S.T.E.A.M. Line Toys UGears Mechanical Models 3-D Wooden Puzzle - Mechanical Robot Factory

This is an absolutely great product. Every piece fits nicely and it works great. I’m 73 but feel like a kid when putting this together. It’s great for the mind. It’s not too easy, just enough of a challenge. Great!!

The U gears sets have a great ideas in mind, but in general of poor implementation. So, I am considering them overpriced for their value. Those tooth picks and rubber bands tends to brake quickly, and replacing them is not always possible without complete disassembly. My kid managed to assemble some of their sets, but none of them long lasted. So, I would suggest for their design team to go back into the university and re-take the material resistance course from the mechanical engineering program, especially that part that covers tension concentration and how to avoid it. Tiny plywood and wooden tooth picks are not able to support their great design ideas. Other similar sets on a market, like those by ROBOTIME, are 20% cheaper and tend to use metal winding mechanisms and axles. So, prefer them instead of UGears.

My loved putting this together! It was amazing to watch how it all worked! We will be getting him more of these. Just don’t skip the steps, such as using wax.

Precisely cut parts, needs some experience with those type of models. Only the big robot needs to be handled with care, but spare parts are provided. Looks good and works.

I've built six Ugears kits, the Robot Factory the most recent. I STILL haven't finished putting it together. The instructions that came with it are miserable compared to other kits (The UGM-11 and Locomotive for instance.) Also - I hit a spot while assembling a grouping of gears that I couldn't figure out. The part that was getting assembled didn't seat into it's place like the instructions pictured that it would. I contacted the uGears support folks and got flimsy help and answers and a request for a more detailed information about the problem I was/am having. I created a detailed image from the instruction booklet showing the area that I was having trouble with. Formed questions and queries in a letter that accompanied the image and captions and sent it to them. I was told it was being escalated to the 'engineering' department. I waited a week for a response and when it came it was a 15 word answer to what I considered a very complex question. I have re-contacted them to inform them that the answer wasn't sufficient and that I wanted more information. We'll see how this goes. As to Ugears models - These things are GREAT! As stated above I have built six previous kits and in every single case I've had to finish the build and then figure out where the problems are. I have had to disassemble every kit down to where the problem lies, fix it, and then reassemble the kit to get it to work. Some (the locomotive) I had to disassemble it several times before I got the gearing down the center of the fuselage right. ALSO - when you put these together use sand paper - emory boards work okay in some situations. I've discovered that it is best to sand every single tooth of every single gear and every single surface that is going to rub agains another surface when in motion. I have two UGM-11 Trucks - the first one I only sanded and waxed where the instructions told me to. the second one I sanded every tooth of every gear, every surface that rubbed and I over waxed EVERYTHING that might rub or interact with another part. The second truck has performed better in every way and I'm certain that the difference between the two is all of that attention to detail during the build. SO - take the time to sand and wax everything. Waxing toothpicks makes it MUCH easier to push them through some of the thick layers that are required in some cases and helps avoid breaking pieces trying to force them. WAX WORKS! Lastly - I've managed to break a piece here and there on every build. The good news is that it is balsa wood basically and super glue fixes things really well. Glued pieces have worked every bit as well as the none broken pieces. So don't get too upset if you break a piece, just glue it and sand it and go again. I am a uGears fan and will assuredly purchase more kits - The customer service department needs an upgrade - don't get your hopes up that they'll answer your questions with any kind of in depth response - that's my experience so far. Good luck!

This was a gift and it was absolutely loved. My boyfriend is still putting it together (so it’s taken about 10 hrs so far and it’s only approximately 70% complete). However, he’s sanding and waxing components to ensure that they move smoothly. He’s also cutting out each piece with an exact knife, as some pieces are rather small and he’s afraid they will break. It’s a very neat little piece. Have bought multiple UGears products. My only complaint would be that there are no extra rubber bands and if one snaps you have to find a replacement.

Spent many hours constructing this. Between the errors in the instruction (only some of which were corrected in the insert), and the friction of all the different gear stages, it didn't come close to working. Even isolating just the "Leg and arm installers", the alignment of those parts, to the robot chassis, it still wouldn't line up and work. They definitely put their effort into making a "Rube Goldberg" machine of layers of gears and pullies, rather than something that could have a reasonable chance at working. The different sub assemblies don't seem logically tied together - the little "forklift on a monorail" doesn't reach either the factory, or the delivery bay. On the positive side, the pieces are well cut, and plenty of spares. If you like putting things together, it's great - just don't have high expectations of it actually doing anything. The end product seems sturdy. Required tools definitely include sand paper (and you need to sand basically every moving surface - they don't tell you this), a hemostat to hold and tie the cut rubber bands, a diagonal or flush cutter, a box or art knife, and a tea candle for lubrication.