Man builds functional typewriter out of Legos
Lego kits have become impressively complex over the years, but the company has really outdone itself with a 2,079-piece typewriter in 2021. As part of its Ideas series, the brick makers have launched the fully functional mechanical keyboard. It’s a unique and extremely well-designed set, but not without limitations. Quite understandably, the Lego typewriter allowed you to type on it, but it couldn’t actually put ink on paper.
Lego expert and YouTuber Koenkun Bricks wasn’t entirely happy with the compromise, however. In a recent video, the Netherlands-based hobbyist documented his quest to create a working typewriter that pressed tiny Lego letters onto a sheet of “paper” also constructed from strips of Lego tiles. The end results are fascinating to watch, but only if you can handle all the trial and error it took to get there.
It’s difficult to list all the various experimental solutions, miniature prototypes and complete workarounds needed to achieve the final product. All those hours of work combined are also enough to stress anyone out. Turns out it takes a fleet of internal mechanisms to ensure that each Lego letter leaves its respective dispenser, rolls down an inclined path toward the hammer, and then prints successfully on a sheet of Lego paper. Meanwhile, other mechanical devices (and many rubber bands) push the sheet from left to right.
Ultimately, the device looks more like a Dr. Seuss invention than a classic typewriter, but Koenkun Bricks clearly subscribed to a “form follows function” approach when making its contraption. As one commenter wrote, the machine technically behaves more like a typographer on a printing press than like a typewriter. Regardless, it was a serious undertaking that deserved to be highlighted in real print.
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