Wood robots have been hitting my Pinterest feed for a long time now. I always just scroll past them because I have other projects going on. But this time, I couldn't help myself! I'm in between projects, and this is one that I get to hang on to and maybe put in my office or something. Plus, if everything goes to plan, it should be a nice, quick project before something else pops up!
So, I've been seeing all these generic wood robots pop up on my Pinterest feed. They have some unique features, but not unique enough. I don't want to make just any robot. I like to make projects for myself that have some sort of attachment. So, why not make my favorite little robot of all time?
I loved Invader Zim when I was a kid. It had a bit of adult humor in it, and I think that's why I enjoyed it. More specifically, I loved "Gir" from the show. Anyone who has watched the show knows that Gir is Zim's incompetent robot assistant. He is of no assistance, basically denying all orders and doing whatever he wants all day. But, he was pieced together from trash and discarded machinery. His incompetence does produce some pretty hilarious situations and one-liners. He's one of my all-time faves.
Let's get started!
This is the reference photo I used to make Gir. Obviously, the idea is to take him from 2D paper to 3D model. This was just to make sure his dimensions are appropriate when it's all said and done.
I broke Gir down to his components so I can have a good plan of exactly what I need moving forward. The other challenge is that he is rounded and I will need to use different wood thicknesses for the different body parts. The goal with this project is to use only what I have in scraps. Let's see if I can do it!
His head in the model is about 4" wide, so I glued together 2 small pieces of 2X4. I'll carve and shape that down to the size of his head. His head is huge! I also glued together (2) 3/4" pieces of common board; I figured I could use that thickness for the body for sure. Anything else I need, I'll just use standard 3/4" common board thickness or thinner. I applied wood glue generously and clamped the 2X4 pieces and (2) 3/4" pieces together to dry overnight. I like to give the wood glue at least 24 hours before stressing the joint.
So, now that the glue is dried, I traced the head shape onto both sides of the 4X4 block and cut out a rough shape.
So, this shape is still very rough and very 2D. The corners need to be rounded and shaped to give it that nice, cylindrical look. This required a lot of time on the belt sander!
Grinding it down, little by little!
So, I started with the belt sander to sand down the basic shape and to do a lot of the rounding. Then, I used my palm sander to smooth out the obvious jagged edges and shape it even more. Lastly, I went over the whole piece with 120-grit sandpaper by hand and did a final smoothing. I think it came out pretty good! Very time consuming, and patience is key!
*I should point out that this process would have been a lot easier and a lot more precise with a lathe. I have one, but I have yet to use it. I'm not super comfortable with it to be honest, and it's a little intimidating. One of these days, I'll break it out, but for a bigger project...maybe a furniture piece. But, for little 'ol Gir, sanding it down worked just fine. On to the body parts!
I traced the two eyes, legs and the body onto the 1.5" wide board I clamped together with wood glue. I'll cut each of these pieces out using my scroll saw (like I did with the body above). Then, I'll sand them down and round them out until they are the right shape and size.
The body looks so small compared to that head! It'll be a miracle if this guy can stand up without external supports! His body is a little "wonky," but when you're making a robot that was made out of trash parts, it's okay if he's not perfect!
I attached the head to the body using a thin dowel rod (about 1/4") and some wood glue. It was difficult to get an exact center on these rounded pieces to drill into. I quickly learned that, when drilling the holes using an electric drill, you have to start off with a tiny drill bit and gradually work your way up. This prevents sliding of the drill on the rounded surface.
I let the glue dry overnight and put the head and torso to the side. On to the other, smaller body parts!
The eyes were done using the 1.5" thick board. I had to taper the cylinders down to a smaller circle on one side to get the "telescope" cylindrical look. I used the belt sander for this, with gloves. I also curved the backside of the eyes to match the curve of the head so they will sit more flush to the surface. Now come the legs!
I changed my approach on the legs. The original idea was to cut them out of the 1.5" board and shape them with sanding. Instead, I used a bit of dowel rod I had left over from a previous project; I cut it down to size, and shaped the pieces into cone shapes. This was much easier and provided a more level surface for Gir to stand on. I also drilled 2 holes on the bottom of Gir's torso so the legs can sit in the holes when assembly time comes.
To the arms!
To make the arms, I used 1/4" dowel rod, like I used for the neck. I carved out each of the arms using a box cutter. This route was a lot easier than cutting out a shape using the scroll saw and rounding the edges slowly by sanding. After the rough shape was formed, I sanded the arms down to finish it off.
The arms I made are a little simpler than his arms from the model I used. I think it makes him look more homemade. Now comes his antenna!
I used the same approach with the antenna as I did with the arms. The only thing different is that I went with more of a rounded circle on top of the antenna, whereas the arms have more oval shapes shoulders.
I got a little curious to see if Gir was going to be able to stand on his own, so I tried it out before gluing...
*huge sigh of relief*
Thank goodness. If he's standing before glue, then he'll stand after glue!
As you can see, I had to do some shaving down of the legs to make sure they fit into the torso better for balance purposes. After a quick sanding, they were good to go!
Now, the final piece: the panel on the front of his torso. This was made with a little, thin scrap piece of wood. I sanded it down and rounded the backside so it sits on the torso more evenly.
Okay, now that the pieces are all made, it's time to glue him together!
So, I was able to attach everything except for the arms. I used liquid nails on the eyes, legs and antenna. I used wood glue on the front panel piece. The key and wood pieces are for support so the glued pieces can rest on something while they are drying. I let him dry for at least 24 hours before handling him, just to be on the safe side!
The arms are next!
I used liquid nails on the arms and let them dry overnight. Not super worried about seeing the dried adhesive, because the spray paint will cover it up in the next step. Once he was fully dried, he got a nice wipe-down to remove all saw dust. On to paint!
I decided on Rust-Oleum ultra cover paint and primer in metallic gray. I wanted to make sure that he only needed 1 coat. It was raining outside on this particular day, so I had to paint him in my workshop. I fashioned a little "paint studio" out of an old box. After opening up the windows in my workshop and putting on my mask, I sprayed away!
Once he dried, I took him out and inspected him to make sure I did a thorough job painting. I missed a couple spots on his undersides, so I went over those quickly and touched up a couple spots, all the while being very careful not to make any paint drips. Now, time for the other painted parts.
I used teal acrylic paint for the eyes, chest-plate, shoulders and antenna top. For his mouth, I used acrylic black for his mouth opening and acrylic pink for his tongue.
I could have left him like this; which is perfectly fine. However, I wanted his acrylic parts to have a bit of pop, so I sprayed him down with poly when he was fully dried. This clear coat is also good to make sure his paint doesn't chip or get messed up. Plus, I like to use poly because it's my final step; once poly is on, the project is done!
And VOILA!!
Like I mentioned earlier in the post, this project wasn't made for anyone in particular; it was just a fun project to do in between projects.
Projects like this really allow me to take a break from the pressures of making things for others. When I'm making things as gifts or commissions, I put a lot of pressure on myself to make sure everything is perfect. But when I'm making things for myself, I take risks and try things that I wouldn't necessarily try for the first time on a commission. But, as I get more comfortable using some of these methods through trial and error on these "no pressure" opportunities, it expands my confidence and my willingness to work these methods into my gifts.
This is the first project that I've done with this amount of wood sanding and shaping. I even got to do some wood carving! And I'm really happy with how he turned out! AND I used only what I had in scraps and didn't have to buy a thing! Mission accomplished!
"Gir, Reporting for Duty!"
-Kevin
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