UGEARS Hurdy-Gurdy Musical Instrument 3D Wooden Puzzles for Adults - Wooden Model Kits for Adults Medieval Hurdy Gurdy Instruments Folk Instruments for Adult Brain Teaser, Hobby Set

This mechanical puzzle is very well made. The parts are precisely cut (I assume with a laser) and fit together snugly, as one would hope. The wood is a 3 layer plywood so, it is pretty strong. Many of the parts - especially the small ones, which potentially could easily be broken or lost (although I didn't have a problem) - came with spares. The manufacturer indicates that no glue is needed and that was true except for one of the last pieces. It was very small piece and there were quite a few of them. The last three, which included the 2 spares were just a tiny bit too small so would not fit snugly. I ended up adding a spot of clear glue and all was fine. The kit comes with 2 tools. One is a mallet that you create right off the bat. Good practice and very useful for tapping some pieces into place. The other tool is pokey kind of thing which is handy for popping some of the smaller pieces out of the wood panel. The only other tool you really might need is an Exacto knife to cut the tiny slivers of wood holding some pieces in the panel. This will help prevent damage to some of the more skinny pieces. The instructions are all picture based and easy to follow. I liked that they showed some things from different angles and they always gave you a "landmark" so you knew if you had the puzzle lined up with the photo. The only words were at the beginning to explain certain symbols used throughout the instruction book. BTW - the instruction book does include some songs to play at the end as yes, this is a working instrument! The hardest thing was to tie the strings into place - especially the ones requiring a square knot (located in the neck of the instrument). You need more slack in the string BEFORE it goes into the tiny holes (this will make more sense when you go to make it). You will need to tune the Hurdy Gurdy. The instruction book points you to the Ugears website where there are some nice videos. You will need to find an app for phone or other mobile device to use when tuning. I found that one that has some sort of gauge worked best. Mine was a free one. Lastly, if you are thinking you might decorate this thing (although it does have a certain charm without any added decorations), then do it before you construct it, taking into consideration how this thing will go together so as not to mess up the fit. I didn't think about is until after I was done. Silly me. Now, you might be wondering if this thing actually does play. YES! it does! Way cool! In summary, I had a grand time putting this together and plan to attempt another design in the near future. I might even make another Hurdy Gurdy!

Decided to order one of these after a YouTube video sparked an interest in the hurdy-gurdy but the price for a proper one almost killed it. Building this was a fine way to spend an evening, and in the end you get something that looks *very* cool and even approximates the sound of a real hurdy-gurdy for less than 1/10th the price. The model feels very sturdy (as in, you can leave it on your shelf and not worry about it). It was easy enough to build. This was my first Ugears kit and I really have to give props to the designers on this one. The instructions are crystal clear and the parts fit together perfectly as designed. I didn't find the included model hammer to be useful at all in building the h-g, but building it made for a good warm-up. My only difficulty came from stringing the instrument. Tying a knot in the tight spaces was a challenge but with some pliers to help out, I got it. I would recommend that Ugears includes an extra length of string in the box. I trimmed mine before tightening and the knot came undone. Luckily I had enough extra to just barely manage to get it back on. As for the sound, well, it sounded horrible when I first put it together. The strings need to go a lot tighter than you might think at first. When you pluck it, it should make a nice "TING!". Aim for 587 Hz (D5) on the melody string and 392 Hz (G4) on the drone string when rotating the wheel. The drone should be lower but you can't really get a good sound out of it much lower than that. I used the gStrings app to help tune. It's high pitched but that's because it's smaller than a real gurdy. After some tuning and lubing the gears a bit more (I used 3-in-one lock dry lube in addition to the provided wax which was applied while constructing) the instrument was easy to turn and sounded about as well as one can expect.

