Entry Two: The Gunslinger

All my friends know there's two things I really love in this world: Robot Arms and Team Fortress 2.

So when they heard that my favorite class, the Engineer, was getting a robot arm for his update, they called me immediately to tell me the news. It was pretty much the best day of my life.

Well, after many hours of being an extra-dick offensive engineer on LOLCANO, I realized Halloween was approaching, and I felt it was high time I added another robot arm to my collection.

I'll be posting periodic updates on this robot arm project; it's got to be a lot tighter than the last since I'm replicating something all ready in existence. The first thing I did was stop by Skycraft Parts and Surplus for my birthday to pick up some of the odds and ends I needed for the arm, then I drew this vague mock-up.

As you can see from this images, I'm unsure what the three circular pieces on the wrist are...my friend Scott told me to email Gabe Newell or Robin Walker and see if they can ask the artist about it, but I'm way too nervous!

Anyways, after that, I headed out to a flea market to find a lawnmower handle. We couldn't find the lawnmower parts stand, but I did find this old clacky keyboard that would work perfectly for the numpad on his forearm!

I love clacky keyboards, and I had really wanted to keep it as the keyboard for my computer; I was only completely devastated to find out the old port was waaaay too big for the keyboard port my computer has. It's okay, though, because engie robot arm really deserves the clacky keypad more!

Taking the keyboard apart was a lot of fun...in general, I like getting a look at the guts of electronic stuff ever since I customized a rock band guitar a while back.

 Anyway! So my always skeptical but very handy roommate, Nagle, and I began working on the forearm piece. We want it to be hollow so it's lighter weight, and we leave room for the electronics that will make the button and the tiny red LED light up.

Then I cut the numpad out of the keyboard with a dremel, and cut a wood piece to be inset slightly; we'll screw the plastic numpad onto that wood piece, then add the keys once they're painted.

The next step is to glue and screw the wood pieces together. I'm going to spec out the wrist piece and then Nagle's going to take it over to his Pop's workshop and use a lathe. As far as the fingers go, I'm going to try and work those with plastic. I've never worked with plastic before, so I don't really know where to begin. I might email some of my favorite prop-makers ans ask their advice. More Robot Arm adventures to come!

Edit: Oh yeah, another thing...here's how much I've spent so far:
Rubber tubing(not shown): 2.50
Orange Wire: .90
Big Red Button: 5.00
Gauge: 3.00
LED's: 1.00
Clacky Keyboard: 5.00
Primer Spraypaint: 3.10
RED Spraypaint: 4.24
Gunmetal Spraypaint: 5.99
Wood Glue: 2.97
Screws: 3.77

Too lazy to total, but it's around $40 so far, and that's a lot to do with the fact that I'm just starting out and don't have a lot of this stuff lying around.

Entry One: The U.B.R.A

Hello, all! My name's Ingrid, and welcome to Robot Arms Incorporated, your one-stop-shop for enhancing your lifestyle--cybernetically!

The story of Robot Arms Inc. started like any other; just a small-town girl with a dream. A dream of passion. A dream of adventure. A dream...of a Robot Arm.

This is the initial sketch I did of the original U.ltra B.itchin' R.obot A.rm. The details were a little fuzzy; all I knew is I wanted a wide, cannon-like forearm.

After initial runs to both home depot and an awesome local shop called "Skycraft Parts and Surplus Inc.," I got myself a couple floodlight casings, a rubber glove, and some aluminum tape, coming up with the aforementioned forearm.

 
I also knew the shoulder piece would be a big part of the arm; I would need something major to help hold it up. I all ready had a harness in the works, but it really needed a badass mech shoulder piece. With the help of my very handy roommate, Nagle, and his equally handy collection of tools, we cut and bent out the pieces for a 3-layered metal shoulder. With a few metal wings for robo chic, I laid out the basic parts to see how the arm would eventually come together.

With the deadline of a dress-up day at my office quickly approaching, I sewed together the harness from heavy-duty nylon straps(be sure to get a heavy needle and watch your fingers!), then sewed that to the sleeve cut from a classy Salvation Army leotard(complete with snaps on the crotch--nice to see you again, 1986!). With the help of three cans of Full Throttle and lots and lots of duct tape, the UBRA prototype was completed.

It was a big hit, but wearing it that day provided me with a lot of insight. The first was that rubber gloves, while awesome, get really sweaty when you're just wearing them around. The second was the loose wires weren't as neat a concept as I'd thought in my head. Lastly, the upper arm just wasn't robot-y enough. It looked empty.

After another trip to Skycraft and more help from that crafty Nagle, I got ride of the duct tape, tightened the wires, replaced the glove with something a little more breathable, and added a perforated metal upper-arm piece, complete with some sweet exposed circuitry!

But a cyborg's work is never done; I'm constantly on the prowl for ways to improve the UBRA. I plan on doing some more surgery to incorporate a better glove, and a new flexy elbow piece made from an accordioned rubber boot and a dryer vent. Stay tuned for UBRA updates and even more robot arms!