Secured Outer Front Foot Strips, Top Coat of Paint for Foot Shells

Today I addressed one of many minor annoyances with my droid.

Right now I don't have anything other than friction holding the foot hoses and knurled cable fittings onto the corresponding holes in my foot shells. I had intended to use a nut to affix the threaded end of the knurled cable fittings, but I ran out of room inside the foot shell when I added the 1/4" layer of rubber to the wheels.

Part of the annoyance is that whenever I want to remove the hoses and knurled cable fittings, the front foot strips on the outer feet fall off, since nothing else is holding them on either. So I decided to screw these front foot strips onto the outer foot shells, like I've done for all the other foot strips on the feet.

First, I marked where to drill the holes for the screws. Originally, I was thinking of using three screws to hold these foot strips down, but in the end I opted for just two.



Next, I punched marks in the foot strips, to guide the drill bit.



I then used my drill press with a #42 drill bit to drill a hole that can be tapped for a #4-40 screw (3/8" long).



I reattached the foot strips to the foot shells using the knurled cable fittings, and drilled through the holes in the foot strips, and on through the foot shells to make matching holes in the foot shells.



Next, I tapped the holes in the foot strips with a #4-40 tap.



And presto, foot strips are attached to the foot shell. The screws self-tap into the PVC foot shells.



While I had the foot shells off, I decided to give them a top coat of Rustoleum Satin White at the end of the day.

Recall a couple of weeks ago I filed the channels to be a bit wider, and some of the paint was filed off in the process. I've also scuffed up the foot shells a bit through neglect, so I figured now was a good time to give them the once-over with the spray can. I'll let the foot shells dry for a couple of days and reattach them.