Sanded Horseshoe Shoulder Hub Area, Started Gluing Supports for Utility Arms

The shoulder hubs I received from Jason are just the same size as the area in the horseshoes that they show through (which is good). However,I want to be able to pull the shoulder hubs out without removing the horseshoes, so I sanded the shoulder hub hole in the horseshoe a bit wider, to make removing the shoulder hub easier.

I also glued down the first piece of MDF that will help support the rod going through underside of the bottom utility arm.

Sanded Booster Cover Putty, Mounted Horseshoes

In the morning, I sanded down the putty that I applied yesterday on the booster covers. The booster covers are in pretty good shape now.

More significantly, in the evening, I mounted the horseshoes onto the legs.

I started by drilling four holes for #8 screws, about 3/4" deep into the inboard side of the horseshoes. The shim layer was taped down in several places on the main portion of the horseshoe.



I then took the shim layer, and taped it down (opposite side up) onto the leg. Lining up the drill bit with the holes that I had just drilled into the shim layer, I drilled matching holes into the outer face of the leg. As each hole was drilled, I placed a #8 screw (head cut off) into the hole, to secure the horseshoe into the leg and keep it from moving.



This came out pretty well. This weekend I'm hoping to cut the hole in the leg for the shoulder hub.

Puttied Booster Covers, Started Prepping Horseshoes for Mounting

Today I applied some Plastic Wood wood putty to seams and nicks on the booster covers. I'll sand them down tomorrow.

I also started thinking about mounting the horseshoes onto the legs. They will be held on with four #8 screws on each leg. I'm just planning where the screws will be located. I hope to get to work on these by the weekend.

Sanded Curve in Booster Cover Top

When I routed the curve in the booster cover top on Sunday, I used a router bit with a 0.500" radius. The blueprints call for a 0.625" radius (depending on which version of the blueprints you refer to). I taped many layers of masking tape on a pipe with a 0.500" radius, increasing the radius to about 0.625", and started sanding away. A short time later, the curve was to size.

Lots of Booster Cover Work

After two conspicuous days of no building activity, I finally got back to work on the booster covers. (I was roasting in 100 degree heat at the Dodger game yesterday. I have no good excuse for Friday.) I was determined to finish the remaining major cuts on the booster covers. I literally held my breath during most of them, sometimes due to sawdust.

First up, routing out the 90 degree arc from the bottom of the booster covers. I used a cove bit for that.




So far, so good.

Next, I needed to cut 37 degree angles off the corners of the booster cover tops. This part was really nerve-racking, because we are trying to achieve a very weird shape here when it's all done.




Wow, I can't believe how well that worked!

The blueprints call for a three degree angle to be chopped from the front face of the booster cover top (upper part sticks out further than the lower part). So once again I angled the table saw blade, clamped the piece upside down, and ran it through. More success.




The last item of business for the day was routing the grooves in the main part of the booster covers. I set up the fence and stop accordingly, and ran the booster covers through the router four times each (once for each groove).




The little bit of waviness at the bottoms will go away later on, when I chop the bottoms of the booster covers off to open up the "tuning fork." I still need to cut a groove around the main part of the booster covers too, but I'll wait until I know how the booster covers are mounted, so I can match the existing grooves on the legs.

I have to say I am really glad that the trickiest parts of the booster cover build are behind me, and I do feel a small sense of accomplishment having made it this far. A big thank you to all that have helped with booster cover tips and advice (Alan, pixelFiend, Mike and others), your input and encouragement are really appreciated!

Shoulder Hubs Arrive

I didn't get any building done today, but at least I have a little something to report. The shoulder hubs I ordered from Jason Smith's run arrived today. Yea!



I also ordered a set from Pat's run, but a bird in the hand...

Finished Sanding Utility Arms, Glued & Chopped Booster Cover Tops

In the morning, I finished sanding the utility arms so that they can swing freely open without hitting the skins.

