Since Christmas is nearly here I decided I would like to start a thread for all of us that have had to "assemble" toys. Every year it seems like the assembly gets longer and more frustrating. Whether it be those beloved little ties they package the toys in, not enough hardware to finish, or anything else, lets here some of your horror stories.
Last night I was putting together a table top foosball game for my 6 year old's birthday. It looked pretty easy so I didn't think it would take long. I got my typical tools ready, screwdriver, allen wrench and beer
. After the first 20 minutes I was only about 1/4 way complete. I kept working and finally got to the final step(s)--the trim work. Looked pretty straight forward, 4 end caps held on with 4 screw each. Only one problem, the screws were so small that not even my computer kit had a phillips screw driver with a small enough head. I searched, and searched and searched while my son kept asking "are you done yet, dad". I wasn't about to let this toy get the better of me. Finally, I found an old eyeglass screwdriver that would fit the head of the screw. I lined the screw up and started to go to only encounter another problem. The body of the table was not pre-drilled for the screws. I don't know if anyone here has tried to start a screw that small into something that isn't pre-drilled, but I can tell you it ain't fun. You can't get any torque with those little screw drivers. Finally, I got out my little hobby hammer and decided to sort of tap them into place. This worked quite well when I didn't hit my thumb (the screws were only about 1/2 long and holding them while exposing the head was really fun). All told it took about an hour (and 2 beers). The look on my sons face once we got to play a game made it all worth while.
Last night I was putting together a table top foosball game for my 6 year old's birthday. It looked pretty easy so I didn't think it would take long. I got my typical tools ready, screwdriver, allen wrench and beer
. After the first 20 minutes I was only about 1/4 way complete. I kept working and finally got to the final step(s)--the trim work. Looked pretty straight forward, 4 end caps held on with 4 screw each. Only one problem, the screws were so small that not even my computer kit had a phillips screw driver with a small enough head. I searched, and searched and searched while my son kept asking "are you done yet, dad". I wasn't about to let this toy get the better of me. Finally, I found an old eyeglass screwdriver that would fit the head of the screw. I lined the screw up and started to go to only encounter another problem. The body of the table was not pre-drilled for the screws. I don't know if anyone here has tried to start a screw that small into something that isn't pre-drilled, but I can tell you it ain't fun. You can't get any torque with those little screw drivers. Finally, I got out my little hobby hammer and decided to sort of tap them into place. This worked quite well when I didn't hit my thumb (the screws were only about 1/2 long and holding them while exposing the head was really fun). All told it took about an hour (and 2 beers). The look on my sons face once we got to play a game made it all worth while.
