Cardboard Robot Hand

We made a cardboard robot hand. The reason we made this was for costume and cosplay ideas. Also because it was either this or a potato gun.

Thin cardboard

String

Rubber bands

Hot glue

Bubble gum pink paint (optional)

Ruler (optional)

Make a thick ring of cardboard for each finger segment, with 3 rings per finger. Cut divots into the inside of the rings where the joints will be, this will help with articulation. In our project, we made four fingers. They should be bigger than the average finger, to help with the robot look.

Cut a strip of cardboard that is long enough to hold three rings, with spaces in between each ring. The top ring should be glued at the end of the strip, and the bottom ring should be glued with some space underneath. This is where the finger will be inserted into the hand later on, so it does not need to have a lot of space. Insert the strip inside the finger segments and glue the sides of the segments to the strip.

Cut a rubber band in half and glue the tip to the top of a finger segment, on the back of the finger. Thread the rubber band down the inside of the top segment and outside of the other two. The picture has the rubber band through all segments, however either way this will be changed later. Repeat this for all fingers.

Cut out pieces of cardboard to create a hand. You will need pieces for the back of the hand and the three sides. Adding a palm is optional. The hand should be big enough to fit the wearers hand, as in they should be able to ball their hands into a fist with some room to spare. Glue the body pieces together.

Cut slits in the top of the body and a side for the fingers. Whichever side you choose will determine whether its a left hand or a right hand. Make sure the fingers are snug inside the slits. Insert the fingers-with the rubber bands facing away-into the main body and glue. Before you glue the rubber bands to the back of the hand, make sure to stretch them enough to where the fingers will stand straight when untouched, then glue. Next, poke a hole in front of every bottom segment, towards where the palm should go. Make sure it is in the middle, this is where the string will go.

Thread a piece of string through the hole you just made. Now thread it through the top two rings of the finger. The bottom segment should not have string. Glue the tip of the string to the top segment of the finger. The string should be loose through the hole in the main body, and should have at least an inch on the inside. Repeat this process for all fingers.

Make small rings-each finger gets one ring-to fit the wearers fingers. Glue a side of each ring to the loose string inside the main body. The wearer should be able to put the rings on and move the fingers. Next, cut another strip of cardboard to go over the wearers palm, this will keep the cardboard hand on and make it easier to use. Position it on the inside of the main piece in a way that will still make it easy to access the thumb, then glue.

Finally, you can paint and decorate the hand to your liking. We chose pink paint for our project.