What happens when you put the Mattel Power Shop to the test?

needed to cut some blocks of wood for my girlfriend's earring display for the art fair. So I busted out the Mattel power shop
original video of the 1965 Mattel power shop
• Mattel's 1965 Power Sh...
mattel power shop1965 kids toy

[@JayRobinson76]

Found one today at a garage sale. Thanks for the video. Love how quiet it is.

[@renewed7809]

Very nice!

[@robertcuny934]

I received a Mattel Power Shop for Christmas in the 1960s; best and most useful toy I ever owned. Worked well enough cutting pine, but I never did much woodworking until after I grew up. In the decades prior to specialized variable speed hobby tools, I used the toy for many years cutting and sanding plastic. Though the motor actually spins too fast for plastic, I found it was possible to cut and sand reasonably well if a very fine grit sandpaper is applied to the sanding disk and the material is fed very slowly into the jigsaw blade and sanding disk. Have fun with your new toy!

[@renewed7809]

I honestly enjoy having a project to pull it out and use. I've never thought about using it to sand plastic but I definitely will

[@robertcuny934]

@@renewed7809 At the time I used the Mattel Power Shop for sanding thin pieces of styrene plastic, there were no variable speed tool alternatives. You will find that the speed of the motor will heat and melt the plastic along the contact point. The melted plastic is easily removed but the edge won't be as clean as what can be produced with a modern variable speed tool available today. I would recommend limiting the toy's use to cutting and sanding wood as the manufacturer intended.

[@renewed7809]

@@robertcuny934 where's the gun in that? Haha just kidding. I'm definitely not going to be melting any plastic