Star Wars Fans,...Not audio related

[Renron]

I've been very busy lately.
29" tall, 43" long , intended as a baby gift for my newest Grandson, but he came a month early. Well , he'll have time to grow into it.
403 individual pieces. Hundreds of hours of work..............too many to count.
Ron

[BobEllis]

Cool gift, Gramps.

[TEK]

Holy shit Ron - that’s just soncool!
He beyyer grow up to be a star wars fan

[ergo]

Wau great project!
I assume you drew it all up in CAD first - even that part would take a lot of time + then the execution. Very cool.

My kid is 13 now. 2 years ago before the latest episodes in cinema I showed him all of the prior Star Wars movies, so he would know what's it all about. I was curious to see his reactions to the oldest episodes with the special effects that must look pretty old time to him, but overall he liked those just fine. I guess the movie and story are compelling enough so it does not matter much in end.

[Steve Manning]

Very cool Ron .... I would say you've been staying out of mischief, but that last picture is pushing it. Nice work as always.

[Paulie]

That is so cool!

[Alaric]

Wau great project!
I assume you drew it all up in CAD first - even that part would take a lot of time + then the execution. Very cool.

My kid is 13 now. 2 years ago before the latest episodes in cinema I showed him all of the prior Star Wars movies, so he would know what's it all about. I was curious to see his reactions to the oldest episodes with the special effects that must look pretty old time to him, but overall he liked those just fine. I guess the movie and story are compelling enough so it does not matter much in end.

Good science fiction is just a good story with a cool stage.

[Renron]

Good science fiction is just a good story with a cool stage.

Ohh, I like that!

Thanks for the complements guys. This is just something different than we usually share. Though y'all might enjoy it. I did.
Ron

[agrippa]

We need plans, part lists, HD graphs and so on... Oh wait... this is not a speaker.

Although it could be.

Awesome, My 10 year old son loves it.

[Renron]

Agrippa,
Yep, you could make a speaker out of it. Jon could anyway.....
I got a kick start from someone who already did the hard work for me. I made mine 150% larger than his and painted mine. Very happy with how it looks painted.
I used his templates (enlarged) for the legs and then I was on my own. Not a square cut , rip, bevel, angle in the body. I WON'T make one again. PITA and I'm glad it's over.
Lots of fun, I improved my skill set but like a movie that's 3 hours long, I'm glad it's over.
I used almost every hole saw I owned >15. If you don't have a scroll saw then don't even start the project. Even my great Bosch jig saw would not have "cut it". Pun intended.
I used 61 .40 cal bullets in each foot for weight and stability, just the bullets not the cartridge. It weighs 35 pounds and is extremely stable considering it's height.
I made 6 specific jigs just to cut the parts I needed. Making the conical feet was scary as Hell. It worked well and I still have all my body parts I started with, but I don't want to do that again. Table saw blade at 45* turned on and raised into a cylinder of wood causing it to spin at almost blade speed. What was I thinking??? 4 feet later, they came out great. It's new owners love it and it matches the Star Wars themed nursery.
Here is a link for anyone brave enough to try to build this At At.

https://www.instructables.com/id/Wooden-AT-AT-Walker/

Ron

[Steve Manning]

I'm puckering just thinking about you cutting those bevels. I could imagine making a slightly different jig to get you hands further away from the blade. I did some similar when I made my remote table, though the parts were larger, which helps. http://www.htguide.com/forum/showthr...g-advice/page2. I could imagine for smaller parts you could run a spindle through the part to the back side of the jig and turn the piece from there, keeping well away from the sharp spinny thing. I guess that's for the next brave/crazy sole to try.

[Renron]

Steve,
What you see is a non moving jig. The cylinder of wood being cut spins on that bolt with an aircraft nut locking it in place. I would turn it on and raise the blade from beneath the table and turn it off before I looked up. I kept well below the plane of flying parts just in case. The sled was locked in place and never moved until the next level needed to be cut. I still have nightmares.......
Looking at the jig you built, I think you were nuts for trusting double sided sticky tape. Glad you lived thru it. What tape holds that well? 3M ?
Ron

[Steve Manning]

Steve,
What you see is a non moving jig. The cylinder of wood being cut spins on that bolt with an aircraft nut locking it in place. I would turn it on and raise the blade from beneath the table and turn it off before I looked up. I kept well below the plane of flying parts just in case. The sled was locked in place and never moved until the next level needed to be cut. I still have nightmares.......
Looking at the jig you built, I think you were nuts for trusting double sided sticky tape. Glad you lived thru it. What tape holds that well? 3M ?
Ron

Hey Ron,

We all know I'm nuts :crazy:I use Shurtape indoor/outdoor carpet tape from Lowes and I typically have to pry the parts apart with a putty knife and a screwdriver. I of course make sure any loose dust is removed first but it seems to work much better than regular sticky tape. For those pieces I cut, I also made multiple passes, only cutting maybe a 1/4" at an time putting minimal pressure on the cut.

So, if I understand you correctly, you set the part, duck under the saw, turn on the saw, raise the blade, lower the blade, turn off the saw, rotate the part and repeat the entire process? If so, tell me your wife got pictures.

Steve

[BobEllis]

I think I would have turned them. Lacking a lathe, I’d mount a bearing for a spindle to the drill press table. Glad you survived that with body parts intact, Ron.

[Renron]

Bob, no lathe here. Last time I used a lathe I ended up with a chisel point tool entering the inside of my wrist and exiting the backside. Doctor was astonished that it missed every important part in there. About 3 inches below the wrist, came out the back side. :T
Only time I've ever been injured working with wood, other than nasty splinters. :^x

Steve, you got the process correct except that the foot rotated on the bolt axis, it spun reel faaasssst. Raised the blade very slowly. 8O
Just like yours only flat instead of vertical. HEY, I learned it from you........alright? (jk) hate it when the kids say that to ya.

[Steve Manning]

I knew I was going to get the blame.

[Renron]

"Let no good deed go unpunished".
Seriously thou, I've used my drill press as a vertical lathe before when I made a Schroeder Tonearm. The amount of material I had to remove made that option last.
I could have used a belt sander with 36 grit and the same spinning base jig.
Steve, you idea is sound and if you say Double sided tape works, then I would trust it! I'll keep it in mind for any future projects.
This is a great group of people on this forum, I'm honored.
Ron