Shoulder Bones

I didn't get as much done today as I wanted to, but even a little is more done than before.

Before I get started on what I did today, I have decided that R6-C9 will not sport the 2-3-2 leg transition system. I made this decision because I'm worried about the stress to the wood frame, the cost of all the mechanical parts, and because I'd rather focus on just getting the droid built. I'll probably make a 2nd droid and maybe with that one I will put in the 2-3-2. Right now, let's keep it simple for the rookie ;P

Today I focused on the Shoulder Flanges. I mentioned in the last post that I made the flanges too big, so today I corrected that by trimming the flanges down to the correct size. Remember, if you make a mistake, make it too big.

Look closely and you can see the drawn circle. This marks how big the flange should be, 6-1/4in diameter.

The back side of one of the legs. I drew the 6-1/4" circle to show where the flange would be and the smaller circle is a 4" circle that needs to be cutout. Not sure how I will do that.

The version 2 flange in position.

All these parts are for connecting the flange to the shoulder and for connecting the pipe that will join both legs together. This pipe will be running through the body.

I am using instructions from another droid builder name Victor who also has a blog detailing how he built his first R2-D2 from start to never-will-be-officially-done (you'll always be making improvements). He has some great insight (mainly from learning the hard way) on getting some of the hardest stuff done. I'm using his Leg Tutorial which is based off of Mike Senna's method. I highly recommend Victor's blog over mine for better detailed guidance. His blog's address is http://vfranco.blogspot.com/.

Where the six lines meet the drawn circle is the drilling point.

Drilling the mounting holes for the flange to the leg's shoulder.

Inserting the bolts. Using 6 5/16in x 2in hex bolt with 1/2in head and washer.

Those are "T-Nuts" the bolts are screwed into. The T-Nuts are pulled into the wood as you tighten the bolts. This way you can undo the bolts and re-insert the bolts without losing a secure fit. This idea comes from Mike Senna: Droid Master.

Sadly, one of the T-Nuts's teeth bent while I was inserting it and now is won't come off the bolt. Not sude what to do about this without damaging the flange and leg. Stay tuned to see how Droid-Boy gets out of this mess, same droid time, same droid channel.

John.

Last week's work and beyond

So besides last weeks pictures I also found more pictures from the summer still on my camera.

The glue is now dry.

Two halfs of a leg. Still have a little trimming to do plus research before I glue it into one whole piece. The research is to see if there is anything more I need to do to the leg that would be easier as two pieces.

2nd leg pieces being glued.

2nd leg now at same stage as the other leg.

Showing off how it will look when glued.

Flip side of the 2nd leg.

Ok. That's it for the summer. Now onto last Monday.

One of the legs still needs the "arm pits" routed out (I did not name it, that's what the Club calls them). You can see the pencil outline of where I will be cutting.

"Arm pits" done. Came out real nice. Note how close I came to running out of wood on the inside. If I ever make wooden legs again, I'll make the center layer thicker in that area.

Rough cut circles for the Shoulder Flanges. I only need 2 but made 4 to be safe.

Smoothed Shoulder Flange. Unfortunately I made them too big. I will have to re-cut them to the correct size next time I'm in the shop.

The Shoulder Flange is the silver metal you see between R2-D2's body and shoulders.

John

Reboot

Yeah so, hey. I guess you're wondering why I haven't posted any updates since June. The reason is two fold: 1) I ran into a "fork-in-the-road" concerning what I wanted to do about the 2-3-2 leg conversion and so I stopped working on R6 until I could make a decision, and 2) I kept putting off updating the blog. But I'm back now and I have several things I've done since June to catch you up on, so on with the show.

The first 2 photos shows the mistake I mentioned in the last post where I cut two outer pieces too short. The 1st photo shows it looked when I made the mistake and the 2nd photo shows the how it should look.

Glueing the center ankle's 1/2" pieces.

The center ankle's outer pieces cut correctly this time.

Can't remember exactly what I was trying to show here. I think I was just showing these pieces after the glue had finished drying.

Center ankle ready to glue on the outer pieces.

Thought it best to glue the outer pieces one at a time.

Closeup of some pockets where a "metal" detail piece will go. There are 2 pockets on each leg.

2 1/2" hole for mounting the shoulder hub. This is the outer side of the legs.

Don't they just line up perfectly?

Glueing the 1/4" detail pieces on both legs.

These photos were taken over the summer. I recently started work in the shop again and have pictures of what I did, but I'll show those in the next posting.

John.