The Mechanical Hurdy-gurdy was the first UGears Mechanical model I've attempted to build. As a model, I'd have to give this an easy 5 stars...10 stars if I could. Everything about the model is first rate...the quality of the wood, the laser cutting, the instructions and the supplies that are included help to make building this model a really happy and enjoyable experience. The instructions are very clear though it is easy to overlook something that could be very important so proceeding carefully and not rushing through the build is very worthwhile. I did experienced one problem when you have to attach the neck and the body together. A lot of force is required to snap the two pieces and it took me a good 10 minutes to figure out why I was having such a difficult time. In the process of snapping these two major subassemblies together, I broke two small pieces of wood which didn't affect the build at all. I just wish the instructions for this very important assembly were more clear. Despite the break, the final model remains incredibly sturdy. I can't overestimate how impressive the engineering is that went into the design of this model. It's remarkable that something this complex can be assembled without glue. All the pieces go together easily (except for the two subassemblies mentioned earlier) and are held together with decorative pegs. You'll find extra pieces by the time you are finished, presumably in case something gets lost as you build. Many of the pieces are very small so loosing something is definitely a possibility. One aspect of the design I don't like is that the keys spring back by using a rubber band. With time the band will dry-out and break and since the mechanism is buried in the model, replacing the rubber band is going to prove next to impossible without tearing down the model. Finally, once everything is assembled it's time to string the Hurdy Gurdy and play it. This is where I've removed one star because the kit comes supplied with just enough fishing line for one attempt. If you mess it up like I did then an alternative is required. Thankfully I had some monofilament fishing line which worked fine. Once strung and tuned the Hurdy Gurdy sounds.....pretty terrible. It's difficult to tune correctly and the two strings screech terribly against the rosined wheel. The terrible sound is probably due to a number of factors....the size of the Hurdy Gurdy only allows for high-pitched notes, the body of the Hurdy Gurdy is made of ply-wood and held together with pegs and will never resonate as nicely as a professionally made instrument, and the fishing line strings probably are never going to sound great. My intention is to continue to rework some of these elements and replace the supplied strings with something a bit more professional. Having said all this, the model is beautiful to look at. I stained the wooden pieces with a dark stain to give it an appropriately medieval look. I intend to add painted details and to really make it look fantastic. As long as you temper your expectations and understand that this is a $70 kit and not a professionally built instrument you should be very happy with the final results. I hope that with time I can transform this model into something that can be played but with this sort of kit, it's the journey and not the destination that's most of the fun.

Like many other reviewers, this was purchased as a COVID project; I lost track of the hours (dozens), but after a little over 2 months, it’s finished & I’m really happy with it. I suspect I could have done it in 6-8 hours left natural, but I used a stain and some alcohol-based leather dye to give it a little more character. The directions were surprisingly good and the quality of the pieces was excellent. I did completely shatter one small piece (while drying it in a paper towel), but it was one of the many (many) pieces they gave a spare for, so no harm done. Attaching the neck to the body was stressful, definitely don’t skip the wax on this step, I’m afraid it would break if you did. The main moving parts all get wax, but I added a little synthetic grease too & am glad I did as it turns really, really nicely - far better than you’d expect inexpensive wood on wood (I believe the plywood to be Baltic birch). At the end of the day, it’s not so much a musical instrument as a puzzle & it is a beautiful puzzle, but I did manage to tune it ‘close enough’ and play Mary had a Little Lamb. Afterwards, I backed off the tension on the strings so as to not warp the wood under the pressure. I’m more than satisfied and recommend it highly to anyone with enough patience to take their time to do it right. In addition to the waxing, there’s a bit to sand (they include the wax and the sandpaper, but a couple hours into it, I switched to a dremel with a sanding wheel for most of it) & you need to be gentle with many of the small pieces.