I also was able to remove the masking tape from the booster cover tops, and glue the bottom part of these back on. How did I manage to do such a sloppy job of masking? Huh... oh well.



In the evening I worked up the courage to do some choppin' on the booster cover tops. The blueprints call for a 3 degree angle to be cut off the top. I practiced with the chop saw on a large piece of scrap, and then held my breath and cut the real booster covers.

Phew, it turned out fine.



The angle is pretty subtle, but it is there. Obviously a little wood putty will be in order once I'm done cutting.



I still need to route a curve out of the bottom-front corner, and cut 3 degrees off the front face of the booster cover tops, then the booster cover tops will be pretty much done (except painting and adding mounting screws).

Watching Paint Dry

This morning I painted blue the masked slots in the booster cover tops. Tomorrow I hope to glue the bases back on these so I can resume work.



In the evening I started sanding the portions of the utility arms that bump into the skins as they swivel open. I hope to finish that tomorrow too.

Booster Cover Slot Work, Trimmed Utility Arm Rods

Once again I didn't get a whole lot done, due to other activities during the day.

I've been going back and forth as to how I want the slots in the booster cover tops to look. Originally I was going to leave them empty, but that's not what the blueprints call for (nor is it how R2 really looks). I finally decided today to fill in the slots the way the blueprints specify, so I cut some MDF and sanded it to size. Then I hit it all with another coat of primer, in preparation for painting. I can't really do much more with these pieces until the paint is dry, and I glue the bases back onto them.



Later, I measured, marked and rough-cut the utility arm rods, and then iteratively test fitted and fine-sanded them to size.




I don't think I'll have a chance to do any building tomorrow (Tuesday).

Booster Cover Slot Primer, Started Working on Utility Arms

Today I was somewhat busy with other stuff, so I didn't get much done.

In the morning I applied some primer to the slots in the booster cover tops, so paint will stick better after these are glued back together.



In the afternoon, I started the first modest steps on the utility arms. I drilled 1/8" holes in the utility arm pivot points, and JB Welded 1/8" metal rods into them. These will be cut down to size soon.

Booster Cover Work, Installed HPs and Octagon Ports

Today was fairly productive.

I returned to work on the booster cover tops, where the curve still required sanding. I tilted the drill press table to the proper angle, and using the drum sander, finished sanding out the curve on top for both booster covers.




Since I couldn't wait to see the holoprojectors in the dome, I tackled that next. For now, I am using clips used for a bicycle chain to hold the HPs in place. This seems fairly sturdy, but I may go with another solution before I'm done. I was able to use the screws I placed in the dome earlier to anchor the clips. With those HPs installed, R2's dome is looking more and more real.




Finally, I painted black the outward facing sides of the paddles that hold the octagon ports in place. Once they were dry, I screwed them into the frame, completing the octagon port portion of the build.

Drilled Octagon Ports, Dado Cuts for Booster Cover Tops

After recovering from my giddiness at receiving my holoprojectors, I got back to work.

First, I drilled the backs of the octagon ports to accommodate screws for attaching a paddle that will hang from the frame on the inside. I cut off the ends of some #4-40 screws and glued them in the holes.




Next, it was time to make dado cuts into the booster cover tops. My friend Kelvin came over to help with those, since they require a change-out of the saw blades, and I don't know what I'm doing when it comes to that (and most everything else). Kelvin did the actual cutting, which was fine with me.




Lots more work to do on these booster covers, but they are coming along slowly but surely.

Aluminum Holoprojectors Arrive!!

Oh happy day! The day I thought would never come, the holoprojectors that I ordered back on June 8, 2005 arrived today. The are absolutely beautiful, I can't wait to mount them in my dome!

U-channels Arrive, Finished Cutting Doghouses

Back from a business trip to Cleveland, I was able to resume building activities.

Darryl's U-channels arrived in today's mail, and they appear to fit my budget feet very well.



I had a chance to finish cutting the half-cut doghouse, and cut a new doghouse to replace the ruined one from the weekend. I hope to work on the top part of the booster covers this weekend.

