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Lowtown Education - Biscuits, Pegs, and more!

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When to Use Full-Sized Pegs   |   When to use Half-Pegs

When to use Biscuits   |   Biscuit Removal Tool

Straight Roof Biscuit Holes   |   Gluing Half-Pegs (Optional)

Window Pane Inserts   |   Installing Narrow Doors

Lowtown Floor Inserts   |   Lowtown LED lights

Pegs & Biscuits

Our Lowtown pieces use three different types of pegs to connect various pieces together; full-sized pegs, half-pegs, and biscuits. Each has a different use

  • Full Pegs - connect accessories and small/medium building pieces together.

  • Half-Pegs - connect smaller accessories, usually in instances where full-pegs can’t fit.

  • Biscuits - connect a huge variety of pieces, generally larger and core pieces.

When to Use Full-Sized Pegs

Use full sized pegs for the following connections:

  • Attaching scaffolding to Roofs.

  • Attaching Footers to the bottoms of Pilings.

  • Attaching the Hoist either vertically or horizontally.

When to use Half-Pegs

Important note - both Full-Pegs and Half-Pegs are the same diameter so they both fit in any pole accessory hole. However, if you insert a half-peg into a regular pole accessory hole, it will be very difficult to remove. You should only insert half-pegs into the half-depth holes designed for them. If you want to test the depth of a hole before inserting a Half-Peg, we recommend using a full-length Pole Accessory Peg or any pole accessory piece with a peg embedded, since neither of these can get lodged in the hole. 

Half pegs should only be used inserted into the following pieces:

  • Façades - all the Façade pieces have half-depth holes. We recommend inserting the pegs into the Façade piece first then attaching the piece to the corner posts.

  • Roof Ridges - the bottoms of the Roof Ridges all have half-depth holes for securing them to the tops of the Modular Roof pieces. Be careful though, the holes on the tops of the Modular Roof pieces are full-depth (so they can accommodate any pole accessory pieces). We recommend inserting the pegs into the Roof Ridges first and then attaching the ridges to the roofs.

  • Modular Roofs - the side holes on the modular roofs are all half-depth. Half-pegs should be used to attach roof pieces horizontally to each other, and for affixing the Soffit Pieces. Generally however it is easier to attach the modular roofs together using biscuits instead of Half-Pegs. 

  • Soffits - The big 4" Soffit Peak has half-depth holes. The smaller Rake Soffits have holes that go all the way through the piece (so they are reversible). When affixing these pieces to a roof we recommend inserting the half-pegs into the sides of the roof first and then attaching the Soffits. You can also use a full-length pole accessory peg to affix these pieces. If you do get a Half-Peg stuck in one of these holes you can push it out with a full-length pole accessory peg.

When to use Biscuits

Biscuits can be used in any piece with a biscuit slot. These holes are easily identifiable by their distinct shape. Simply push the narrow side of the biscuit into the center of the slot. When fully inserted about half the biscuit should be in the slot. Then push the exposed end of the biscuit into any other piece to attach the two.

If attaching pieces with multiple biscuit slots, such as a 4x4 Wood Floor, or a Straight Roof section, we recommend inserting biscuits into both slots for maximum adhesion between the pieces.

Biscuit Removal Tool

If you are struggling to remove a stubborn biscuit from a piece, you can use a pair of pliers, or our Biscuit Removal Tool. To use the Biscuit Removal Tool,  just insert the hooked end of the tool into the hole in the biscuit, then pull directly away from the biscuit hole and it should pop right out.

Straight Roof Biscuit Holes

The two biscuit holes on the back of the Straight Roof are a fraction of a millimeter too narrow. As a result, it is difficult to insert a biscuit into them, particularly the bottom hole which is downright cantankerous. Luckily, with some use, the slots loosen up. We recommend the following:

  • First insertion - the first time using these slots is the hardest. To make it easier you can try using a pair of pliers to gently hold the biscuit as you insert it, or insert the biscuit into another piece first, then use that piece to help push the biscuit into the roof. Finally, soaking the roof piece in very hot water for a few minutes will soften the Dwarvenite and make it easier to insert a biscuit. 