I've been waiting for this hurdy gurdy to come out for a few months now. I was really pleased that they did NOT have any of the infamous toothpicks in this design. Instead it's held by many pegs and well placed pieces. There's even a hammer to tap pieces into place. Other Ugears' models haven't been challenging enough and have only took me 30-60 minutes to complete. This model was exactly what I was looking for. It took me approximately 6 hours of nonstop work. It requires a high attention to detail and the ability to follow instructions well. This is more of a toy than a real instrument. It's cool enough that my husband was trying to steal it away while I was playing it. They include a few simple songs. This "instrument" is really easy to play and I was able to play a tune within a few minutes of picking it up. It's really beautiful and a lot larger than I expected. It's probably about the size of a ukulele. It's a great presentation piece. I'm pretty sure I want to buy or build a real hurdy gurdy after making this one. A couple of things that might help you while you're building: 1) The gears in the neck won't turn when you install them properly. Don't try to fix it. I was sure that I'd broken my model, but it all came together. They're very tight for the tuning pegs and will turn once those are installed. 2) The strings have to be VERY tight. The sound was so soft I could barely hear it. Once I tightened them VERY tightly it sounded as expected. 3) Over wax everything. There's a bunch of frustrating donuts that you'll have to cram on shafts. Surprisingly the more wax you use, the easier to is to get them on. It essentially lubes them. Ugears includes a broken candle in the kit which works well but smells gross. I ran out about a third of the way in and started using cold beeswax. That works just as well and smells a lot better. 4) This is not for kids. This is much more geared (ha ha) to adults. 5) There's a ton of extra parts. Expect them and don't fret. 6) I'd suggest building the stand first and setting it aside. It's a bit less that you'll have to dig through when searching for parts. I'm not sure why they made it the last step. Overall I'm really pleased with this model. I wish I could find more like it. :)

I have been interested in some of these wooden models and have seen them around a while. This was my first project and then I realized afterwards that it seems like it's one of the more challenging ones they make. That said, I didn't run into any major issues, just took it slow and steady and followed all the directions. This took over 10+ hours to complete over the course of a week. Some tips on getting started if you're new: 1) You will want an x-acto knife or hobby knife for this. The model comes in about 8 large sheets of wood, and while I never needed the knife to "cut out" pieces (some people say they did), I did use the knife quite a bit to shave off bits of wood "nubs" where it was attached to the sheet, and that saved time vs. sanding them down forever. 2) Sand where it says to sand. Wax where it says to wax. Follow every instruction in every place it says to follow it. Take your time, you may spend quite a bit of this project waxing and sanding components, and it will pay off perfectly. If you skip it, gears may have a hard time making a good connection, or will be uneven and that will affect how they work. Most things should turn quite freely. The wax is just a small candle, any candle will do if you want to use something else. I ended up using almost the entire candle that it came with by the end of the project. 3) I popped out all of the largest pieces that looked like they made up the body, and then used some cherry danish oil on them to give them a redder finish. The end result was a beautiful two-tone effect, even though I only oiled 5 pieces. The wood can definitely be painted or stained, but you're going to want to do that and let it dry before attempting to put it together. The pieces are too delicate after building it to think about painting after the fact. 4) There are quite a few pieces that will take solid pressure to pop or connect together, but nothing should ever need to be slammed or forced in, that's how you'll break something. The project actually comes with a very small wooden hammer, and it's the first thing they'll have you make. The hammer looks like a joke or a toy, it's not. Don't ever use a real hammer, use the one they give you. Often you just need a few quick taps to jar something loose or get it to pop into place. I ended up breaking only one gear (one of the last ones that controls the string winders) but luckily the kit contains extra's of dozens of pieces, so there was a spare identical gear that I was able to use instead. I also broke one of the larger pieces that connect the front and back of the body, but I was able to use a little wood glue on it and you'll never be able to tell it was cracked. So the advice is don't ever force anything, but also, don't sweat it too hard if something breaks. The manufacturer is also good about contacting them for spare parts, so I've heard. 5) This is a model and a toy, not a real instrument. While it's certainly playable, it doesn't sound good. It's hard to really get a good tuning on it, because the sound quality is poor. I had half a mind to try to put some real strings on it but haven't actually gotten around to doing it. If you try that at all, get strings for a classical guitar, don't use guitar or violin strings because those are steel and wound and will probably damage the wheel and not produce the sound you want. Ideally buy 2 of the smallest or 2nd smallest classic guitar strings as a matched pair. Some good quality rosin may also be helpful, as the rosin it comes with looked pretty bad. All in all, this is a great conversation piece that I display on a shelf along with other obscure instruments. The Hurdy Gurdy was actually the definitive liturgical (church music) instrument before the pipe organ took over completely. In the middle ages, there were hurdy gurdy's so large that they took 2 people to operate, one person to turn the wheel and another to control the buttons. This is a neat piece of history and a stylish project that you'll have fun with.

