The Useless Machine - Kit

The quality of the parts and the care in the packaging shows. All acrylic panels come protected with adhesive tape to ensure a mirror finish on delivery... I initially thought I got a cheaper cardboard version instead 😀. Took me about 1.5 hours to build because I wanted to enjoy it (can be done faster). The most precise and helpful instructions I've read.My only regret is I really wanted the "some soldering required" version for a longer project. If I had read the item description thoroughly I would have realized it, but the Amazon pictures show a person soldering so I was confused. Be sure to order the kit you want (soldering required or not).The "useless machine" writing on the front panel can be installed facing in so it's not visible, a great plus since people have complained about other kits prominently displaying the machine's... errr... "purpose" and spoiling the fun.Assembly tip: near the end you have to pre-screw 4 posts. They are hard to grip. I used a vise-type wrench adjusted carefully and wrapped the posts in several turns of the used tape that came off the panels.

It took about two hours to assemble and I would say I'm an average builder. The directions are excellent. It's important to follow the directions exactly. The only tricky part is the final assembly. You have to have all four sides standing straight up at the same time in order to put the top piece on. After several failures I used small pieces of gaffer's tape (duct tape will work almost as well) on the outside of the corners to hold all four sides temporarily together and upright. Worked like a charm. People just can't resist turning it on.

If your looking for a quick project this is a fun one. The kit comes with pretty good instructions on how to build the box, and the end product its pretty nice looking. I get lots of comments on it since its sitting on my desk at work. As a user, however, I was a bit disappointed in the difficulty of some of the steps, especially the final assembly step where the sides and top are attached. As an engineer, I was amazed on how poorly the box was designed for ease of assembly. There is one step in the instructions where you are asked to pre-screw the corner posts.This step took me a very long time and was very difficult since it was impossible to get a grip on the posts. Seems like this step could have been avoided with a better design or manufacturing process on their part. Additionally, for what you get the product is a bit expensive. If you really want one of these I would suggest making it yourself (not a kit - as there are instructions online.)

Just plain fun kit. Clear instructions. Well made parts. Nice project for a young person to see how electronics are designed. And, kind of cool to watch people flick the switch to see what exactly it does!

Where to start... First off I place the order and pay for overnight shipping so that I could give this as a gift to a coworker who was leaving, then I get a notification that there is an error in my address and the package could not be delivered. It is the exact same address that I use all of the time and have never had a problem before. It shows up the next day... magically without any problem with the address, but it was already too late for me to give to my coworker. With that all done I figured ok at least it showed up. I then go to put the box together, which goes OK, a little involved but it was fun to build. You get to a step where they are having you pre-thread the plastic pillars with the screws, which for the price of this thing the quality could have been a lot better. Then I finally get it together I put fresh batteries in and flip the switch. The motor turned painfully slow, the arm misses the switch and basically it doesn't even work. I go through all of the steps of the troubleshooting guide and nothing seems to fix the problem. So now I'm stuck with a box which came too late to give to my friend and now doesn't even work.Just so I'm not totally negative, here's what I did like:- The acrylic was nicely lasered and everything fit together snug- The circuit board was well labeled to make sure you wire it up correctly- Well thought out method for replacing the batteryAll together I would recommend you buy one of the pre-assembled kits, or maybe a different manufacturer.

A lot more challenging to build than expected from the ad. Had fun with it, but only four stars as the degree of difficulty was not well delineated; had it been, it would have changed my expectations before ordering. That noted, the finished Useless Machine works perfectly!

Went together easily. directions are terrific. Fun device.

I bought this "kit" just for the fun of it. The mechanism came mostly preassembled with attachment of the plastic parts the only assembly necessary. The mechanism is engineered compactly and well built with quality parts. The outside box was undoubtedly "built to a price" as they say. the pieces don't fit well together causing the plates to warp. The solution is to file appropriately to get the pieces to mesh together...for $40 bucks I had hoped it would have fit together better. It is still a fun "toy".

It came with a couple of pieces missing that but that just gave us an opportunity to improvise. Be really careful with the case as the plastic is quite brittle.Also, the arm and the switch didn't line up and I couldn't adjust the fit without modifying the arm. (Just another opportunity to improvise).Otherwise, the motor work well and I simply can't help myself from flipping the toggle whenever I walk by it.