UGEARS Sky Watcher

In my opinion Ugears do produce some of the best models, but this kit is not really for beginners, This is an 'advanced" model but if you follow the instructions, it fits together well and looks good when finished. This product is well made from plywood components, the instructions although look daunting are easy to follow. It's not a simple piece to put together but if you take your time to read the instructions several times and don't rush, you should finish with a working Tourbillon clock. There are several very good step by step videos available to aid construction if required. If I had some final tips they would be: - Friction is the enemy, always knowing how things work before deciding to make permanent modifications is advisable. I found that using CA glue in places did add to the stability of the model, but make sure that it is put together correctly before using CA. Learning how the mechanism works before fiddling with it is really quite important if you want it to work. For example, there are plenty of videos available to explain the workings and adjustment of the balance wheel, hair spring and other associated components, if required.

Great "puzzles" for an older person. Instructions very easy to follow, but you need to concentrate. Some parts very fine and easily broken. Looks great once built, but, it's an absolute bugger to make it work like it does on their videos. I've tried ALL of their remedies, even took it to bits again, but it stilll sticks and needs assistance to work. Recommended if you want something to keep hands and grey cells busy.

I liked supporting a Ukrainian company and that influenced my buying decision. The packaging and instructions were beautiful. I really enjoyed building the model and some aspects of it were well designed and clever, the rubber band feet for example, impressed me. One word of warning though, these kits aren't really designed for taking apart and so fixing problems once you've moved on to the next stage of constriction or are testing the mechanism is tricky. The model did work and kept time, and the production of the laser cuts was good, the prices snapped out easily and it was obvious which pieces to sand and wax, maybe I could have done with a little more wax than supplied. Overall I think it's a great company but the designs could be tweaked to remove some of the ambiguity in contruction and of the movement itself and to permit more assembly/disassembly to tweak or fix problems in the mechanism which would allow more learning/play. I would like the designers to focus more on the experience of the constructor and the desire to play with the mechanisms, and less focus on the aesthetic design of the finished model.

I have not finished this..the plywood is very fragile it can break easy then you got to hope you can glue it back..some warnings about spring was not noted how it can bounce back after winding it and it releases'it snaps back violently so becareful with that..when the skywatcher is completed it is pretty good..its the plywood being fragile you got to be careful of and be sure when putting parts together you have correct parts in each step ant put together correctly you make a mistake and attempt to take something apart the plywood could easily break so be careful

Great product.not yet built.still in process of removing components fron plywood sheet!!

Great model of clock just dont expect proper timekeeping

This was so much fun to make, so satisfying to make a clock that runs and there's adjustments that can be made to make it run longer, there's spare parts for the parts which are hard to release, so if you break one of those there's possibly a spare. I have made mine run for almost 7 hours!!

well made, but with a few design flaws. The kit is well presented with well lasered wood sheets. Instructions are good but you need to carefully check the views as to orientation/direction of view. I built the kit but would not run. Carefully checked against build instructions and built to the book. 1. I removed one of the spacers (part number 128) on the forks to prevent the locking pin (part number 129) fowling the escape wheel. 2. I replaced the 'toothpick' bearing for the tourbillon cage with a brass pin as this is an area of high friction. 3. I added 2 washers to the tourbillon cage pivet to raise the assembly slightly to prevent rubbing on the circular gear track at the top. 4. I added 4 rollers (made of brass for ease) to stabalise the tourbillon cage. The two wooden ones (part number 166) were to small to keep the cage vertical. Overall, happy with the kit. With the mods, now runs for about 3.5 hours on a wind.

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.

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

Il modello è di grande qualità, i pezzi sono realizzati al laser con estrema precisione. Le istruzioni per il montaggio sono molto precise, ma è essenziale NON AVERE FRETTA e seguire tutto passo-passo. Essenziale una buona lubrificazione dei pezzi in movimento: io ho usato un sottilissimo strato di grasso di silicone anziché la cera. E' anche estremamente importante il rodaggio: nei primi tentativi di funzionamento, il mio orologio si fermava dopo pochi secondi, ed era necessario rimetterlo in moto manualmente agendo sulla ruota del bilanciere. Dopo un po' di rodaggio, l'orologio ha cominciato a funzionare sempre meglio, ed ora funziona per oltre due ore con una sola carica !!!! Guardarlo è quasi ipnotico. In sostanze, un modello molto complicato e difficile da montare, ma fattibile con pazienza. E il risultato finale è spettacolare. Un grandissimo BRAVI!!! ai progettisti di UGEARS, dei veri geni....

Very nice piece of mechanical artwork, I finished it in 2 days, was difficult to make it work properly, but I was able to "break-in" sand-off the edges of the gears to reduce the friction and other form of movement restrictions. I've put some lithium based grease with paraffin wax and it work decently well. It looks cute !!! *You need to lightly sand the edges of the gears with a nail polishing file and properly lubricate them, to reduce the friction between the meshing teeth.

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