First off let’s remember this is a $70 version of a normally $1000+ item. Gonna start with the bad first then the good Cons: 1 string snapped on day one of playing it 2 dose not tell exactly what type of fishing line to get (I replaced it with trilene big game 50lb 0.028dia almost 2 times as thick) 3 Dose not explain that with out the rosin you will get no sound at all 4 such a small amount of rosin that you don’t want to loose it (dirt cheap stuff at music store) 5 no spare strings come on you have to figure people are gonna break them and we’re payong$70 at least send some spare a roll of fishing line is 5-10 bucks for 275 yards Pros: 1 fun to build wish I dyed my wood before putting together 2 can actually play music (early splitting notes, like someone just starting at violin) 3 lot cheaper to mess with and see if you want to dish out $1000+ for a real hurdy gurdy( I never expected this one to sound great I just want to see if I enjoy it before spending a small fortune on a real one.) 4 looks very beautiful So being there are really only 4 pros and 5 cons I couldn’t give it 5 stars the company makes great products but needs to add a few extra items with this to really make it a 4-5 star review

Hello Ugears! I thought I would take a few minutes to introduce myself and share my experience. This past Christmas I was looking for a Christmas present for my father who is 94. While he wouldnt be able to . kbuild the models, I thought he would appreciate looking at them and seeing them work. So, for Christmas I bought the Mini tram town model as practice to see how difficult these were to build. I was very impressed how detailed the instructions were. After the first mini town set, I started on the locomotive which has been so far my favorite model to build. I really cant believe it worked on the first try! So, here is a list of the models I have purchased (all through Amazon, I believe). Had I known there was a rewards club I would have ordered directly from store. I do have the UPC codes that were on the plastic and I could snap photos if need too, but would I be able to give you that information and you add it to my account? (**Please note I first saw the Locomotive via comerical on Facebook, back in Kickstarter and have been following closely until my recent purchases) The models I have purchased are as follows: Mini Tram town set Locomotive locomotive train track expansion Hurdy Gurdy (currently building) Fire Ladder Truck (next after Hurdy Gurdy) Models I am interested in, but have not purchased" -Roadster car -Robot factory -Puzzle box/Safe -Any of the clocks or timers Models I would like to see in the future" -Mechanical Robot Hand -Clockwork Owl from the classic movie Clash of the Titans (not the new movie!) -More musical instruments -Woodworking tools (I love the hammer, not sure if you can make other tools too) -Cuckoo Clock -Secrets! (I like it when I am surprised to find out theres little extras to build in addition to the main model (Like the wooden mallet to help build the models in Hurdy Gurdy box) I use this mallet often! -Mechanical robot - Universal building pieces w/ woodworking tools as a seperate kit. Building Experience: Overall, the instruction book is great but some areas that I feel need improving are: -I consider myself highly mechanically inclined as far as skill level of model building, I take my time to study the instruction book, and I wax the pieces thoroughly. Perhaps tips on building the models would help (How much do I wax? Or specifically on the locomotive to keep the front wheels straight you insert a peg (toothpick which I assume can be removed later for curved track, but there maybe should have been some explaination as to why you do that. I had to red ahead to find another picture to see if tht toothpick was still supposed to be there). -For new builders, its never made really clear to punch out the measuring/alignment.building tools. For example, its handy to know to build the mallet in the Hurdy Gurdy from the beginng with a little more explanation on the proper uses (like dont tap too hard, or use the mallet to save your fingers, stuff like that). Also, you guys could include disposable/short use hobby knives with the kit. I like how you guys are adding more things like that...candle wax included extra. The toothpicks I am getting better at not breaking, so its good you include so many. -Durability: Most of the pieces are pretty durable, some do break. I broke the front upshaped rib on the locomotive (where its thin at the top) I managed to glue it back together so thats ok. Of course there is the issue with gear teeth coming off, but since its only usually ever one tooth and just a third of it, the models still work. I can tell you guys are always trying different things as far as howthe pieces punch out. Well, This is all I can think of for now. Please feel free to reach to me as I would love to test out new models, or offer any feedback you might require. Sincerely, Christopher Ament