When the first K'Nex Box was released in the U.S. market in 1993, there were roughly 20 different K'Nex Pieces. Since then new varieties of pieces have been added regularly. Now they are difficult to number. This page, though incomplete, lists as many of those pieces as possible.

Types of Connections

There are three primary ways in which a rod may be joined to a connector:

• Most commonly, the rod's head is inserted into a connector's slot which holds the rods together.
• A rod may also be "snapped in" perpendicular to a connector. It is harder to insert and remove rods this way, but they are for the most part immobile. There are four grooves on rods which allow for rods to be attached in this method in four different directions. They can be slid in the slot, but the heads on the rods stop from further sliding.
• Most connectors have an eye through which a rod may be threaded. The rod will slide out unless a connection is made using one or both of the previously mentioned methods.

Special pieces, commonly called 3D connectors, connect differently.

• They connect using the first and second ways mentioned.
• Their hole has been removed and instead, a special locking system is put in.
• This locking system allows two 3D connectors to be directly attached and kept in place.
• The locking system is the basis for all 3D creations

Rods

Standard Rods

The rods come in many sizes. Standard rods, from smallest to largest:

• Green
  • By far the shortest, with no room to snap anything in fashion perpendicular to the rod.
  • Alternate colors: black

• White
  • Can form the hypotenuse
    Hypotenuse
    In geometry, a hypotenuse is the longest side of a right-angled triangle, the side opposite the right angle. The length of the hypotenuse of a right triangle can be found using the Pythagorean theorem, which states that the square of the length of the hypotenuse equals the sum of the squares of the...
    
     of a right triangle
    Right triangle
    A right triangle or right-angled triangle is a triangle in which one angle is a right angle . The relation between the sides and angles of a right triangle is the basis for trigonometry.-Terminology:The side opposite the right angle is called the hypotenuse...
    
     with legs made up of green rods
  • If nothing is attached to the end, three connectors can be snapped on. If there is a piece on either end, only two can snap on
  • If both ends are capped, two and a half connectors (the half can be filled with a spacer, mentioned further down the page) will fit snugly onto the rod.
  • Alternate colors: silver, gold, black, teal, purple and blue (used for Lost Mines figures)

• Blue
  • Can form the hypotenuse of a right triangle with legs made up of white rods
  • Six connectors can be snapped on

• Yellow
  • Can form the hypotenuse of a right triangle with legs made up of dark blue rods
  • Eleven connectors can be snapped on
  • "Metallic version" is dark gray
  • Alternate colors: gold (used for Lost Mines sets), dark gray with black spots

• Red
  • Can form the hypotenuse of a right triangle with legs made up of yellow rods
  • Alternate colors: metallic green, tan (a stronger version), golden yellow (the heads on this rod are longer because they are special to the Original K'Nex Roller Coaster)
  • Golden yellow rods feature a smooth ring, one fourth of the width of a connector, on each end of the rod. This ring is followed by a standard section of shaft the width of one connector, followed by the end of the rod, which is half a connector longer than usual. These unique ends of the rod allow a connector to lock into the slot without allowing it to slide along the length of the rod.

• Gray
  • Longest of the rods
  • Can form the hypotenuse of a right triangle with legs made up of red rods
  • Alternate colors: Black (made of carbon; a stronger version), neon orange, Blue, and Light Grey. (as seen in the "Starburst Spinner" K'Nex Building Set)

Also note that rods can be combined with connectors to take the place of longer rods. For example:

• A connector with green rods on opposite ends is equal in length to a blue rod.
• A connector with white rods on opposite ends is equal in length to a yellow rod.
• A connector with blue rods on opposite ends is equal in length to a red rod.
• A connector with yellow rods on opposite ends is equal in length to a gray rod.

Color	Inches	Metric	Notes
Green	¾"	1.700000000 cm	Used only to connect two connectors end to end.
White	1.5"	3.253300859 cm
Blue	2¼"	5.450000000 cm
Yellow	3⅜"	8.556601718 cm
Red	5⅛"	12.95000000 cm	Also comes in Tan, which is a much stiffer version.
Gray	7½"	19.16320344 cm	The longest of the Rods
Black	7½"	19.16320344 cm	Made of carbon; a stronger version of the Gray Rod

Flexi-rods

These flexible rods allows for shapes and curves that would otherwise be impossible. Flexi-rods come in four sizes. The following table lists them from smallest to largest:

Color	Equivalent Rod
Dark Purple	White
Sky Blue or Dark Purple	Blue
Bright or Normal Orange	Yellow
Lime green, Dull or Neon Yellow, Light or Dark Purple	Gray

Light Up Rods

Light Up Rods (used in the Light Ups 30 Model Building Set) come in two sizes:

Color	Length	Equivalent Standard Rod
Yellow Light Up Rod	5⅛in	Length comparable to the red rod
Blue Light Up Rod	7½	Length comparable to the gray rod

