Eureka Crate Review + Coupon – RIVET PRESS

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Eureka Crate is a monthly STEM and maker subscription box that teaches kids and adults how to apply principles of science and math to make awesome things you will love to use every day – from an articulated desk lamp to an electric pencil sharpener to a wooden ukulele.  Every Eureka Crate includes an engineering project, detailed step-by-step instructions, everything you need to complete the project, a Maker’s Guide that explains all the design, process, and engineering behind the design, plus a design challenge to take your project knowledge to the next level!

DEAL: Save 30% on your first month! Just use this link to subscribe, no coupon code required! You can also use the same link to save 30% on the first month of any other KiwiCo crate – just check out this page to discover which box is right for you.

Eureka Crate is KiwiCo’s latest subscription! Eureka Crate is designed for ages 14-104. If you’re ready to graduate from KiwiCo’s other boxes or just can’t get enough (or are just too old for their other subscriptions), you’ll love this box, which is designed to create a hands-on learning experience using everyday items to delve deeply into the science and math principles they embody, along with the design process of the month’s project.

All the items were neatly packed inside the box.

This month, we’re making a Rivet Press!

Like the other crates from KiwiCo, Eureka Crate includes a booklet.

One of KiwiCo’s goals is to equip the next generation of innovators with the tools and confidence for creative exploration and problem-solving.

The booklet shares a complete history and details about this month’s project. They also included some fun facts and trivia related to the theme.

The materials were packed separately.

This booklet means business as it jumps right to the activity.

Everything in this month’s box!

Eureka Crate Maker’s Guide

This month’s box includes a screwdriver!

This part of the booklet provides us with a deeper understanding of the use of rivets.

A rivet is a short metal cylinder that’s squished into place to hold two things together – permanently. Rivets are tough and can’t be removed easily like nails or screws, so they’re often used in places where connections need to be extra-reliable, like buildings and bridges.

For the first part of the project, we worked on building the ram. It is the primary part that presses the rivets together.

The needed materials for building the ram are the wood set, sliders, button head screws, barrel bolts, plastic washers, rivet, and knots.

We put the wooden sets together using the plastic washers and sliders, then locked them tightly by the screw.

Then, we mounted the ram by building the main frame of the press’ body.

To build the frame of the body, we used the large wooden set, plastic washers, screws, button head screws, sliders, and long and short barrel bolts

According to this part of the booklet, if we find the sliders a bit tight to fit in the slot, all we need to do is loosen the bolt and just wiggle it through.

My son grabbed one of the rectangular-shaped pieces, put the long barrel through the hole, and connected it to the other wooden piece. If you find some pieces a little loose, simply add washers and screw tightly.

This toggle joint makes the ram slide up and down.

For this part, we used the handle wooden piece, long and short barrel bolts, and screws.

Stop & Check

Check out the toggie joint you just built by moving the long bars back and forth – the joint should move the ram up and down!

If the motion seems wiggle, add washers to any bolts that are sticking up above the wood. If the motion seems stiff and sticky remove washers.

The next step is to attach the lever arm. This is what we will push for the press to work.

For this part, we used the arm wooden piece, spring, long and short barrel bolts, plastic washers, and screws.

This part of the booklet discusses tells us about the pleather. It’s a fabric that looks, feels, and even smells like leather, but it’s actually synthetic.

The fifth part of the project is building the base.

We used the base wooden set pieces, silicone sticker sheets, barrel bolts, and screws.

First, put the silicone stickers on the slot provided on the base and then insert the body of the press onto the base and lock it by putting a pair of wood pieces on both sides of the press’ body.

This part of the project is adding the dies on the ram. These dies are actually the one that presses the rivets.

We used the square-shaped wood piece, barrel bolts, rivet dies, metal washers, and screws for this part.

For the Stop & Check portion, they reminded us to make sure that the dies are lined up to the press rivets.

This rivet has two parts, the body and the mandrel.

Once installed, we placed a rivet on the center of the dies with the mandrel on the bottom and topped by the body, then pressed it.

Check out how the rivet was flattened after being pressed!

This booklet also provides us detailed information on how to properly use the rivet press.

Once all the parts are assured to be aligned and are properly working, it’s time to tighten the screws and make the press stable.

The spring makes the handle automatically return to its normal position once pressed down.

Here’s how the rivet looks like when pressed completely!

Next, we worked on the riveted wallet project.

For this project, we used a faux leather piece and two full packs of rivets.

This portion of the booklet explains how the lever arm magnifies the intensity of our pushing power. Everything depends on how far your input and output forces are from the lever’s fulcrum.

It’s time to put our machine to the test and put rivets on our faux leather to form a wallet.

Here are some troubleshooting tips that you can use in case you might encounter problems working on the rivet press.

As always, they also shared the science behind the rivet press design!

They even provided us a 2-full page-article about the riveting history of World War II.

This trivia section provides a list of 5 things about rivet-driven technology.

For the design challenge, they encouraged us to create different types of riveted accessory using our rivet press.

Here’s how our rivet press machine looks like!

The dies are intact and centered perfectly on the press.

All the screws are tight enough to provide stability while giving enough room for the arm to move up and down.

Check out our cute riveted wallet!

This wallet is spacious enough to put some of our cards, coins, and even ID’s.

We’re super satisfied with the end product!

Eureka Crate always comes up with fun projects that are both educational and useful! They provided all the materials and instructions for making our own rivet press. It was a bit challenging, but since everything we need is already provided including a step-by-step procedure and even troubleshooting guidelines in the booklet, we were able to finish the project properly! We were so amazed when we tried our press for the first time! We even learned about the significance of rivets in World War II, as well as the science behind the rivets. This is definitely a well-thought-out activity box for teens and adults, and so far, my family has loved every single crate we’ve received! If you are looking for great science-related projects to work on at home, we recommend this subscription!

What do you think of this month’s Eureka Crate?

Visit Eureka Crate by KiwiCo to subscribe or find out more!

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