Wood Robot

The robot was made from scrap wood and a few pieces from an old K’Nex set. It’s similar in style to Mr. Tipsy from Raivan as shown here. Differences in this version include shape, size, number of parts and mid-point rotation.

As for motion, the head, hands, feet and hips spin. The arms and legs have two rotating joints. See animation my kids put together for some cool robot dance moves.

Tools:

• Band Saw
• Table Saw
• Drill Press
• ¼” Drill Bit
• Sander
• Hammer

Materials:

• 1x4 x 24”
• 2x4 x 8”
• ¼” Dowel x 14”

Note that the parts are color coded for easy reference.

The body was made from a 4" long 2x4. Drill the holes at the locations shown. Note that the drawing shows through holes for simplicity. These four holes only need to be 1/2" deep from the sides.

Cut the Hip as shown. I used the round end side of a 2x4. Again, the holes only need to be 1/2" deep.

I used the excess from the 2x4 for the head. You might want to pre-drill the holes for the facial features at this point.

Cut 1/4" dowel to the lengths shown.

See Video of the Arm and Leg Build here:

Cut the 1x4 into 1.5” strips to be used for the legs and arms. Cut the parts as shown. I used a table saw for the Arm1 slot. I assume a router table would have been easier/better way to make this cut. I used a band saw for Arm2 and the Hand. The holes were drilled with a drill press. A sander was used for the chamfers. Refer to video in the previous step to see my amateur woodworking skills.

Same construction as the Arm Assembly.

Same as the Arm Parts (see video).

Attach the Hip to the Body with a 1" long dowel.

Align holes and use 1.25" long dowels to make the attachment.

Align holes and use 1.25" long dowels to make the attachment.

Attach head with 1" long dowel.

I picked through the kids old K'Nex set for the eyes, eyebrows and mouth. I used wood screws to attach the pieces.