DIY NieR Automata [Wood] Stubby

If you are like me, you probably have a giant pile of scrap wood in the shop. This, coupled with the news of the NieR Automata anime coming soon, led me to want to build my own small stubby robot.

Automata was the first of the series that I played thanks to a recommendation from a buddy. I also got the Nier Replicant remake and I’ve been hooked ever since. So let’s get building!

Scrap wood, I’ll explain my choices along the way.

Saw, I mostly use a bandsaw

Drill and various bits

Chisel and/or files

Sander and sandpaper

Paint

Greeblies, or other random Knick knacks I will also explain along the way

Glue

Clamps

Snips

This also starts with other inspo for the build and some rough sketches.

I wanted a round ball for the head (pic 1) and wasn’t comfortable enough to try and make one on my lathe (I need better/sharp tools and experience), so I decided to make my own "round" object. I started by gluing a couple pieces of scrap 2 x 4 together.

Once the glue dried, I used a round cap from a container (pic 2) that was large enough to span the length of the shortest side, which was the end grain side (pic 3). I was hoping to use the largest flat side, but the ball would not have been symmetrical and wouldn’t have worked out well (pic 4).

Once I had the outline traced, I took it to the bandsaw and cut the first cylinder (pic 5). I then hot glued the cut pieces that contained the other tracing back on (pic 5/6) so that I knew how to transpose that on the second side, perpendicular to the first. Hopefully that makes sense (pics hopefully help, too).

The hot glued pieces that didn’t wind up becoming cut off once again, I pried off with a small knife (pic 9/10). Now that I had this geometric shape, I was able to knock off the excess “corners” by using the same cap as before and a deep reach marker (pic 11-13) to trace a third circle. The deep reach marker really helps to trace that contour on the curvy parts that you already cut as opposed to a pencil (which is tapered) or even a carpenters pencil. I found the deep reach marker to be more clear and defined, and also easier to use.

I took it to the Bandsaw once again and tried to round out as much as I could before sanding (pic 14-18).

I knew sanding by hand was going to be tricky because I would risk making the ball lopsided if I took too much off of one “corner/edge.” The best solution that I came up with, and this is kind of funky, but bear with me, is that I clamped my orbital sander to the bench vice, upside-down, and then using a hose clamp, mounted to a stand, I was able to let the ball sand itself (pic 19-22). by keeping the hose clamp around the ball's medium (or waist?), it really helps prevent it falling out, especially since the orbital sander knocks it around a ton.

I let it go for about an hour and a half to two hours, checking every 15 to 20 minutes (to make sure it was still in) until I thought it was smooth enough.

And that’s how I made my ballz (pic 23).

The legs are going to be way easier.

I took a piece of scrap wood (pic 1) that was about 1/2-inch thick and 1.5-inches wide and cut off the excess to make them into an L shape (pic 2-4)

Next, I took a piece of quarter inch scrap (pic 5) and cut the excess off to make the foot look like a typical wind up toy foot while also keeping in mind the shape of the original stubby foot. I taped the 2 feet together using painters tape and, using a chisel, made them as symmetrical as I could (pic 6).

After I had my four pieces, I glued the legs and feet together (pic 7).

The body is also quite simple.

All I did was cut a bunch of rings and glued them together. However, you have to keep something in mind: You need to have the inner diameter (the part you are removing) be wide enough in order to encompass your two legs and the brace, or what I’ll call the machine core, haha!

I started out by cutting some squares (pic 1) from a piece of scrap plywood. I then drilled a 1/4 inch hole in the center and took that to my circle cutting jig that I use on with my bandsaw (pic 2/3). I’m going to use a hole-saw bit (pic 4) later for cutting the excess and make the inner diameter, but I didn’t want to use them for the outside ring because a couple reasons:

1) the hole-saw kit that I bought leaves quite a jagged edge, which I didn’t like.

2) the circle cutting jig that I use on my bandsaw runs “smoother” compared to the hole-saw bits, and I also know that using the jig for the outer diameter will be very reproducible.

One thing that was nice about doubling up the jig and hole-saw bit was that the ring centers accommodated the same 1/4-inch hole. That made going from circle jig to drill press way easier and took out any guess work. Serendipitous (pic 5).

Using the hole-saw bit on the drill press, I cut about halfway through, flipped the piece over (pic 6) and cut the remainder away (pic 7). This made it cleaner but may have been overkill since nobody will see the inside? Oh well.

After cutting enough rings for the height that I require, I thought about the little hub that a Nier stubby has on its back. I looked through my box of spare parts and wound up deciding that the hold down part for a hard disk drive platter looked almost exactly alike (pic 8). The only issue was bending it in order to rest flush on the back. I tried to bend it using my HDPE block that I used to bend copper (I have an Instructable on that, too), but unfortunately the HDD piece broke. That wasn’t a big setback because I had some sheet metal lying around of minimal thickness and just reproduced a piece that way by drilling some holes. I took that piece to my bending jig, and it turned out just fine (pic 9/10).

For the arms, I used beads that I found at the dollar store as the shoulders (pic 1).

For the upper arms I used a 1/2-inch X 1/2-inch thick block and cut 2 pieces to length.

For the forearms, I used a chopstick, but normal people could just use a dowel.

And for the hands I cut a piece on the bandsaw that looked like the outline (pic 2), and then made the “fingers“ by removing the excess from the middle (pic 3). If you look at my picture of me cutting the stubby’s fingers on my bandsaw just be careful and don’t cut YOUR fingers. I am comfortable enough to get that close to the blade, but use your best judgment please! You could even use some files if you are more comfortable with that method.

