Give Em' the Slip

Slip Ring arrived yesterday. This allows power and electrical signals to go between the body and dome while still being able to fully rotate the dome infinite times. I'm not exactly sure how I'm going to use it yet, but eventually I'll need it to do things like lift the periscope and life form scanner.

Year One

One year ago today I awoke and made the decision to start building my own R2-D2.

The year went by fast, as they tend to do the older you get, and had lots of ups and downs like any other year. I lost one of my best buddies in September - my cat Abby. She was never more than 10 feet from me for almost 11 years, she meowed louder than any cat I've ever heard and purred nonstop till her last few hours. I miss her everyday. Since then her sister Kobey and I have bonded more than ever.

On the Artoo front, I've received all but one body part needed and only because that particular one hasn't been run yet, but should be soon. I've been looking in to the electronics side of things the last few days. I anticipate receiving the foot drives soon and would like to get him at least rolling around shortly after.

Lately I've been back to work on sanding the dome. I used a mouse sander a few months ago to get out the spin lines, and am now going back over with sand sponges and paper to get the final shiny surface. I also plan on starting to cut the inner dome soon and have been reading up on all that will entail.

Celebration VI is in August, and right now I'm 50/50 on attending. If I do, I hope to have this guy up and running to be a part of the builders room. I haven't attended a Celebration since III in Indianapolis. The local Trek Expo is in June. I had a lofty goal of trying to be ready by then but it will be hard to obtain with the amount still left and that sidetrack known as work.

Hopefully those Mayans were wrong and all this work wasn't for nothing. Happy New Year.

Coupling

Power Couplers arrived from Russ in England. Russ's parts have been of exceptional quality. These are even designed for easier painting. Hopefully he will be running the coveted Aluminum Radar Eye next, and possibly the new JAG Octagon Port design. I wouldn't mind trading the Octo Ports I got off the junkyard for the newer design. He also sells other prop replicas not associated with Artoo building. Check out his website for more info. You may find something you have to have.

Skater Boy

UPS just dropped off the caster wheels I ordered a week ago. After reading through a dedicated Center Caster Wheels thread on astromech.net, I decided to go with 2.5 inch skate style wheels from Rockler. These aren't as soft as I'd imagined them to be, but I'll give them a shot. It looks like these are one of the parts that people try different options as they wear out over time. But these also look better to me than a standard Lowe's or Ace caster. And of course I went with the blue option.

Pocket Full of Kryptonite

Pocket Vents arrived from Guy in Burbank, CA. I've realized lately how many different areas of the world R2 parts come from. I wish I'd have paid more attention when they arrived. My little astro droid will have parts from all over the U.S. - Texas, Arizona, California, Rhode Island and several more states. Not to mention a few international parts from China, Australia, and England.

Spin Doctor

My first video!

Like some other builders, I replaced the bearings in the Rockler with Acetal ones from McMaster-Carr. This was the 3rd time I'd taken a Rockler apart. Cleaning it and replacing the stock lube didn't quite live up to my expectations.

I cleaned the grease from the track, used the dremel to clean up the little bit of slag in there, then sanded it with 400 grit paper and wiped both pieces down as best I could. Then I sprayed a little Teflon Lubricant in the track, replaced the bearings leaving about 2 inches of empty space in the track just as the original bearings did, and finally sprayed a little more lubricant into the open gap in the top.

You can see the difference. It was only getting about 3/4 a turn per spin before. Now its going a full 3-4 rotations. I added the Dome Base Plate and Dome afterwards and still get 3 full rotations with a modest hand spin. It quieted down too. Almost totally gone is that annoying bearing knocking that came from the stock balls. It always sounded like a Newton's Cradle to me. Although not completely silent, it should be loads better and sound a little more like the Artoo in the movies.

Three Legged Race

The day has come. R2 can stand on his own. Pretty freaking cool. Looks like I'll have to use the Center Ankle Adapter for the Com8-B frame. These were made after someone with the same frame noticed the Center Foot didn't sit level on their droid. Mine isn't as extreme as theirs was, but its still not quite level. Before I cut anything I'll see what some of the other builders have to say. It may be best to wait till I have the Foot Drives and center casters in. See below.