I started working on Robot02.
His head is being crafted from a stainless jigger which is pictured over there on the right. So far this has definitely been the hardest metal that I've had to drill into. Harder than most of the materials that were meant for industrial use. I know that I've mentioned that stainless steel is just a huge pain-in-the-ass to drill and/or cut, but this little jigger has been the worst of the worst thus far. But in the end cooler heads and cobalt drill bits prevail :)
This torso of Bot02 will also be crafted from a vintage box, though not a cigar box. It's smaller than a cigar box, made by some company called SIMONDS. It's not dated, but reads Metal Cutting Tools: Fitchburg, Mass - Lockport, N.Y.
Metal cutting tools, eh? You don't say. This particualar box states that it once contained 5/16" Steel Tool bits. And now its a Bot body...
His head is being crafted from a stainless jigger which is pictured over there on the right. So far this has definitely been the hardest metal that I've had to drill into. Harder than most of the materials that were meant for industrial use. I know that I've mentioned that stainless steel is just a huge pain-in-the-ass to drill and/or cut, but this little jigger has been the worst of the worst thus far. But in the end cooler heads and cobalt drill bits prevail :)
This torso of Bot02 will also be crafted from a vintage box, though not a cigar box. It's smaller than a cigar box, made by some company called SIMONDS. It's not dated, but reads Metal Cutting Tools: Fitchburg, Mass - Lockport, N.Y.
Metal cutting tools, eh? You don't say. This particualar box states that it once contained 5/16" Steel Tool bits. And now its a Bot body...
Posted at 11:54 AM on Thursday, May 27, 2004
Here's the first robot! The only problem is that he doesn't have a name- that's where you come in. Give this guy a name / title. The suggestion box is open.
After assembling all of his individual components, there was one more step: his lighting. The Bot has two bulbs, one in his head and one in his chest. Here's what he looks like lit up in the dark.
He'll probably be up on eBay in the next few days for those of you that would like to own yet-to-be-titled Robot01.
Here's the first robot! The only problem is that he doesn't have a name- that's where you come in. Give this guy a name / title. The suggestion box is open.
After assembling all of his individual components, there was one more step: his lighting. The Bot has two bulbs, one in his head and one in his chest. Here's what he looks like lit up in the dark.
He'll probably be up on eBay in the next few days for those of you that would like to own yet-to-be-titled Robot01.
Posted at 8:49 PM on Thursday, May 20, 2004
I added my Illustration Gallery over in the sidebar (under the Design menu).
Banksy's site was down for awhile. It's back up now but not really- click it to see what I mean (sidebar again, duh). Hopefully things work out OK for the best street stenciler ever! In the meantime, I added a link to Stencil Revolution. There's some amazing stuff in the user submitted galleries on that site. More on stencils to come in future posts...
Banksy's site was down for awhile. It's back up now but not really- click it to see what I mean (sidebar again, duh). Hopefully things work out OK for the best street stenciler ever! In the meantime, I added a link to Stencil Revolution. There's some amazing stuff in the user submitted galleries on that site. More on stencils to come in future posts...
Posted at 10:10 PM on Thursday, May 13, 2004
Robot One is essentially done now. Here's some arms and legs action.
The legs are made from some sort of roller bar. The bar was about 14" in length when I got it, so I cut it into two equal lengths- and the Bot had legs! I really don't have any idea what the bar's true purpose was, although I'll take a stab at it. It has a rubber coating that's been molded circularly around nearly the entire length of it. The ends of the bar aren't threaded, but tapered to fit into holes. My guess is that this is the type of bar (or rollers) that would be found under a conveyor belt. Who knows. It makes for nice robot legs though.
The Robots 'feet' were made from two candle holders. They are quite heavy. If I knew more about metal I'd be able to tell you what type of metal they're made from, but I don't.
The arms are fairly straightforward. The palms of the hands are made from a piece that's made to fit on top of a Bunson burner (in order to focus the flame into a fan shape). I think that's pretty cool. The fingers were cut from a piece of shielding (thin sheet metal) taken from the inside of a computer router. I cut a paper template just slightly smaller than the Bunson burner tops and then traced that onto the sheet metal. Using the rotary tool I cut out the metal, inserted it into the burner top, drilled a hole through 'the wrist' of the burner and screwed it all together.
Now if Tony would just show me some basic-wiring stuff, I could get this guy lit up and finished...
Robot One is essentially done now. Here's some arms and legs action.
