So this is a bit basic, but it will help many new builders (at least with SS coasters, this concept applies to VV). I see this mistake on many first coasters, so hopefully this will help guide people in the right direction.
As you know, there are six basic lengths of rods:
For this tutorial, I'll refer to them as green, white, blue, yellow, red, and gray. These pieces were designed so that if two are connected at 180 degrees, they would be equivalent length to another rod.
Also, if you connect any two rods at a 90 degree angle, the next size up can be used as the hypotenuse.
These six rods can be sorted into 2 "classes:" blue base rod, and yellow base rod. The blue base rod consists of green, blue, and red rods in the XYZ plane directions (vertical and horizontal, all 90 degrees from each other) and the white, yellow, and gray rods as the hypotenuses, 45 degrees from the base rods (always). This is mostly used on old school woodies and tube coasters. An example is Balrog:
The yellow base rod is the opposite of the blue base rod. These are used on modern woodies and almost all box support coasters. An example is the iconic Nitro:
So why is this relevant? Well, structure-wise, triangles are the strongest geometric shape. For example, this:
is stronger than this:
The first structure cannot pivot easily, because a triangle only has one possible shape given 3 sides. The second structure has no hypotenuse, so it can easily flex, leading to a weaker structure.
Using the two techniques listed above, you can create combinations like this:
This way, you have a wide range of possibilities while still having triangles everywhere. The way to maintain this is to have one base rod. As a result, you have the most structurally sound supports.
For example, for something complicated, like the switch track on Terminator:
You can make it with something as simple as this:
Also, if you need a tower for support, the best structure with minimal supports looks like this:
Again, all done with triangles.
For VV people:
Just wanted to add for the VV people...
SS ==> VV
Green = Yellow
White = Grey
Blue = Red
Yellow = Purple
Red = Blue
Grey = Orange
Oh yeah, and our black rod is half a grey rod.
From the Stig (Thanks BTW):
BTW, feel free to suggest any edits.
Edited by Jogumpie, 05 September 2013 - 03:14 AM.
SSCoasters Moderator 
So within Micro K'NEX there are two separate systems, one linked to Classic K'NEX and one being a little smaller. Right?
