Wood Trick Wooden Marble Run Spiral Electric Motorized - Wooden 3D Puzzles for Adults and Kids to Build - 13x13 - Roller Coaster Mechanical Wooden Model Kits for Adults and Teens to Build

The media could not be loaded. I have assembled many 3D marble run puzzles and this was one of the best. Have plenty of patience and don’t force parts together. They are made to fit well and snug. Save your fingers using long needle nose and regular pliers to push the parts all the way together. Sand all parts especially the front and rear of the elevator boxes and their stems. Wax all parts well that move against each other. Study the instruction pictures closely to get your parts in the correct position. Look closely as there are very small numbers and letters on the parts showing their proper connection to another. With my 80 yr. old eyes I needed a magnifying glass to see these letters and numbers. After proper assembly the puzzle will like all others need some adjustments for the marbles to run through the puzzle without getting stuck or coming off the marble runs. The only thing I really needed to fix was the problem of the marbles coming off the track at the turn at the bottom of the last long downhill run before the marble collection area. The marbles pick up speed on this steep downhill run with some ending up on the floor. As seen in the video I constructed fences out of the scrape wood and attached them to both sides of the marble track before and after the last corner. Using the scrape wood I was able to make these parts and stain them to look like they came with the puzzle. You can use anything to make a fence that will just keep the marbles from leaving the track. Over all this was a great puzzle for anyone to add to their collection. Have plenty of patience, don’t rush to finish it, and you will be extremely satisfied with the workings of this project.

First thing I noticed when I saw this was the stair-step method used to take the marbles upward. That was not only one of the highlights of this run but also the most challenging sections to make run smoothly. I've done several smaller Wood Trick and other puzzles. This was my fifth level 5. I stayed away from this one because of the reviews. Especially when it came to the pistons and the push rods. I over waxed the first try with the steps. I used a 400 grit sand paper. The surfaces were smooth as can be. The first try everything was too tight. The steps would go up but were far too tight to come back down. I removed the wax from the steps,(that was really fun!), and then I sanded the heck out of them all with 150 grit to remove enough of the material so they would sit in the frame and move freely. Once I got that taken care of I was really nervous about the rods jamming or failing as I had read in the reviews. I took the "unit" and just played with it for about an hour or so. I did that till it moved smoothly in both directions. Then I snapped it in and turned the page. There were some tricky sections to work with but none as difficult as the stairs. Once I finished the build I just put it down. I started fresh the next day. It took a bit of tweaking but it was mostly lining things up or a tight area here and there. After about 45 minutes or so it was up and running. I can watch it run for hours. The designers really know what they are doing. The way all of this comes together is amazing to me no matter how many of these puzzles I work on.As usual with this type of "Puzzle", I would not recommend this for a child. As many say the fun is in the build so TAKE YOUR TIME, "the fun lasts longer". If details is not your thing, this puzzle is not for you.While I'm waiting for the soreness in my fingers to go away from working on this thing I'll start looking for another puzzle. This was a great project to work on. I would purchase this again.

Was excited when I saw this was available and purchased it right away. The instructions were easy to follow, and the pieces well made. The only issue I had was in the part where the balls go up. The columns raising the balls would go up easily but not come back down. Of course, I'm sure this was my error. I fixed it by attaching a little weight on each column - it worked perfectly then. On the side where the ball goes way down and up, sometimes the balls would fly off the track, but overall, this was a very enjoyable run to build. As with all the Wood Trick puzzles, I loved it.

This was my second kit from Wood Trick. I assembled the Galaxy set a few months ago, and wanted to try this Spiral kit. I read reviews calling out "obvious design flaws" in the cam system that moves the stairs up and down. Cam shaft breaking, wire modifications to the lifting rods, etc. So, I paid maybe some more attention to that part of the kit. I smoothed the stairs, the connecting rods and the lower "forks" that ride on the cam wheels. Smoothed the cam wheels and waxed everything well. After assembly, I tried the cam set-up by hand. It turned and worked smooth and easy. When I completed assembly, there was no hint of a problem with the stairs.The problem I had, was with the outer return run from the trap, back to the pick-up deck. The ball was just coming down too fast and would often jump the last corner. I lightly sanded the top inside corners of the rails, to let the ball ride deeper between the rails and that slowed it down just enough to where it "almost" never jumps the track anymore.Running this kit for an hour or so, you may still find some places here and there that may need a little tweaking or smoothing, but right from the first start, it worked fine. All in all, I am very satisfied with the kit, impressed with the way everything fits together, and the clear instructions. (And I did not break a single piece while removing or assembling it).

Way too hard there are several small pieces that broke, and we were dead in the water for days, We have done many 3D puzzles and are good at them and this is by far the worst. I don't know if it was specific to this puzzle or to the company, i did get my refund pretty fast, but upset that I wasted time on this and it was not really a good strong product.