Wood Trick Wooden Marble Run Electric Motorized - 678 Parts - 3D Wooden Puzzles for Adults to Build - 15x14 in - Roller Coaster Wooden Model Kits for Adults to Build

This is the largest, most complex, and challenging of the marble runs that are currently on sale at Amazon. The box contains a dozen or so sheets of thin plywood expertly laser cut into more than 600 well-labelled pieces that fit together perfectly. There is even a sheet of duplicate parts in case one breaks, is lost in the carpet, or chewed on by the dog. No glue is required but I kept a container of superglue handy for the occasional piece that looked like it might come loose. Instructions suggest that some of the pieces that slide upon one another or mesh gears be lightly sanded and "waxed." One can use soap for this but I found that pure paraffin (Blended Waxes Inc. $10) was easier to use and more effective. The success of the project depends on all moving parts sliding or rotating effortlessly. The instructions come in a large format pamphlet, describing construction entirely in pictures (a la Ikea) in deference to the vast international population of marble-run fans. Subtle points are brought to the builders attention by exclamation marks. The order of the construction pictures, occasionally right to left, or down to up, confused me. Also the dotted lines indicating which tab should be inserted into which slot require extra attention. Even the most carefully constructed marble run may be affected by changes in humidity that will make the marbles stick, and pile up where once they caromed, but even when that occurs (and it seems inevitable) this particular device has so many gears and rotating objects that it remains great fun to watch. Those under five seem particularly entranced by it.

When I first read about this product I was hesitant. After all, it's a lot of money. Still curious I read some of the comments posted, from 1 to 5 stars. Some were unhappy with the product because it didn't work correctly (the balls flew off the course), but more were happy and even shared some suggestions. I took note of some of the suggestions from the happy customers, and was a bit weary of the possible pit-falls unhappy customers pointed out. First, I decided that I was going to put this product together to the best of my ability, and use some of the suggestions that happy customers (marked with *) left in their comments: I was very careful taking the parts from the boards using the provided tool and at time using an X-Acto knife (*). I used a bent-nose pliers (*) to press parts together tightly, or to take connections apart if not done correctly. The instruction booklet is very elaborate, though at times it took me a bit to understand certain sections. The images are clear and minute differences are well marked. Pay attention, sometimes images of the same parts are displayed in mirror-image. The pieces fit together perfectly, and the engineering of all these parts is amazing! Don't forget to wax all the parts that need it. The was provided isn't enough so I got a candle to do that. I loved the process of putting it together and finding ways to do it. When I first started the marble run, the balls flew off the track when making the first 180 degree turn down the slope. Is this a bad product after all? As it turns out the flimsy pieces making the turn possible weren't fully seated so I fixed that (don't force them in from the top, but instead slide them in from the side). Glad I found a few spare ones on the boards. This product is fun to put together and works perfectly!

I just finished the Wood Trick Spiral puzzle and now I’m starting this Galaxy. These are both going to be great additions to my collection of 8 marble run puzzles. The Wood Trick puzzles are my most satisfying and rewarding to build. One thing that has made the construction easier is to organize the part cards to see their number much easier and keep the parts from falling out before needing them. You can remove the top of a box (I use a large shoe box) and cut slots out on both sides (1/2 inch wide) to set the part wood cards down into the slots. You can then easily see the card numbers without having to go through your pile of cards. Hopefully this easy to make card organizer helps others. Will update this note with a review of the finished Galaxy in a few weeks. Have fun and a lot of patience. Just completed the Galaxy and it was another one of my favorite builds. Parts fit together nicely and snug. It was definitely a fun build and extremely satisfying to see it finished. It works properly with only two items needing attention unlike most of my collection’s completed puzzles. The diverter part number 225 on page 28 would not open right or left far enough when the first marble went past it. With the diverter staying pretty much in the middle the marbles would stack up behind it and not pass to one track or the other. I lengthened the side arms on this part and the diverter works perfectly allowing the marbles to move to one or the other tracks. To lengthen the sides of this part I used the small pieces from around the large gears that fall off when they are punched out of the cards. These triangular small pieces fit the side arms of this diverter piece perfectly and are a perfect length to move the diverter from side to side far enough when the marbles pass by. I attached a picture of the diverter with the extensions glued on. The other problem was the large Ferris wheel assembly and the motor box would move up from the base allowing the gears to misalign and bind up the drive line. The pressure of the motor drive gear driving the large gear would allow both to move up out of the puzzles base. I don’t like gluing pieces to the base of my puzzles as things may need work down the road after running them for awhile. A thin strong wire around part number 4 and 5 on page 33 and the base and a wire around the motor assembly holding it to the base works well. Have plenty of patients, don’t rush the assembling, have fun with it, and you to will enjoy the satisfaction of finishing a great marble run puzzle. One of the best now in my collection.