List of Connectors

• • one slot for a rod and one hole

• Orange (Alternate color: dark brown)
  • Two opposite slots for rods and one hole (a.k.a. ladder connector)

• Light Gray-45 degrees (Alternate colors: light gray with blue speckles, neon orange)
  • Two adjacent slots for rods and one hole

• Red-90 degrees (Alternate colors: dark gray with black speckles, neon red)
  • Three adjacent slots for rods and one hole

• Green-135 degrees (Alternate colors: metallic grey-green, neon yellow, neon green)
  • Four adjacent slots for rods and one hole

• Yellow-180 degrees (a.k.a. half-moon) (Alternate colors: light gray, gold)
  • Five adjacent slots for rods and one hole

• Orange tabbed (Alternate Color: black)
  • This connector is the same as the yellow connector except for the tab on the flat side
  • The tab is used to connect tubing on the K'nex Original Roller Coaster
    K'nex Original Roller Coaster
    The K'nex Original Roller Coaster is a toy roller coaster, and the first toy roller coaster made by K'nex, and first released in 1994. The set comes with 2,400 pieces. Its proper name is the K'nex Roller Coaster, and its code number is "63030"...
    
    , Big Ball Factory, Trampoline Tower and Big Air Ball Tower

• White (Alternate color: black)
  • Eight adjacent slots for rods and one hole (a.k.a. snowflake)

• 3D Connectors
  • Dark blue (Alternate colors: yellow, metallic blue)
    • Seven adjacent slots for rods and one slot to slide another 3D connector into
  • Purple (Alternate color: metallic silver, yellow)
    • Four adjacent slots for rods and one slot to slide another 3D connector into

• Light Module (also used in the Light Ups 30 Model Building set and discussed in the Rods section. No alternate color)
  • Largest of all connectors
  • Eight holes for the Light Up Rods
  • Lights up the Light Up Rods
  • One hole in the middle also for Light Up Rods and other rods

Other pieces

• Spacers
• Thin, short rings that can slide onto a rod in order to separate other parts that are slipped or clipped onto the rod. They rotate smoothly and slide freely, and they will slip off the ends of rods if not fastened in on either side by other parts.
• There are two varieties of spacers:

• Light blue spacers fill half of the width of a connector piece on a rod.
• Longer, gray spacers fill up the same length of a rod as three light blue spacers, equivalent to one and a half widths of a connector piece.

• Gears
• These pieces slide over a rod through a hole in their center and (with the exception of some small gears) may be stabilized by a tan lock.
• Spacers can be used to keep gears in place relative to the ends their rods, while still enabling free rotation.
• They all possess teeth along their rims, allowing gears to transfer rotary motion between each other.
• Gears can be used to transfer rotary motion through other gears to rods parallel to their own, at 90° angles, or at 45° angles if positioned properly.
• Four distinct sizes:

• Yellow (alternate color: black)

• These are the largest gears, with 82 teeth
• Large yellow gears are three spacers in width

• Green (same size as yellow)
• More typs to connect gears to it

• Red (alternate colors: yellow, metallic gray)

• These are medium-sized gears, and have 34 teeth.
• The yellow and metallic gray gears have larger teeth which allow for 90 degree angles to be made
• These gears are four spacers wide.

• Blue (Alternate colors: Gold, dark gray)

• These are the smallest gears, having 14 teeth.
• Small gears are four spacers wide.
• They can be placed on rods to stabilize rotion of larger gears on rods parallel to their own.
• A large gear spinning a small gear, where both are locked to their rods, will result in a significantly faster rotation speed for the small gear, but requires large amounts of force. In an intricate mechanical design, this poses the risk of gear teeth slipping, or possibly breaking off, due to the plastic's inability to remain sturdy under immense force.
• Black and light gray variations connect to the very tips of rod heads, but are used for stabilization rather than gearing. Can also be used as wheels.

• White worm gear

• This gear only works with the electric motor which can be bought from K'Nex or found in numerous older sets

• Panels

Flat right triangular or square pieces with rod ends sticking out of the corners

Holes on panels (except smallest triangles) can fit rods

Four triangular sizes and four square sizes

Not color-coded, and they come in many different colors such as red, blue, orange, yellow, silver, green, black

• Tan locks
• These pieces have one slot a rod may be connected into, but no hole
• A protrusion is used to lock into gears, connectors, or wheels to prevent them from spinning on a rod. This feature enables rods to be used as gear axles to transfer rotary motion to wheels or other gears fastened onto the rod using another tan lock.
• Alternate colors: bronze, metallic blue (no protrusion)

• Hinge
• This is actually two pieces: A blue piece and a black (or green) piece
• Both pieces are similar to the gray connectors, but the hole and the area around it is half the width
• One slot on each for a total of two
• Can be interlocked to form a hinge which can produce angles from 45 to 315 degrees

• Motors
• Most motors will not function properly when made to rotate highly complex or heavy mechanical K'Nex systems.
• Battery pack (2 pieces) - most common

• Comes in an older, square version, an old version with an extended cord, and a new version with rounded sides
  • Pullback motor
    Pullback motor
    A pullback motor is a simple clockwork motor used in toy cars.Pulling the car backwards winds up an internal coil spring. When released, the car is propelled forwards by the spring...
    
