ROKR

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chuck
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ROKR

Postby chuck » Sun Jan 17, 2021 12:33 am

My kid sisters got me a ROKR puzzle/model for Christmas. These are similar to U-Gears but also distinctly different. They got me the "Locomotive" model. These are like the U-Gears in that they are primarily made up of laser cut plywood. They are very different in that the ROKR kits have metal and plastic parts to supplement the drive mechanism. These are "clockwork" kits with a large spring that you wind up. I have some photo's to highlight the differences and similarities.

Photo's of the cover instruction books

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U-Gears 4 color, ROKR, gray scale

Instructions (aka opening pages)

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U-Gears basic instructions on one page. ROKR full two page spread including parts breakdown and how to use the QR codes to pull up videos on your smart phone. This can be very helpful as the diagrams are not always as clear as they could/should be.

Typical page of instructions

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U-Gears has a photo of each plate of parts you will be using for that section of instructions. Part numbers are burned onto the sheet next to the part. ROKR part numbers are burned onto the part. This should be an advantage to the ROKR kit BUT the "parts" often have TWO designations (sub assemblies?) with only the primary number burned on the part while the sub assembly designation MAY be burned on the sheet. I wound up assembling and disassembling the main drive wheels a couple of times to get the arrangements correct.

This is a photo of a typical ROKR sheet

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ROKR laser appears to be "sharper" than the U-gears. I am being partially facetious. The precision of the depth of the cuts on the ROKR kit are much better. I was able to pop the pieces out with little or now trouble. The U-Gears often required use of a very sharp X-Acto an occasionally an ultra fine razor saw to get the parts cleanly off the tree.

This is the partially assembled model of the ROKR kit

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It is an interesting build. Neither kit has what I would call stellar instructions. There seem to be some steps missing on the ROKR, they may clear up as I put more of it together. I find I actually like the U-Gears better as it is somewhat cleaner, just wood and in this case rubber bands. The metal and plastic are supposed to make it "better". I think it just makes it more complicated. Still it is a way to spend some time building something. I was going to say it gets you away from You-Tube but then I remembered the QR codes that link you to videos for the "hard parts".

U-Gears video's are over on the 3 rail Discussion Group (it seemed like a good idea at the time)
Once I built a railroad, I made it run,
Made it race against time.
Once I built a railroad, now it's done --
Brother, can you spare a dime?

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