How do you prepare to build?

Some old school types might tip all the parts at once into a pile and just rummage through them for each step.
Whilst that prolongs your build and can give satisfaction when you find the part you're looking for it can also cause frustration for other builders.

I find most people tend to open the numbered bags on larger builds one at a time to avoid being overwhelmed and this seems to work for them.

Then there is 'knolling'. The art of laying out all the parts in a set on the table in a pattern before starting to put anything together. I'd heard of this technique before but never actually known anyone do it so I thought I'd give it a try with a relatively small set, Creator 3in1 31112.

You can see the results in the picture below. It was kind of satisfying to create it and it looks kind of cool now. I imagine it's going to make building quicker but the time taken to sort the parts beforehand probably negates that.

In summary, whilst I enjoyed giving it a go I wouldn't dream of doing this for a larger set, not least because it would take up an enormous amount of space, and I think I'll probably just stick to pouring the bags out in my building tray and having a rummage for the parts as usual. And then after searching for 3 or 4 times for one small part I'll go back to the bags to find it still stuck in the corner of one of them. Always. ​

Our public group over on Facebook has seen some fantastic growth and engagement over the last 7 days.

Active members are up. Posts, comments and engagements are up. I put this down to the influx of new members we've just had and them learning what a fun, friendly bunch we are.

​Building a community is more than just providing a space for people to come together. You have to fill that space with quality content and activity that they will want to interact with. You need to make the space a safe, inclusive one, one where they will feel comfortable sharing their thoughts and ideas as well as being able to openly comment on others posts.

​I'm proud of the community we are building here at Sheffield LUG and I'd like you to be a part of it. You don't need to be a member to be a part of our Facebook group: it's open to all so pop over and take a look.

​Sheffield LEGO User Group public Facebook Group