    
• Uses a spring inside to power vehicles or rotating pieces without batteries
  • Remote control
• Most commonly seen in Cyber K'Nex, but also found in an old robot set
• Utilizes a remote to control multiple motors for complex movements
  • Electric Motors
• These motors use an adapter to plug into the wall
• Quieter and more torque than a battery pack
  • Battery pack (1 piece)
• This is K'Nex's newest motor
• These motors are high in torque and can be found in new sets like Storm Mountain, Shark Run, and Loopin' Lizard

• Solar Motor

• Three sets contained this motor; Solar Super 10 (25401), Solar Deluxe 20 (29403) and acrobatic robots set (number unknown).
• Utilizes sunlight and is sent to a unique motor which drives lightweight vehicles

• Roller coaster pieces
• Special track pieces called track connectors are used for the construction of the newer roller coasters.

• These pieces have two extended slots, one recessed slot, a hole, one 1/4" tab and two 1/2" tabs.
• These pieces come in 4 colors (neon green, neon yellow, black and blue)
• These pieces are normally placed on two flexi-rods via the extended slots, and two rails of tubing are added on the 1/2" tabs. Occasionally, a rail of tubing may be added to the 1/4" slot or a flexi-rod may be added to the recessed slot to increase track stability.
  • Tubing is a long, flexible piece of plastic.
• It currently comes in purple, red, light red, blue, and yellow colors
  • Boosters
• Found in Rippin' Rocket Roller Coaster and the new K'nex Lava Launch Coaster
  K'nex Lava Launch Coaster
  The K'nex Lava Launch Coaster is a toy roller coaster made by K'nex. It has over 1,200 pieces. It is recommended for kids 9 and up. The layout is fairly complex- the car first goes through the 'Turbo Booster' and shoots up the four-foot-tall, volcano-shaped superstructure...
  
  
• Propels the car forward via two black, rotating wheels
• A variant can be found on the Pirate Ship Park which only has one rotating fin
  • Trains
• The train from the Screamin' Serpent had a front car, a middle car, and a back car (All were orange)

• If one buys more middle cars, they may be added to create a longer train.

• Rippin' Rocket cars were lightweight and designed for boosters

• Could not be joined to make a train

• Storm Mountain car was the same as the Screamin' Serpent front car, but it was blue
• Shark Run car was made to look like a surfer riding a wave

• Could not be joined to make a train

• Pulleys, tires, and wheels
• Pulleys come in a large and small size
• Tires come in three standard sizes, as well as multiple other sizes for special wheels
• Wider wheels have been produced for racier-looking cars, but are not common in today's sets.

The company also offers a variant brand, Kid K'Nex, which is made of a softer injection-molded plastic and is twice the scale of the original K'Nex. It is intended for children ages 3 to 5. Kid K'Nex is incompatible with K'Nex. (Because of the small parts, both K'Nex and Kid K'Nex are not recommended for children under age 3).
Two newer variants are Micro K'Nex, which are (as the name implies) smaller than standard K'Nex, and K'Nex Bricks, which provide building blocks similar to Lego

Lego

Lego is a line of construction toys manufactured by the Lego Group, a privately held company based in Billund, Denmark. The company's flagship product, Lego, consists of colorful interlocking plastic bricks and an accompanying array of gears, minifigures and various other parts...

 brand blocks http://www.knex.com/bricks/index.php. Unlike Kid K'Nex, both Micro K'Nex and K'Nex Bricks have adapter pieces to let them interconnect to standard K'Nex pieces. Micro K'Nex are in different colors from standard K'Nex, generally much more subdued than the bright primary colors used for standard K'Nex.

K'Nex Industries also manufactures and distributes Lincoln Logs

Lincoln Logs

Lincoln Logs is the name of a children's toy consisting of notched miniature logs, used to build miniature forts and buildings. They were invented by John L. Wright, son of the architect Frank Lloyd Wright...

 under license from Hasbro

Hasbro

Hasbro is a multinational toy and boardgame company from the United States of America. It is one of the largest toy makers in the world. The corporate headquarters is located in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, United States...

, Inc.

The largest K'Nex set available is the Grandfather Clock with over 9,000 parts, replacing the 6 Foot Ferris Wheel at approximately 8,550 parts. The Ferris Wheel's competitor was the Big Ball Factory (3,165 parts.)
Another use for these toys points to Instructables.com

Instructables

Instructables is a website specializing in user-created and uploaded do-it-yourself projects, which other users can comment on and rate for quality. It was created by Eric Wilhelm, a mechanical engineer, and launched in August 2005. Instructables is dedicated to step-by-step collaboration among...

which puts the toys to uses like guns powered by rubber bands and grenades that explode.

External links

http://www.knex.com
http://www.sscoasters.net
http://www.knexforum.com/