Booster Cover Progress & Setbacks

As the title says, today was a mixture of progress and setbacks, pretty much intermixed as the day went on.

First, it was time to use my doghouse templates to do the angled cuts. I tilted the saw blade to the same nine degree angle that matches the top of the booster cover, on which the doghouse will sit. I always hate to get my fingers anywhere near the saw blade, but I survived fine.



Okay, the first pass turned out okay. Time to cut the other side of the doghouse with the mirror-image jig. Uh-oh. I found out after the fact that the other jig was not a mirror image after all. Doghouse ruined :(



Luckily I had cut the parts for a spare doghouse last week, so I can use that to replace this one. Needless to say, I did not attempt to use the faulty template on the second doghouse, so it has only one side trimmed. I also made a new template to replace the defective one.



Next, it was time to move onto the top part of the booster cover. I needed to make a cut 1/4" from the bottom of the block, so that I can cut the grooves in the block where they belong. Later I can glue this end cap back on. The cut for the first booster cover top went fine. While cutting the second booster cover top, the block kind of lifted as I cut it, so I had to stop mid-cut, and finish it off with a hacksaw by hand. :(



With those cuts done, I started working on the curved part of the booster cover tops. Following some guidance from Alan Wolfson, I used the drill press with the sanding drum attachment. This worked pretty well. I've only sanded out the shallowest of the two arcs. I will need to progressively sand out the larger arc later.



So it was a day of mixed results. I made some progress on the booster covers, but I'll have to redo some of the work. Oh well, that happens.



Note: I won't be able to do any building until this Thursday at the earliest, so no updates for a few days.

Repainted Octagon Ports, Sanded & Marked Booster Cover Tops

In the morning, I repainted the octagon ports with Krylon Chrome Aluminum. Hmm... I'm still not super happy with the look, too glittery. What's a malcontent to do? We'll see, maybe I can live with it.



In the afternoon, I sanded the booster cover top rough-cuts to size using the belt sander.



After that, I marked them up in preparation for some cutting and sanding that will be required to continue to shape them. It took me a lot longer to mark these up than I would have guessed. Things always go slower when you don't know what you're doing...

Recut Booster Cover Tops

I decided it would be for the best if I recut the booster cover tops to be closer to their final dimensions, so I did so. I will belt-sand these down to size, hopefully starting this weekend.




I'm not happy with how the paint job on the octagon ports turned out. They look too dark, compared to the other aluminum details. I'm planning on repainting those this weekend with the Krylon Chrome Aluminum paint, because it is a bit lighter and seems to be a better match to what is currently on my droid.

Painted Octagon Ports

This evening I painted the octagon ports. After a couple of paint tests with both Krylon and Rustoleum chrome paints, I decided on the Rustoleum because I found it to be a bit more reflective. You won't mistake these for actual aluminum, but they're passable.



Alan Wolfson kindly provided some advice on shaping the top part of the booster cover. I think what I will do is recut a new set of booster cover tops that are closer to the proper size, and then use Alan's advice on sanding the required shapes down.

Cut Top of Booster Covers

Tonight I made the first cuts for the top portion of the booster covers, using three layers of 3/4" poplar that I glued together after cutting each layer.

I didn't leave myself much margin for error side-to-side, but I made these parts deeper and wider than required, so I have some slop to play with there. The current dimensions, when facing this head-on as if they were mounted on the droid, are 3.125" wide, 4.00" tall and 2.25" deep. The height and depth need to be cut down, but the width is pretty much to spec.

How am I going to cut something this thick? Very carefully, I guess. Okay, Alan, if you are out there, start throwing out some pointers! :) Right now I only have a table saw and miter saw at my disposal. It seems a band saw would be the best option, if only I had one.

Primed Octagon Ports

Not much today. I just applied three coats of Rustoleum white sandable primer to the octagon ports. Hope to paint these some day soon.