Leg to Body Hubs - Taking a break from Sanding/Filing

Hub work

I think I was fighting the flu this week so very slow progress...So after working all week on sanding, filling and then filing the edges.. still not happy that it doesn't look like one complete part, I will keep plugging away at it.

Here is a part before filing the edges down and sanding...

 

Here is the same part after filing the edges down...

 

 

Lots of work this is...

 

So onto the hubs

 

Had to purchase an assortment of hardware including nuts, washers and flat head bolts.

 

 

As I dry fitted the assembly of the first hub, I noticed I needed to work from the inside out and needed to add washers, nuts on the inside as I went.  I glued the ribs into place after dry fitting by simply pouring the Weld-on 4 into the openings on the top and letting it run into the joints and meld that way.

 

Adding the second inner set I lowered them below where the ribs would connect to the second half of the hub assembly... seen here.

 

And here... reversed the NUT > WASHER >

 

Now I added the second half and began to glue the pieces together.

 

 

Note the ribs some of these are above the outer sides and will need to be filed down a bit to allow the outer skin to connect correctly via glue.

 

Added the second set of bolts (the outer ones) and started applying the nuts and washers to each similar to how I did the inner ones. 

NOTE: The inside bolts (closest to the center are for the connect to the LEGS, where the outer ones are for connecting to the frame/body.

 

 

I applied the glue before completing the outer bolt installation, This allowed the 2 pieces to be completely connected before going any further.

 

Here is a great side view of how the bolts, washers and nuts look inside.  This will be covered with the outer skin once I am done...

 

First outer bolt installed

 

I took the liberty and sanded down the overlapping ribs and verified clearance.

All bolts are installed.

 

Found some more ribs hanging out and filed those down as well.

 

I began taping the outer skin onto the hub and applied glue on the ribs and outer shells to begin attaching the skin to the hub.

 

 

This started making a very large mess...

 

Now it sits and waits for the hub to dry.  I got both completed pretty quick.

 

Now to dry fit them to the frame and legs to see how it looks.

 

Frank did mark the hubs with 1 small hole for the right arm and 2 holes for the left arms...  Lets see if I followed directions.

 

 

 

 

Leg Work Day 2

Working on the legs Part 2

Continued file/sanding the edges and closing the gaps between the edges on the legs was becoming a difficult task.

You can see below the exposed sides where all the pieces connected together

I chamfered the edges where the ankle details need to match up and where I essentially skin the outer surface.

More details below of the sides of the leg without the skin on the upper half

Started to apply the skins with tape and using Weld-On 3 to connect the skins to the outer edges.

If you look closely the ankle area has its skin on as well as the sides leading up to the upper half of the leg.

Closeup view of the skin being applied on the ankle area, notice the HUGE gap left between the ankle details and the side.  Will seal that with bondo or some filler.

Taking a step back, went to work on the ankle details on the other leg so you can see the progress made on the ankle details

Gluing down the lower portion of the leg where the ankle details will be attached to.

Another great shot of the unfinished leg showing no skin on the outer edges.

The outer ankles are simple ribbed sections to create the frame and a skin is applied and wrapped to it.

Closeup view of the lower leg showing the canal that will be used to run the wire from the foot and arduino sensor system up into the body of R2.

Applying the outer details to the ankle, notice the little pieces of plastic I placed in there to give the skin something to glue against.

Did the same for the other side

Applied the several layers to the lower ankle section of the leg.

Finally the last layer closes up the canal but leaves the hole to run the cable.

Gluing the layers together for the ankle details

Finally gluing the leg pieces together

Notice I use a temp bolt in the ankle hole to keep alignment

Here is the leg with the connected ankle details exposed (without skin) not glued but for visual inspection and fitting.

Here are the ankle details for both legs waiting to dry

I had to chamfer the edges of the ribs to the round of the back of the ankle so the skin lays flat against the edges.

Applying the skins to the outer edges and gluing.

After some filing and sanding its coming along nicely

Gluing the skin across the top took some time and LOTS of tape to hold it down.

Gluing the details to the lower ankle area... 

There will be lots of filing and sanding around the edges as the skin is applied to the ankle areas.

The leg with the skin being applied... looks very slick

taping down the skins as its being glued on the round upper area of the leg and edges.

Here are closeups of the edges being exposed on the lower ankle area, these will have to be carefully filed down and sanded.

You can see where lots of filler was used to where pieces of skin connected.

Starting to file the edges

Lots of filler on the edges here

Filler is very messy to say the least

Much better, the filing payed off... it looks great

More filing...