Exercise Your Mind, Use Your Hands, and Have Fun Building UGears Kits Available at Woodcraft – Great Gifts!

This 3-D Mechanical Etui Box is made from a 61-piece UGears Model Kit that can be assembled in one to two hours without glue or tools. The box holds small items such as business cards, money or keys, while the operation of the overhead gears is sure to be a conversation starter with visitors to your office or home. 

Woodcraft has added several unique and beautiful UGears model kits to its product line that are educational and fun to assemble. They also fit into the company’s mission to offer educational opportunities to its customers. In this case, the education is actually the assembly of precut high grade wood pieces to build carefully engineered boxes, vehicles, aircraft and more without glue or tools. Each creation features mechanical movement, and assembly is like putting together the pieces of a puzzle.

Woodcraft Product Development Manager Charles Wolfe said he had been looking for building projects to make that required no tools, but what he found were products with precut pieces that were not strong or good quality. Then he heard about UGears and made contact with the company that is headquartered in Kylv, Ukraine.

“What I like about the UGears models is the wood used to make the parts – hard Baltic Birch, which is easily available to this company because of its location in the Ukraine,” Charles said. “They sent sample kits, which Woodcraft employees put together and found to be durable. Everything you need is in the kit package.”

Easiest to Assemble – About 10 Minutes

Founded in 2014, UGears creates and manufactures unique self-propelled mechanical model kits designed for self-assembly without glue and made entirely of high-grade wood material.  Kits range from miniature aircraft that have 10-19 parts and can be assembled in about 10 minutes to the complex Trimaran Merihobus sailboat that has 237 parts and takes about 15 hours to build.

On the company website, UGears describes its models as: “the original all-occasion gift and a fun and smart hobby for kids and grown-ups of all ages.”  Some models were inspired by real-life mechanisms, some reflect new ideas, and all of them have been designed by UGears from scratch, according the website description. 

Assembly Time: 1 to 1-1/2 Hours

The UGears Flexi-Cubus is a mechanical anti-stress puzzle in the form of a steampunk skeleton cube made of eight joint-connected spheres. It takes about one hour to assemble the 144-piece kit that is designed to improve your attention and focus on the task at hand.

This UGears Mechanical Flower Model Kit includes 101 parts to create a delicate flower whose petals open to reveal a graceful ballerina. There is storage space in the base. Estimated assembly time is 1 to 1-1/2 hours.

Assembly Time: Two to Four Hours

This beautiful Mechanical Treasure Box was assembled from a 190-piece UGears kit in approximately two to three hours with no glue or tools. The intricately carved wood pieces create a box with visible moving gears inside, as well as a comportment that locks to protect jewelry and other items. The key is also used to set the gears in motion.

“Woodcraft is promoting the value of these kits for STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) learning,” Charles said. “The federal government is hoping to attract more students in these fields, which according to report last year are vital to US prosperity and security.”

“Charting a Course for Success: America’s Strategy for STEM Education,” was released in December 2018 by the Committee on STEM Education that is part of the National Science and Technology Council. Two paragraphs in the Executive Summary touch on the importance of STEM education.

“Now more than ever the innovation capacity of the United States—and its prosperity and security—depends on an effective and inclusive STEM education ecosystem. Individual success in the 21st century economy is also increasingly dependent on STEM literacy; simply to function as an informed consumer and citizen in a world of increasingly sophisticated technology requires the ability to use digital devices and STEM skills such as evidence-based reasoning.”

And

“Basic STEM concepts are best learned at an early age—in elementary and secondary school—because they are the essential prerequisites to career technical training, to advanced college-level and graduate study, and to increasing one’s technical skills in the workplace. Increasing the overall digital literacy of Americans and enhancing the STEM workforce will necessarily involve the entire U.S. STEM enterprise.”

To read the report, visit whitehouse.gov.

While assembling UGears kits may not require all the STEM skills, it does require some as the building process resembles putting a puzzle together. The builder must pay careful attention to details of the parts in the illustrations, as well as follow the written instructions to correctly assemble a kit. The more parts, the more complex the process.

Family Project – About 4 to 5 Hours to Assemble

This UGears Stagecoach Model Kit is the perfect family project – 248 parts to assemble into a vehicle sturdy enough for in home "deliveries.” Estimated assembly time is 4 to 5 hours. Doors open, cargo crates on top can hold “mail”, and the stagecoach is off with a few turns of the winding key.

Great Gift Ideas for Children and Adults

If you are shopping early for gifts this year, consider one of these kits. The 10 UGears Model Kits now available at Woodcraft are featured in this blog, along with a description and estimated time to build.

Charles suggests the Gearsmas, U-Fidgets Aircraft, and Flexi-Cubus as good entry level models for children to make.

The Mechanical Etui Box, the Mechanical Flower and the Treasure Box take from one to three hours and are good for adults and children.

Families or small groups of friends should find the Stagecoach a fun build. The 248-part kit takes an estimated 4 to 5 hours to assemble.

For the adults and older youth who enjoy a challenge, the Trimaran Merihobus is a 237-part kit that can take about 15 hours to assemble.

Most Difficult – Estimated Assembly Time: 15 Hours

This Trimaran Merihobus is a three-hull sailboat that can be assembled from a 237-part UGears Kit without glue or special tools in about 15 hours. The skeleton style shows off details like the bulkheads, frames, rigging, and hulls. The rear rudder blade is steered by ropes connected through pontoons to the master wheel on the stern. The sailboat’s namesake, a tiny seahorse called a merihobus, is carved on the bow of the sailboat. The mainsail and fore staysail on the mast may be set or taken in.

Look for new UGears Model Kits at Woodcraft in the coming months.