Sensor Array Mounts Part Two

July 17, 2025July 17, 2025 Lutin

This is our working solution for making secure sensor array mounts for our robots. Because the first one failed, we made many changes based on what worked well and what didn’t.

Please note, this material is provided for informational purposes only and is not a guide on how to create the designs. Please take a look at our disclaimer.

The Video below shows us making a model for the sensors.

Now we pour silicon over the clay model to make a model.

Once the silicon is dry we removed the clay model.

To get the metal finish we mix in brown dye and copper pounder into the resin then put it into the cast.

It you look closely you can see the resin flowing as it dries.

We carefully remove the resin from the molds.

‘A bit of light sanding finishes it off.

Now we attach the sensors.

Finically, Number Three has a stable sensor mount!

Happy creating!

Sensor Array Mounts Part One

July 10, 2025July 13, 2025 Lutin

To make a sensor array mount for the robot, we wanted to try using resin molds. This experiment did not work as intended, but we wanted to share how our experiment went and maybe find a use for the resin pieces in the future. Here is a link to our working solution.

Please note, this material is provided for informational purposes only and is not a guide on how to create the designs. Please take a look at our disclaimer.

First, we laid out our basic design of the sensor array mount using square wooden dowels. Then we traced the design using a markers on a piece of plywood to help guide us later.

Next, we glued the dowels together using hot glue to create a frame. We made sure the joints were tight and leak proof so the resin wouldn’t spill out.

Then we glued the mold to the plywood and put an extra layer of hot glue on the outside. We lined everything with a mixture of one part vegetable oil and one part dish soap to help the resin would separate from the mold. Then we poured the resin into the mold.

We store the mold in a secure location making sure it was laying flat.

While the process did give us a cast, the mold had to be destroyed to get the resin out. The homemade releasing agent did not work, and caused the clear resin to turn green and oily. The design also ended up not aligning as well as we needed. For making resin molds, we recommend not using dish soap or vegetable oil because it will interfere with the resin’s color and make it oily and sticky even after it dries. However, it did make it easy to separate the resin from the mold. We also learned to not make the mold out of wood. Back to the drawing board!

Happy Creating!

Shapeshifting Toy Robots Part 2

June 5, 2025July 13, 2025 Lutin

Here are some of our old creations that we forgot to post about. These are some of our wooden shapeshifting robots, inspired by Transformers.

Please note, this material is provided for informational purposes only and is not a guide on how to create the designs. Please take a look at our disclaimer.

Making these do not require a lot of materials. you just need six rubber bands, four lego car wheels, and a small piece of wood.

First, measure and cut two small pieces of wood to be the outside of the car and the legs. Measure and drill two holes that the lego wheels will fit securely in. Make sure that you leave enough space in between the holes for the wheels to fit.

Attach two of the wheels and cut the piece to the right size. Repeat to make another leg, making sure that the wheels on both legs align.

Next, cut two arms and drill small holes in the top that can fit a rubber band.

Cut a small body out of wood that

Now time for assembly!

Here is one robots in alt mode.

Both robots transformed

Front view.

Happy Creating!

Wooden Graduation Hat Charms

May 28, 2025July 29, 2025 Lutin

Graduation time is upon us and what better way to celebrate than creating something fun. For this year’s celebration we are making wooden graduation hat charms. This design is straightforward and suitable for all ages.

Please note, this material is provided for informational purposes only and is not a guide on how to create the designs. Please take a look at our disclaimer.

This first step is lots of cutting. We cut the tops of the hats from thin sheets of plywood. Cut each square to is 3/4th of an inch on both sides.

The bottom of the hats were cut from square bars that we spoke shaved into a circle 1/2 inch wide.

After cutting and spoke shaving, sand the tops and sides as smooth as possible using different grades of sand paper. To make the charms smooth enough to look like a real cloth hat will require a repeated sanding.

After the tops are well sanded, start sanding the bottoms.

To align the tops with the bottoms while glueing, we drew cross on the bottom of the circles and the squares. Align the crosses to center the circles.