The legs are made from some sort of roller bar. The bar was about 14" in length when I got it, so I cut it into two equal lengths- and the Bot had legs! I really don't have any idea what the bar's true purpose was, although I'll take a stab at it. It has a rubber coating that's been molded circularly around nearly the entire length of it. The ends of the bar aren't threaded, but tapered to fit into holes. My guess is that this is the type of bar (or rollers) that would be found under a conveyor belt. Who knows. It makes for nice robot legs though.
The Robots 'feet' were made from two candle holders. They are quite heavy. If I knew more about metal I'd be able to tell you what type of metal they're made from, but I don't.
The arms are fairly straightforward. The palms of the hands are made from a piece that's made to fit on top of a Bunson burner (in order to focus the flame into a fan shape). I think that's pretty cool. The fingers were cut from a piece of shielding (thin sheet metal) taken from the inside of a computer router. I cut a paper template just slightly smaller than the Bunson burner tops and then traced that onto the sheet metal. Using the rotary tool I cut out the metal, inserted it into the burner top, drilled a hole through 'the wrist' of the burner and screwed it all together.
Now if Tony would just show me some basic-wiring stuff, I could get this guy lit up and finished...
Posted at 10:52 PM on Tuesday, May 11, 2004
The body / torso of this first Bot is constructed from a metal Phillies Bayuk cigar box. I'm not sure of the year but it must be quite old as the back of the box contains the statement, "No cigar to be sold for more than 5 cents." The box is hinged- here's the inside of it.
Aside from cutting / drilling holes to mount the head, arms and legs to the box, this Bot also has a chest-plate. The chest plate features a green and blue lens and was salvaged from some sort of vintage machine. I have no idea what it was originally used for. Over on the right there, I'm using the cut-off wheel on the rotary tool to cut a whole in the front of the cigar box so that I can attach the chest-plate.
Yet another gallery has been added. You can now view the Drawings Gallery (over on the left within the Fine Art menu).
Aside from cutting / drilling holes to mount the head, arms and legs to the box, this Bot also has a chest-plate. The chest plate features a green and blue lens and was salvaged from some sort of vintage machine. I have no idea what it was originally used for. Over on the right there, I'm using the cut-off wheel on the rotary tool to cut a whole in the front of the cigar box so that I can attach the chest-plate.
Yet another gallery has been added. You can now view the Drawings Gallery (over on the left within the Fine Art menu).
Posted at 9:50 PM on Sunday, May 09, 2004
Here's the head of JunkBot01 in nearly complete form. The view that you see at right is directly from the front, though from this angled view you can see his "extended eye" much more clearly. I'm not sure what the piece I used for the extended-eye is actually supposed to be for. Ah well. Now it's a junkbot eye!
His hat was meant to hold tapers (candles)- for my purposes its been turned upside down. My roommate said the hat makes him think of the Tin Man. The L-shaped antenna/spout/pipe that you see peaking over the back of his hat is a sorta cool find. I picked up a few of these things and I guess that they were meant to be some sort of hook similar to those found on a peg-board. Although the ends of these L-hooks are threaded which seems weird. In any case, there was a spot on the motor case to accommodate a screw exactly the same size as this threaded L-hook thing. Strange, it's like it was meant to be there. Remember how I said it's like working with a puzzle at some points? Well sometimes you grab piece after piece and they just seem to fall right into place.
The 'ears' are couplings for connecting conduit to a junction box and are open to the inside of the head (that will be relevant later).
Aw yeah, I also added the Paintings Gallery over there on the left (within the Fine Art menu).
Here's the head of JunkBot01 in nearly complete form. The view that you see at right is directly from the front, though from this angled view you can see his "extended eye" much more clearly. I'm not sure what the piece I used for the extended-eye is actually supposed to be for. Ah well. Now it's a junkbot eye!
His hat was meant to hold tapers (candles)- for my purposes its been turned upside down. My roommate said the hat makes him think of the Tin Man. The L-shaped antenna/spout/pipe that you see peaking over the back of his hat is a sorta cool find. I picked up a few of these things and I guess that they were meant to be some sort of hook similar to those found on a peg-board. Although the ends of these L-hooks are threaded which seems weird. In any case, there was a spot on the motor case to accommodate a screw exactly the same size as this threaded L-hook thing. Strange, it's like it was meant to be there. Remember how I said it's like working with a puzzle at some points? Well sometimes you grab piece after piece and they just seem to fall right into place.
The 'ears' are couplings for connecting conduit to a junction box and are open to the inside of the head (that will be relevant later).
Aw yeah, I also added the Paintings Gallery over there on the left (within the Fine Art menu).