Wood Trick Robotic Hand Mechanical Models 3D Wooden Puzzles DIY Toy Assembly Gears Constructor Robot Kits for Kids, Teens and Adults

First, I'm an adult woodworker and have experience with detailed stuff. Given that, it took me about 8-10 hours to build this model. It was pretty straightforward to put together, but the construction techniques were time consuming. This model was more difficult to put together than (for example) a plastic model with a comparable number of parts. The completed hand worked well and creeped out the dog. However, as I'm writing this at the end of March during the COVID-19 crisis, I may try to use it as a social distancing tool. OK, maybe not. We'll see. After all, I built it because I had plenty of time to spend at home, and not enough stuff that I wanted to do to fill the time.I do have some recommendations for anyone who is going to build one.* Take some steps to eliminate friction between moving parts before breaking pieces out of the boards. - Sand the boards. Out of the box, the boards are rough enough that pieces do not slide over each other easily. I used 400 grit sandpaper, and it worked very nicely. - It might seem attractive to put a finish on the boards before breaking out the pieces. Don't do it. A surface finish will interfere with the friction fits of the mortise and tenon joints and an oil finish will interfere with gluing if you decide to do it. Instead, apply wax only on parts that rub against each other, if at all.* There are toothpick issues, as noted in other reviews, and the model uses lots of toothpicks. There is a friction fit to the toothpicks, so expect them to be tight. I used several tricks to make assembly with toothpicks go more smoothly. - When possible, push the toothpick into the holes one piece at a time. This is not always possible, but when you can do it, it makes it easier. - When possible, push the piece onto the toothpick, so that you are putting pressure on the piece rather than the toothpick. - When I could, I put the piece on one point of the toothpick and rested the other end of the toothpick on my bench while I pushed the piece down on the toothpick. This works better if you snip off the end of the toothpick that is on the bench (or table or desk), as it doesn't tend to slide out from under you as much. When pushing down on the toothpick, keep it vertical to the surface you are working on. - Keep a pair of small hobbyist pliers handy for pulling out toothpicks that break before they are all the way in. - I used a set of electronic assembly snips to trim the toothpicks after I was done. - Make sure that you only snip off the toothpicks as they tell you. Some toothpick should not be snipped as they are used to assemble additional pieces on the next page. - If a toothpick is only needed to assemble three or fewer pieces, 1/2 toothpick will do. If you snip a toothpick in two, you get two short pieces, each with a point and one flat end for applying pressure. - For assembly where you can't press down onto a bench, have a fat nail set handy. You can put pressure on the end of the toothpick with the nail set and save your fingers.* Gluing - I used quite a bit of glue to assemble the hand. I didn't quite trust the friction to keep the model together, although I didn't have any issues. - I used Titebond III with a Wood River Disposable Glue Syringe. Once I filled the syringe with glue about 1/2 full, I had to clean crusties off the top occasionally, but the glue lasted in the syringe for three days with the top on. The syringe gives the pinpoint control needed to apply the glue precisely. I used about 1/4 of a syringe on this model. - Gluing can be a bit tricky, because you can't glue pieces together that are supposed to move. If pieces are held together by two or more toothpicks, it's a safe bet to glue them together. Gluing the toothpick in place is not practical in most cases. - Only apply glue where the two surfaces that you want to glue directly touch. Otherwise the glue could get in the way of moving pieces.

The only down side to this is the occasional out of tolerance of some holes that toothpicks are supposed to go through. A handful are cut just to small for the toothpick to fit through. Or the toothpick is just too large to fit well. What should be an easy press fit becomes near impossible to do without breaking the assembly; or jabbing a pointy toothpick into your already sore fingers from assembly.However, if you have a decent drill kit with the right size bit (I want to say it 5/64") you can ream the hole by hand and the toothpick fits. So that's it. 4 star for the difficulty of a handful of connections.

One, two, Freddy's conserving for you, three, four, save the planet some more, five, six, this thing's made of sticks... you get the idea.

Die Hand ist von der Idee Super aber der Zusammenbau ist sehr schwer da man alle Löcher nachbohren muss weil die zu klein sind! Ich bin 10 und Habe die Hand Zusammen gebaut, musste aber alle Löcher mit meinem Taschenmesser nachboren. Funktioniert gut wenn die Hand zusammengebaut ist.Nicht sehr zu empfehlen.Für das Produkt und den Zusammenbau einen Stern.

Le principe semble sympa, l'objet en lui-même est génial, mais, dans les cures-dents que l'on doit insérer dans les trous sont d'une part dangereux pour un enfant et de deux trop gros pour les trous ce qui rends l'assemble fastidieux et difficile même équiper de matériel de maquettiste....sans parler que lorsque l'on doit couper l’excédent de cure-dent, ces derniers s'envolent en tous sens ce qui encore une fois rends l'usage trop dangereux pour un enfant.....Une fois monter (non sans difficulté) toutefois il reste un objet fort intéressant et qui saurant amuser nos petits anges.