Magick1's Full Review: Black & Decker Jr. Power Tools Workshop
We purchased the Black & Decker Junior – Power Tool Workshop for our daughter this holiday season. For some reason, she really wanted this. Every store we were in, every time it showed up on the commercials, she would say how much she would like this for a gift.
We were skeptical about it. How real could it be? How much entertainment would she get out of it? Well, we have been pleasantly surprised.
The Product
This workbench set up is very realistic looking (minus the size). It stands close to 4 feet high fully assembled and it is roughly 3 foot wide. The back of the workbench has the holes in the wall where you clip on brackets to hang your tools. The tools included are as follows:
Hand saw, screwdriver, wrench, hammer
The bench has a vice, a circular saw, wood guide, storage tray (underneath to hold everything), an adjuster (with the circular saw), a telephone to take orders grip attached to the bench and a circular saw.
There are 2 “j” hooks, 2 “y” hooks, 5 nails, 15 screws and 22 nuts (part of these will be used for building the table), and they have 2 little accessory bins to hold some of these items in addition to the storage tray.
The kit for the bench has a project available allowing the little ones to make a birdhouse. They have a roof, the base, a front and back and 2 sides. The little ones need to cut the wood, put the house together and use the drill press, screw driver, and hammer! The drill press has to knock out the holes for the birds! My daughter has a little business set up taking orders for the birdhouses! (This project tied in terrific with the real bird feeder and food she received this holiday!)
This toy does require 3 sets of AA batteries (2 in each of the following): drill press, circular saw, and the screwdriver. The sounds are pretty decent on the drill press and the screw driver. The circular saw it a bit loud, and I really haven’t found a way to tone it down. My daughter is warned about safety and she has to take precautions shutting her saw off all of the time. (So, we know it will not stay on too long, we have told her after every cut, it has to shut off.) This does down out music, tv, and talking when it is on, so, whatever you can do to keep it turned off longer, is terrific!
The assembly wasn’t terribly difficult or frustrating, but it did take a while. You have to put together 8 main pieces to get the basic table ready and then the “extras” like the saw, the wood guide, accessory bins, etc. It probably was close to 45 minutes to get it put together completely. (It doesn’t help when the child wants to help and takes the screws and is trying to work on a project while you are trying to work on the bench! The booklet with the instructions was actually decently drawn out so you could understand what should go where and how to put it all together. It’s a 7 page booklet, rather than a stinking ½ of sheet of paper with miniscule type print in 6 languages telling you how it should go together! That, is a plus!
Overall Impressions
We have really enjoyed this table (minus the loud circular saw). It’s been fun playing workshop, taking orders, getting birdhouses built and delivered on time. I haven’t looked around to see if there are any additional “kits” that you can buy for additional projects, but there might be some available!
The bench is sturdy and the pieces are large enough there should not be any problems with it and children 3 and up. The closest thing that might be a concern is the nuts. But, they are larger than the standard toilet paper roll.
The product is made in China, and it is all plastic. My daughter has thoroughly enjoyed this and wants to play with it quite a long time every time it is brought out. I cannot recall how many neighbor’s homes we have play delivered a birdhouse to, but I think we have blanketed our street!
If you want something that is fun, entertaining for kids, and is a decent looking “shop”, this really does the trick.
Black & Decker Power Tool Junior Workshop:Features:Real working drill press with lights and soundsMiter saw that sounds like the real thing4 hand tool...More at Walmart
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