
Build a real head of live steam in the boiler, ease the throttle open and watch the engine take off. The stationary steam plants have nickel plated brass horizontal boiler, water gauge, whistle, safety valve, throttle, 3" dia flywheel and power takeoff pulley. Our dry pellet fuel model (includes 20 fuel pellets) has a single action horizontal piston engine and comes as a kit. It requires about 2 hours to assemble and mount on its roughly 7" sq base, using simple tools like pliers and screwdriver. Assembly adds to the fun and cuts the price! All parts of each are precision metal, plated or enameled as appropriate. Select a small DC motor that will operate as a generator from our catalogs and see if you can become a 19th century electric utility!! Requires light assembly. Ages 10 and up. Add a box of (20) extra fuel pellets for even more hours of enjoyment!
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42324 EXTRA FUEL PELLETS | |
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72202 STEAM ENGINE KIT |
WARNING: CHOKING HAZARD-Small Parts. Not for children under 3 yrs.
Right after you build your own working medieval catapult or trebuchet. All you'll need is glue, scissors and a steady hand (plus a small bag of marbles or rocks or something as a counterweight for the trebuchet) to construct these wooden, Canadian-made siege engine kits. The catapult stands 6" tall x 5" wide x 10" long and will toss assorted stuff 15 feet or farther, depending upon the stuff. The finished trebuchet will be 26" long x 18" wide x 24" tall and will propel small objects (meatballs?) 20 feet or more. Both include detailed instructions. Note: Please don't propel small mammals, and please don't put anyone's eye out.
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92886 MODEL CATAPULT | |
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92887 MODEL TREBUCHET |
Or break, actually, as an heuristic exercise. Here's a classroom-full of bridge-building supplies based on the Illinois Institute of Technology's national bridge-building contest. Each kit contains enough balsa wood pieces and glue to supply (24) budding engineers or physics students with what it takes to test their skills at wooden bridge construction. Includes a 12pp teacher's guide with info about (6) bridge styles and (8) types of trusses, (24) rules/instruction sheets for students, (360) pieces of 1/8" square x 24" long wood, and (24) bottles of white glue. Among the most engaging and popular classroom projects in the country, it's designed for grades 7-12.
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93359 BRIDGE KIT |
It's called chaos, but kids don't need a kit to create that, do they? And it actually is used to create really fun controlled "perpetual motion" Rube Goldberg-type devices. You (your kids will never displace you once they see this kit) assemble a frame of your choice and adorn it with sets of chutes, slides, funnels, catch baskets, trampolines... You name it. The new Chaos motor driven chain lifts a ball to the top of your construction and off it goes through whatever course(s) you have set up. It is really educational physics, and we guarantee hours of creative fun with this top quality, attractively packaged kit. The tower has a max height of 78" and a whopping 602 pieces! It also includes an educational CD ROM. Everything you need (except batteries) is included. Ages 7 & up.
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91281 CHAOS TOWER |
WARNING: CHOKING HAZARD-Small Parts. Not for children under 3 yrs.
Cleverly made, and mighty heuristic, too. You pick from a variety of Pathfinders hydraulic-system teaching kits made up of unfinished wood, transparent tubing, and plastic syringes, which power the movement. The finished mini excavator will stand approx 10” tall on a 7-1/8” x 3-1/4” base, with a 5” x 2-1/4” claw, and (4) syringes. The mini scissors lift has a 9-1/2” x 3-1/2” base and a 3-3/8” x 7” platform and a single syringe. For someone entranced by hydraulics, or for a whole classroom of students, there’s the 4-In-1 kit, with the excavator and scissors lift, plus a cherry picker and platform lifter. Very clever teaching tools for ages 8 and up.
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93629 HYDRAULICS 4-IN-1 SET | |
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93628 HYDRO-EXCAVATOR | |
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93627 HYDRO-SCISSOR LIFT |
WARNING: CHOKING HAZARD-Small Parts. Not for children under 3 yrs.
This nice 2 in 1 gear-box kit features (2) different gear ratios (1:60 and 1:280) with output speeds of approx. 200 and 42 rpm respectfully in (2) switchable modes, plus a 3VDC motor so you can use the finished product to drive pulleys, wheels, fans, science projects, or maybe a toy car. Requires only regular household tools to assemble it, and has (4) adjustable mounting brackets. Overall size when finished is 2-7/8" x 3-1/2" x 5-8" high.
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93460 GEAR BOX KIT |
WARNING: CHOKING HAZARD-Small Parts. Not for children under 3 yrs.
Give Rube Goldberg a faucet, and this set would really have turned him on. The 300-piece hydrodynamic building set (lots of Rube tubes) lets you construct 1:87-scale models of refineries, distillation facilities, water treatment plants, or anything similar. Includes gantry parts, tubing, assorted vessels, tanks and valves, a tilt scale, ball flow meter, water wheel, mini-signage, and a 12V water pump. Comes in a 17" x 11" x 3-1/4" carrying case that doubles as a leak-proof mounting platform. It has a well-written 15pp instruction book. Can you say Science Fair?
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93366 HYDRODYNAMIC DELUXE BUILDING SET |
WARNING: CHOKING HAZARD-Small Parts. Not for children under 3 yrs.
everybody watches in awe. This pig, maybe not quite awe, since it doesn't actually get lift-off. But the unpainted wooden version of our popular flying-pig paper automaton is fun to build and even more fun to watch it flap its porcine wings as you turn the side crank. Roughly 9" x 9" when assembled. It's made of pre-cut, 1/4" and 1/8" wood, and slides together, but could be permanently glued. For ages 8 and up, but a thoughtful dad could thrill younger tykes with it.
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93533 FLYING PIG |
WARNING: CHOKING HAZARD-Small Parts. Not for children under 3 yrs.
Very nice intro to physics for primary grades, and fun for kiddles aged 5 and up. From the Busy Box series of Discover Kits, made by Tree of Knowledge®, the Compass kit includes (5) experiments, including mapping, and making a sun dial and a weather-vane bird.
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38582 COMPASS KIT |
WARNING: CHOKING HAZARD-Small Parts. Not for children under 3 yrs.
We’re not supposed to play favorites, but we like these kits that combine the look of bare–bones wooden bodies with the action of electronics –– and we really like the Trainmech, the old–fashioned locomotive, is a textbook example of the workings of shafts and wheels. The robots are about 8–1/2” tall. The mechanized kits come with motors, gears, gearboxes, switches, etc., and pre–punched 1/8” thick plywood body parts (you know we always like body parts). You supply simple tools and (2) to (4) “AA” batteries. No soldering required, but they’re relatively complicated. For 12 and up –– or 8 and up, with adult help.
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92149 TRAINMECH KIT |
WARNING: CHOKING HAZARD-Small Parts. Not for children under 3 yrs.
Build your own working four-stroke engine! In this simplified, battery-driven version of Nikolaus Otto's 1867 four-stroke engine, the pistons and crankshaft move, the fan blade spins, and the spark plugs light up to simulate timing. This Smithsonian kit, with over (100) plastic pieces, includes a small DC motor to run the engine, and an excellent 40pp instruction manual. You provide (2) "AA" batteries and an interested person eight years of age or older.
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93072 MOTOR WORKS |
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