Review on 🧩 Discover the Fascination of Ugears Mechanical Wooden Puzzle Friendly by Adam Krueger

UGears are great build projects. I was looking for something to build that would be more attractive and cheaper than some models like Lego; Less messy assembly than a plastic model, requires glue and paint more complex than some level 2 or 3 car model kits; with larger parts than the Metal Earth kits, but not as elaborate as the $1,000 Japanese locomotive model kits. I gave up looking for it until I came across UGears. They're low-tech (walking on a rubber band) and perhaps more appealing to young people in Eastern Europe than to many Americans today. But I really enjoyed building this set and I think anyone who enjoys building will have a lot of fun with it. And the price is right. It's hard to find something that interesting for $40. The pieces are made from four small sheets of heavy plywood that have been laser cut to precise dimensions. You just slide them out of the sheet. Some were a little tight and I had to wiggle them back and forth a bit to get them out without damage but a little patience goes a long way and in the end all my parts came out in perfect condition and I didn't have to use a blade to get parts to solve. When the kit arrived the most difficult parts were pre-cut and some smaller and more delicate parts were supplied with "spare parts" so you could restore them if lost or damaged. Glue is not used. If you make a mistake, just take things apart and put them back together. But the finished model is surprisingly strong. The instructions are very clear. They contain a minimum of words, but these are words in English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Russian, Turkish, Polish and Ukrainian. Otherwise the details are shown very clearly in the shaded color maps which indicate where on the plywood sheets you can find the part and where it is on the model. A small measuring tool is included in the kit and the instructions show how to use it when needed. The instructions recommend using candle wax for some gears; I used birthday candle wax for almost every connection and it made a world of difference when I put tab A in slot B. The only issue I had was that the supplied toothpicks were 7mm long, while (according to the instructions) toothpicks 6.5mm in diameter were required. It wasn't until halfway through the project that I realized this was going to be a problem. At this point I started sanding down the toothpicks with some fine sandpaper and reduced them to 6.5mm. Using wax on toothpicks I haven't broken a single one (although they give you about 6 extras). As you build this model, you'll be amazed at the intelligent engineering skills these guys must have to design and program such a complex structure. in 4 or 5 sheets of laser cut plywood. First you assemble the various gear assemblies and then at the last minute fit them all into the frame. It wasn't until I had everything assembled that I was able to figure out how it was supposed to work. This took about 3 evenings of 2 1/2 hours each, which is about 8 hours, although I think if I did one more I could do it in half the time. It didn't work the first time. I had to be careful where the mechanism was sticking, then take the gears out of the frame, adjust some clearances, add lots of wax and reassemble. Go slow and be patient. After about two such iterations (including another two hours) I had a working model, and I have to say it's amazing.