much as you need a fishin pole if you wanna fish 😀
Amen to that last sentence, Sean! 😆
The only thing I wish for the brick-separator is for it to come in some kind of outrageous color like lime-green, shocking-pink or fluorescent yellow! I keep misplacing mine in a pile of bricks when I’m building something. 😐
LOL! That’s funny about the landing gear! Oh, BTW, if you stick two little horns (like from the Viking helmet) into the holes on your gray brick-separator, it makes a cute walrus. 😉
Do you know if you can use them like pliers if you have one of the newer version and one of this version? Because I only have one like this and one new one.
Yes, you can! As long as you use the old version at the bottom and the new version on top. 😉
teeth work very well too 😉 lol, I love my brick separators!! 😀
LOL! Yeah, but they ruin your LEGO bricks. Also, your teeth can get damaged too. You might not care for it now, but when you are older you will pay for it – in real $$$. So better to keep your choppers and use LEGO’s own brickseparator. Nowdays they are including one in practically every set! 😀
Does all this applies for the orange separator?
The orange separator cannot be used in tandem. Unfortunately. But it has some other neat features like the axle remover. Personally I have two old style-ones and two new ones; between them they can take care of all my stuck LEGO problems. 🙂
Thanks for taking the time to reply. Now I get it. Thanks! (must..order..2…green…)
The best tool imo, is a simple box-knife with a retracting blade. It will get in to any space and easily pop off a brick with just a twist. However, it’s a professional’s tool, and would never recommend one for a child, or even an adult, that doesn’t have plenty of prior experience. Also besides hurting yourself, you can damage the product; skill and experience is a must. If you have the skills though, they’re awesome tools for a lego build.
Hmmm… you have to have a VERY steady hand for using a blade on LEGO, otherwise it would be very easy to damage the bricks. The Brick Separator featured here is specifically designed by LEGO to make sure that the parts won’t get damaged, while still allowing easy separation of the pieces. But of course if you like to use a blade on your own LEGO, and you are comfortable with that, we won’t hold it against you. 😉