  • Leave it Inserted - once you have biscuits inserted into both the holes on the back of your Straight Roofs (you can connect a pair of them back to back in order to do two at once) let them sit for a few days with the biscuits inserted. This will stretch the holes slightly and make future insertions much easier.

Gluing Half-Peg (Optional)

In many instances, you can glue in the Half-Pegs to your pieces to mitigate the chance of getting a loose peg lost in a pole accessory hole. We did not glue the pegs in during production because many of the pieces that used them could be used in alternate ways if they didn’t have pegs attached. For instance, the Ivy Façade can be used to add greenery to a huge variety of pieces, from roofs and castle walls, to dungeons and caverns. Simply lean it or affix it with poster-tack anywhere you want. This versatility disappears if the Half-Pegs are attached on the back since the piece can’t sit flat.

We didn't glue in half-pegs so you could use the pieces as scatter like these examples above.

If you are interested in gluing Half-Pegs into any of your pieces, we recommend a single drop of any standard super glue. In general, you want to glue the peg to the accessory rather than the larger piece it’s attaching to. To preserve the look of your pieces, only glue pegs into the dead side of a piece - rather than into a sculpted face. For example, you can glue Half-Pegs into the bottoms of your Roof Ridge pieces, but we do not recommend gluing them into the sculpted tops of the Roofs because that will greatly limit the functionality of those pieces. 

If you are going to glue Half-Pegs to your pieces, below is our recommendation of which ones to choose: 

  • Climbing Ivy - Wall Façade & Post Façade

  • Elven Boughs - Wall Façade & Post Façade

  • Corbel Row - Wall Facade

  • Beam - Wall Facade

  • Corner Corbel - Post Façade

  • Roof Ridges (all three)

  • Rustic 4in Soffit Peak

These pieces are all good choices for gluing in Half-Pegs.

Window Pane Inserts

The various Lowtown window walls each have an insert slot in the top so you can slide in the various acetate Window Pane Inserts to change the look of your building. During production we needed to extend the size of the inserts to fill the vertical space above the window (our original designs just ended at the window). As a result some of the inserts look a little odd when not inserted.

Do not be alarmed if the tops of your inserts look a little funny - once inserted, they work as intended.

Installing Narrow Doors

Some sets arrive without the Narrow Doors installed in their frames. You have to install the door in the following pieces:

  • Narrow Rustic Wood Door Wall

  • Freestanding 1-5/8" Wood Door Wall

  • Freestanding Diagonal Wood Door Wall

  • Basic Wood Door Wall

To insert any of the door pieces, we recommend the following approach:

  • Insert the top hinge peg of the door into the top hole of the piece

  • Push the door upwards into the top hole while slightly bending the door

  • With the door slightly bent, Insert the bottom hinge peg into the bottom hole

  • Straighten the door

Lowtown Floor Inserts

All Lowtown floors have a 2" x 1" opening for stairs. However, when you want solid floors, the sets also come with double-sided rustic wood / parquet 2" x 1" Floor Inserts to fill in this opening. 

These Floor Inserts were designed for a seamless friction fit, so they can be a bit tricky to install. One of the easiest ways to insert them is explained and illustrated here.

  • Turn the floor upside down on your table
  • Push one corner of the floor insert into the stairwell opening.
  • Slide the insert over to the edge of the opening and push the other edge of the insert into the stairwell opening.
  • Push the insert down until it is flat against the table.
  • Turn the floor over and you should have a seamless fit.

Lowtown LED lights

Some sets have LED walls and plug-in LED Gothic Lanterns. They're lit by an internal CR2032 battery hidden by a cover piece on the other side of the wall. 

The LED Gothic Lantern can be plugged into the small plug on the front side, but these walls are also compatible any Dwarven Forge plug-in LED wall light. To use the LED wall, carefully insert the plug-in LED as shown below, and turn on the switch.

Important note - LEDs only allow current to flow one way, so plug-in LEDs must be inserted the right way up. While the LED Gothic Lantern shown here has a somewhat obvious "right" way up, some of our plug-in LEDs can be ambiguous. If you have an LED that won't light, try turning the LED around and see if that works. For further tips, see our Troubleshooting LED Light issues support article. 

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