This is a very well designed product. Everything fit together as it is supposed to. The instructions were quite easy to follow, despite what some people have reported. The pieces are fairly easy to find and identify, especially once you realize that the picture on the page, is the board you should be looking on. I spent about 18 hours putting the whole thing together, working a few evenings part of two week-end days, and broke only two pieces. One, because I did not pay attention and fitted the piece wrong and had to remove it to correct the mistake. A little wood glue fixed that problem. The other piece broke when I tried to force it into place instead of sliding it in like instructions tell you to do. The kit included two spares for that piece. I admit that I did not do much sanding and smoothing, only on the gear teeth and a few rotating parts. Still, when I started it up the first time, everything ran smoothly and the whole system worked just as it is supposed to. All in all, it is a very satisfying project. Follow the easy instructions, clean up the rough edges on moving parts, use a little wax where necessary, and you will have a very nice, working model. I will definitely be looking at other Wood Trick projects.

I like the design and the robustness of the built model. I do not like the quality of the plywood combined with the laser cut. It is almost impossible to remove some of the parts without splintering the top layer of ply. I didn't like it being battery powered so I replaced the battery pack with a USB input plug. It runs fine on a 2amp USB power supply. It is worth the money and lots of fun to construct. Some builds are very demanding.

Challenging. You must pay close attention to detail. It is a great model and percise pieces.

I have made many models over the years, including sailing ships where you build the hull from pieces of raw wood. This product is very well made! The instructions are great and the pieces fit together extremely well! Very impressed. No glue, but you will need an Exacto knife or small tools to cut edges. They provide sandpaper and wax (for gears touching other gears) along with wooden tool to punch out pieces. Tips: After punching out the pieces for a particular section, I sanded the edges. In addition, if you are fitting square pieces into square holes, I sanded a very slight bevel off the edges of the inserting piece to make it easier to get the piece “started” into the hole. Then use a blunt end of a tool…even the Exacto knife will do…..to push the piece into the hole. This is particularly harder fitting pieces into the base. Those seem to fit tighter and you will need to push those in hard. Make sure you get each annd every piece all the way into the hole! This is important to make sure the entire marble maze works as intended. I only had one small glitch after completing, but I just moved and pulled a little bit on the piece where the marble wasn’t completing its journey and that fixed the problem. In other words, adjust the section to make the marble go where it is intended. Have fun! I did!

This was a very challenging and professional project. The engineering and detail outstanding. I would recommend this project for anyone that has time and patience.

Me ha gustado mucho la precisión del tamaño para lograr un ensamblado muy ajustado. Producto muy divertido de montar y de utilizar una vez terminado.

My first Woodtrick puzzle. Easier to remove parts compared to other brands. Took longer than I expected, but well worth the effort. Works great after some minor tweaking. Many spare parts…if you break a part, check the spare parts sheet (it takes up more than half of sheet #9!) before you get the glue out. The wiring diagram is not complete. The manual only shows the motor white wire to the switch white wire. The rest is red to red from the switch to the battery box, and green to black from the motor to the battery box. Also, pay special attention as to when to flip the sections over before proceeding with assembly, it is not indicated as others do. And follow the arrows. The manual is large and shows where to find the parts. Past experience with these puzzles is a must. Would highly recommend. Sit back and enjoy the finished product and watch it work!

Loved this wood trick model. The best yet from this brand.

I rarely write reviews but this defiantly warranted the time. This is an excellent model, but not for the faint hearted. Patients is defiantly the buzz word and lots of it. Some of the pieces can be tricky to remove from the board and care is needed not to break them. Coming from an engineering background I can appreciate the work that has gone into producing this model and I must say the Laser cutting accuracy is astonishing. Top tips: dispense with the silly little piece of sandpaper supplied and 'borrow' your wife's emery board she uses for her nails, far easier to use for the fettling jobs. For parts that have multiple location pegs, file a small chamfer on all corners of the pegs to aid location. A fair bit of force is required to locate pegs so I found a pair of long nosed jewelry pliers very useful to apply pressure in the right places. If you require glue,then something is wrong. Finally, one (and only one) small quibble, is that I found that the base board between the motor unit and the large wheel to be a little too flexible thus allowing the pinion gear to come out of mesh with the large gear under load. Sorted this by gluing (sorry) a small reinforcing strip across the base (Photo).

J’ai adoré monter ce puzzle, il fonctionne à merveille, je les colorier et c’est encore mieux