After I had my pieces, I drilled a hole, big enough to insert the chopstick into the hand, and then subsequently into the upper arm (pic 5).

I had some old-timey typewriter keys (pic 1/2) and figured that this would be perfect for the quintessential stubby eyes. I just had to remove the cover (pic 3) and clean the glass (pic 4) because they were heavily smudged. These keys didn’t really have any ink left over indicating what key it actually used to be, but it doesn’t matter anyway since I cut some yellow “happy eyes” out of some paper to insert (pic 5-7).

I should probably note that these typewriter keys were snipped from the original typewriter at some point. I picked them up from a sale and were sold just as the keys so don’t think I destroyed a typewriter just to make this stubby. I wouldn’t do that.

I had to use a lot of problem-solving to figure out how I was going to do the neck. As this proved the most difficult, the thing that I figured out was going to be my best course of action was to cut more circles and glue them together into one big stack (pic 1). I then use my bandsaw and raise the bed ever so slightly to get a steeper angle (pic 2/3), working my way up to the top of the dome.

Again, please be careful if re-creating this, as I am very comfortable with using my bandsaw and getting that close to the blade, especially at that 45° angle (pic 4). I even had to remove the insert next to the blade to get the bed that high. But I still realized that I needed a zero clearance, so I used a piece of scrap wood in order to do so (pic 4, again). I will also reiterate, that this blade is spinning very fast and down words, so if it catches, watch your fingers!

I then smoothed the neck down on a disc sander (pic 5) and traced an area where the head would need to recess (pic 6). I then took the excess off at the bandsaw (pic 7/8), making relief cuts along the way. I then needed to use my Dremel in order to make a caved-in area for the head to recess even further back (pic 9). Afterwards, I glued to head in place on the neck.

Just to lay out some perspective, from left to right, you’re going to have the outer edge of the body, followed by a leg, core, the other leg, other edge of body. The thing that I use to secure them all together is, once again, a chopstick.

I used a 3/16-inch bit (pic 1) in order to make holes for all of those pieces. This way, the ring body and the machine core brace would be snug. However, I wanted the legs to dangle so, therefore, I used a 13/64-inch bit (pic 3) in order to make the whole large enough to accommodate the chopstick.

Pushing everything together was a little bit tough, particularly for me, because the chopstick had a knot, and a slight bend to it. But more on that later.

Working from the body to the leg to the core to the other leg was quite easy to push together (pic 5). However, it wasn’t until I got to the other edge (pic 6) that I needed to drill a hole in order to push the remainder of the chopstick the rest of the way.

This is where were using plywood really came in handy, in hindsight! All I did was, instead of using a lot of math to figure out where I was going to drill the other side of my hole into the ring body (pic 7), I just counted the ply and marked on the other side where I thought I should draw my hole (pic 8). And you know what? It worked!

But, there was that pesky twist in the chopstick that made things very difficult, especially with my small wood pieces that were drilled, and therefore, less robust.

I started by tapping the long end of the chopstick to try and force it into position, but I realize that too much force, and one of my legs could break or even the body itself. At this point, I didn’t want to start over because I’ve come so far.

The method that I used was to chuck the chopstick into my drill (pic 9), and then force it that way. And that worked out just fine. Nothing broke thankfully.

The last thing I did before attaching the arms was to make sure that both sides of the chopstick were of equal length (pic 10).

Starting with the shoulders, aka beads, I drilled the same 3/16-inch hole saw that they would fit snuggly (pic 1). Dealing with that pesky bent chopstick got me again with the other shoulder. I had to use a socket to tap it into submission without risking any breakage (pic 2). I then trimmed off the excess of the chopstick with a pair of side-cutters (pic 3).

I drilled another 3/16-inch hole halfway into the shoulder pieces and put them in place. I didn't want the drill to go all the way through.

Here is where I goofed up. I should have left them snug so that I could pose them to some degree. However, I glued them in place with wood glue and see a glue and now they are just stuck. Learn from my mistake if that’s not what you’re going for (pic 4/5).

Now that this guy is mostly assembled, I hit him with a couple of coats of primer (pic 1), followed by a couple coats of texture Rustoleum paint (pic 2). I chose the beige looking paint only because I feel that represented the stubby better than just using gray or something metallic. But I often change my mind about. Let me know what you think.

Just for giggles, I used an and a piece of to make a bucket (pic 3). Real fans of Automata will know what that’s for, lol!

To attach the eyes to the head, I used my re-purposed bench grinder (pic 4) and cut some slits into the back of the typewriter key (pic 5). I then sharpened them into a knife like shape (pic 6), so that I can pound them in, similar to nails (pic 7-9).

For the back hub, I just used the piece that I mentioned in an earlier step (pic 10) and use the same machine screws that came off of the hard drive disk platter (pic 11).

Now all that is left is to attach the head to the body and I did so simply using wood glue (pic 1). I did have to put a shim on the machine core in order to have it be flush with the upper ring of the body, but that was not a big deal. It was easy to correct.

And that’s that! I now have my own little stubby that I can call upon to do my bidding. I mean not really, but it’s still pretty sweet to have this little guy.

I hope you find this interesting, and if nothing else you learn some tips and tricks along the way. If you do make your own, I would love to see it, or if you made some other item or character from the Nier franchise.

See you on the next one!