How can I make servo brackets like those on LynxMotion Robots out of wood and plastic? I want to try to make a small biped robot.
jeffmorris:
How can I make servo brackets like those on LynxMotion Robots out of wood and plastic? I want to try to make a small biped robot.
I would think you would start by making some test brackets out of the material you want to use.
Think about how you'd make things in general out of plastic or wood...
You could start with a block of material then carve or machine the excess parts until you have the desired item. You could make the brackets out of small plates then glue or bolt them together. You could make an appropriate mold and plastic resins and cast it. Finally if the centuries old methods don't appeal to you, with plastic you have the option of creating a CAD model then print it out using a 3D printer.
Choose the one that seems the most feasible.
It took me a few hours to make one "C" servo bracket from wood and plastic. I had to make adjustments to the "C" bracket so that it rotates without any problems. I have a CNC router but I'm afaid to cut non-wood materials on it.
You could also cut and drill aluminum blanks and then bend them to shape. Aluminum flashing or aluminum gutter material might be useable for making the blanks.
They look like bent metal. The easiest way would be to get some sheet aluminum, preferably from a scrap yard. make a small wood block the size of the interior space and bend the aluminum around it.
If you are going to do a number of these, think about making a simple brake to make the bend uniform. This can be made from a sjort piece of angle iron and a couple of hinges. A handle on the side will give you some leverage. Here is a link:
Make a little jig to rotate the bent bracket against a grinding wheel to give you the rounded corners.
Do a production run since setting up the jigs will take a bunch of time. Doing one may take five minutes, but the second one will be 15 seconds.