UGEARS Astronomer Table Clock with Tourbillon - 3D Wooden Puzzles for Adults Model Kit - Mechanical Clock Kit Functional DIY Wood Model Kits for Adults, 3D Puzzle for Puzzle Lovers

As I've said on other UGEAR models, these are made in the Ukraine, not Asia and well worth the extra money for quality and supporting the Ukrainians. I go beyond the directions and sand every piece. I also color parts of them with watercolor to make them more interesting. Highly recommend all UGEARS models. BTW: I'm 80 years old and used to make furniture. I can't do that anymore, so I build these models to satisfy my need to work with my hands (and brain). This one was the most challenging but a lot of fun. Once done, I held my breath waiting to see if it worked; and it did. I bought a good-looking "deep drop weight" that looks better than the bag they provide to run the clock. You can get the weight at Amazon. I used the 4 pound one.

Background: This is the second UGears model that I have assembled and just like the first one (Steam Locomotive U-460), the plywood quality felt very good and hefty and the engineering put into the model was very impressive. I purchased this clock thinking that all the lessons I learned from building the Steam Train would make getting this clock smoothly functioning in a jiffy. I was extremely wrong in this assumption. Assembly: My kit was missing the cardstock for the clock dials, but I contacted UGears's customer service and they mailed me the parts to me with no charge. Very nice! It took me 3 days to assemble since I spent the time to wax and sand for a soft finish on every surface (it is imperative that a 90 dollar kit should look and feel good). The build was very complex but satisfying to engage with. I however do recommend buying your own set of quality round toothpicks as I found the ones provided to be of quite low quality. Also, consider buying own your supply of paste wax as you will need a lot more wax than what the kit provides. The instructions for installing parts were clear, though I had to look online to understand some of what was happening when it came to the moving/calibration steps - the descriptions there were a bit lacking. Fortunately a QR code in the manual pointed me to videos that I found helpful. Tuning: It was daily process of fiddling with the tourbillon to figure out what needed sanding or further lubrication. After assembly without tuning, the clock would run for a minute at a time before seizing - which wasn't up to my standards. Learning how the mechanism works before fiddling with it and sanding down actual geometries is vital for not bricking this expensive puzzle. I did craft some parts myself, such as a cleaner pallet lever with lower friction gems and a longer guard pin essentially get near perfect performance. It runs as advertised now, keeping up power for 2ish hours before stopping. I am now extremely familiar with the Swiss lever escapement mechanism. If I had some final tips - it would be that friction is the enemy, and always know how things work before deciding to make permanent modifications. Conclusion: This is a very nice kit and the plywood is of good quality. Costumer Service was helpful in proving me with missing parts and had a fast response time. The toothpicks and wax provided are insufficient in quality and amount so it would be best to purchase your own. The Clock is unlikely to work well right after assembly and will require to be taken apart for further tuning. Perfecting the clock is time consuming process and requires a passing level of knowledge or mechanical intuition but doing so will result in a clock that runs as advertised. I recommend this to anyone with a passing interest in these sorts of things and the patience to back it up.

Update 9/24/2022: It's been over a year and the clock still runs. Now that it's thoroughly broken in, I reduced the weight in the bag to about 2 1/2 lb. and it runs fine. I messed with the balloon mechanism and now it works much of the time. It's still lousy as a timepiece, and it still gets stuck occasionally, but I didn't buy it so I can get to appointments on time. ===================================================== Update 10/31/2021: Almost three months later, the clock is still running. The short video was shot tonight. It has run pretty much continuously, except for the times I forget to wind it. The issue with the balloon still exists (see below). I solved the problem by disconnecting it. So the balloon now just hangs there, doing nothing. The clock is still not good at keeping time, but it happily ticks away with a pleasing tick-tock sound. I wonder how long it will last... ===================================================== I've built several Ugears puzzles over the last several months. This clock went together as well as any of them, there were no missing parts, and it was fun to assemble. It's hanging on the wall right now, ticking away behind me as I type. It sounds like ... a clock. lol It does not keep good time, though. It gains or loses several minutes a day. It's raw wood, so it's highly susceptible to temperature and humidity changes. The biggest problem is the balloon. About 30% of the time, when the balloon drops, the gear that is supposed to lift the balloon back up clashes rather than meshes with the driving gear, and the clock stops. Yes, I sanded and waxed appropriately, and tinkered and tinkered with it, trying to get it to reliably work. I gave up. So now I think of it as a clever knick-knack... But it's cool, I'm glad I got it, and would probably buy it again, even knowing what I know now. Just know you're buying a well-engineered puzzle that mostly works, and not a timepiece.

This is an excellent kit, and I had fun building it and putting it together. I have it adjusted very well, but I do have trouble winding it every day. The mechanism catches on the inside when trying to pull down the little car to wind the sandbag weight. It’s really finicky and I’m not sure what it catches on inside the drum. It’s really hard to get it to release to pull the car down so you can wind it. Has anybody came across this situation or has a fix for it? I’m at a loss. Thanks.

This is the first time I’ve built one of these wooden models, and I gotta say it was super fun. Instructions were pretty clear for the most part and the end result feels like a solid mechanism. Didn’t break anything and got all the strings set up without too much trouble. It looks great, especially when it’s in operation. All that said, don’t expect it to work smoothly without putting in some extra effort to fine tune it. It’s super important to sand all the places that are indicated in the instructions, as well as any gear faces that may pass against the static supports. Especially important to sand the pendulum and escapement gear. The wax included in the kit is tricky to apply properly to the gears, so I got some candles from the dollar store and applied melted wax with a paint brush. That took a bit of time but overall it was enjoyable. I’ve spent a bit of time trying to break the clock in, and so far I’ve been able to get it to go for about 15 minutes before I need to give it a slight nudge. It’s improving quickly with more use though, so I’m feeling optimistic about it breaking the hour mark by the end of the week. Edit: 1 day later and it’s going for more than an hour now at a time now. Didn’t do anything except keep nudging it along to break in the mechanisms. I’d gladly build more of these models if I had the space for it!

Todo bien. No es difícil de hacer y pasas un rato entretenido. La pena es que el reloj no funcione las 24 horas, si fuese así se acabarían desgastando las piezas

とても良い これから作ります。

Heel mooi. Wel voorzichtig ermee zijn. Ben er druk mee. Fijne tijdsbesteding. Hoge kwaliteit en duidelijke omschrijving. Prima product.

Great kit. Went together well. The balloon was fiddly, but all in all, great fun. And it all worked! The balloon rises, then falls on the hour. It kept stopping and eventually traced it to one of the mounting screws that wasn't fully screwed in, so it twisted the whole clock slightly. Found that 2kg of sand totally filled the weight bag. (dried it well before weighing). The minute indicator has to be turned about 7 minutes cw before the ratchet kicks it when adjusting. The pendulum "weights" could do with finer adjustments to achieve more accurate time keeping, but I'm just happy it all works 😁