# Lego dimensions

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lego-dimensions/979632>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Tags:** toys-models\
**Created:** [February 11, 2023, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lego-dimensions/979632 "2023-02-11T17:57:05Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\
**Post date:** [February 11, 2023, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lego-dimensions/979632/1 "2023-02-11T17:57:05Z")

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This is an FQ, but I’m putting it in Cafe Society for expanded discussion about making things with Lego®.

As everyone probably knows, I have a new nixie tube clock that needs a case. I want something retro/industrial-looking. Not wood-and-brass retro, but more '50s/'60s industrial retro. I think a ‘grey box’ would fit the bill. Specifically: A blue base plate; grey brick walls, open at the back (for ventilation and control access) and at the front (to see the tubes); a blue ‘floor’ for inside of the viewing port; grey bricks to the top, and a blue ‘roof’. Yes, I’m aware that people will find a grey cube ugly, unimaginative, otherwise derogatory descriptor; but I want something ‘stark’ (and also easy to build). So…

I haven’t played with Lego® since I was in my single-digits. That’s a long time ago. I gather that a brick that has two rows of four bumps is 1¼ inches long and ⅝ inches wide. If I understood that correctly, then a standard ‘16 x 32’ base plate would be 5 inches by 10 inches. Is that correct? (FWIW, the assembled clock is 5¼ inches by 2½ inches.)

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**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\
**Post date:** [February 11, 2023, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lego-dimensions/979632/2 "2023-02-11T18:16:08Z")

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First of all, it’s not inches at all. Being made in a sane part of the world, all Lego measurements are metric.

Specifically, all measurements of a Lego piece are integer multiples of the “Lego unit”, 1.6 mm. The length and width of a standard one-stud brick are each 5 Lego units (8 mm), and the height (not counting the stud) is 6 Lego units (9.6 mm) (the stud itself is another 1 Lego unit).

This means a “16 x 32 base plate” would have a total length and width of approximately 5.039 inches by 10.079 inches, exactly 1 mm and 2 mm above the figures you gave. Which might be close enough for your purposes.  
[![](https://brickarchitect.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/brick_measurements-01.png) ](https://brickarchitect.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/brick_measurements-01.png)