A lightsaber would certainly have been faster, but I'm thinking that the $25 I spent on a template-cutting bit for my router is probably the best money I've spent on a tool in a long time.

I was trying to figure out how I was going to cut the plywood rings for my astromech frame (yeah yeah yeah... I know... "You're just now getting to work on the frame?!?!?!") so that they would all be identical. Same for the legs, which are a sandwich of plywood and MDF. With as little variation as possible, I could minimize sanding and refinishing at the end.

I could have done the rings with a circle-cutting rig for the router, but that would have been a uni-tasker (I love that word... thanks AB!), and it would have been a pain in the rear for the legs. So, I cut some templates out of scrap wood, and used them to cut out all the bits with this template-cutting bit.

Bada-bing bada-boom. In about 45 minutes, I had all the blanks trimmed out nice. Pictures coming soon... Of course, safety was my first concern. With the MDF, that meant a dust mask, since the stuff is like brown asbestos. After a couple of test-runs with some scrap, I got a feel for how the bit cut and how fast to go without burning the wood.

Now, as easy as it was, there is a down-side. Any slight imperfection in the template gets immediately transferred to the blanks. I noticed that there is a little wiggle in the straight part of the legs, so each blank now has the little wiggle. The nice part is that it's the same on all blanks, so it can be repaired with a little sanding and some Bondo (which I have to do anyway, if I want a nice finish).

So, with the rings and legs cut, I have to trim out the center of the MDF pieces for the legs. This will allow me to eventually run wires down to the feet, where the motors to drive the wheels will be located.

My attention now turns to the upright pieces inside the frame. I have all the pieces trimmed to the right width, but now I have to get them cut down to size. My measurements put the height of an astromech body at 19-11/32 inches, although I've seen more experienced builders quoting 19-3/8 inches. What's a thirty-second of an inch between friends? Since I have my styrene skins, I can just measure how tall each body half is and use that measurement.

With any luck, I'll be able to show you a wooden frame this weekend. Keep your fingers crossed!

Bob
July 31, 2007