We used a flat black water based paint and applied two coats.

Here are some of the hats with the final coat.

Next, attach the eye-hole screws to the top. The eye-hole screws will let people hang the charm.

We recommend starting a hole for the eye-hole screw by using a small jewelry drill or very thin nail to make screwing the screws in easier. However, you can also screw them in without using a starter hole.

Take your time putting in the screws. If they break off they can be very hard to get out. Make extra hats and practice on scrap wood first. The main trick is to go slow and use as little force as possible.

The tassels are made from golden thread and are the hardest part. To make a tassel, first lay down a few strings then lay a long string on top of them in the middle. Tie the long string to the middle of them, which will be the string that the tassels hang on. Finally, tie a short string near the top of the bunch to separate the tassel into two parts. Tassels can be very hard to make, and you might need lots of practice.

Now just tie the tassel to the eye-hole screws and you are done! You can also add a keyring onto the graduation hats to make them into a keychain.

Happy Creating!

Wood Carvings: Rabbit

May 22, 2025July 29, 2025 Lutin

Our workshop is littered with dismantled robots, failed contractions, forgotten monsters and lots of little wood cravings. This is an older carving of a rabbit that we found in a dusty corner. Like with many of our creations, we do not have photos of how it was made but typically we first cut a rough shape out using a Japanese saw. Once we got the basic form we used wood carving tools to get the details right. And then lots and lots of sanding.

Carved toy Bunny

The design was minimalistic rabbit inspired by ancient totems. We realized to capture a rabbit all you need is the rabbit’s ears and tail. Carved toy Bunny

A close up of the tail.

Carved toy Bunny

We craved the ears flat because many of our earlier raving ended up with broken ears.

Carved toy Bunny

This was a very rewarding and simple project.

Happy creating!

Wand Making

April 3, 2025April 2, 2025 Lutin

At the beginning of the Covid pandemic, we wanted to create magic for ourselves and our friends and hone our wood crafting skills. After much debate, we settled on wand making.

Our yard in the San Francisco, CA has several trees and shrubs that require routine maintenance. Over the years, we carefully trimmed and stored the best branches for future use. One of our more numerous shrubs is boxwood and we have a large birch tree which both provide great material for wand making.

Please note, this material is provided for informational purposes only and is not a guide on how to create the designs. Please take a look at our disclaimer.

The three essential tools for wand making are:

Saw (we prefer a single-edge Japanese Pull Saw)
Vice mounted securely on a table
Spokeshave

Selecting the perfect branch can be hard and a lot depends on what sort of wand you are looking for. When selecting a branch to turn into a wand, make sure that it is not too green or too dry. Also, you want the branch’s width to be wider than you want at the start. Spokeshaving takes off more material than you would imagine. Straighter branches are easier, but we prefer ones that curve slightly to make the wand more interesting. Many pieces of wood also have natural handles that works great on the wand.

When cutting the wand make sure to not cut it too short, once you start crafting the ends you may find you need to trim it a bit more.

Wooden cut for making wands

Once you have trimmed the branch it is time to prepare it for spokeshaving.

To prepare for spokeshaving the wands, cure them in a mixture of water, dishwasher soap, and a little oil. Soak them for at least two days depending on how dry the wood was to begin with. If the wood is too dry it can by difficult to charge and split when spokeshaving. After two days of soaking, take the wands out of the solution, wipe them dry and store them in a cool dry place for at least one day to dry out. If your wood starts out very wet, you should not soak the wood and instead leave it to dry out for a bit.

Our technique for wand making involves lots of spokeshaving to shape the wand. The best thing about spokeshaving is it is great for all ages. Kids as young at six can spokeshave simple branches and adults can find it very rewarding after a long day at work.

When spokeshaving make sure not to cut into the wood. This can happen if the blade is not aligned correctly or your use too aggressive of an angle. If you do cut into the wood, we recommend not trying to smooth out the grove with the spokeshave. Instead, use a craving tool to widen the grove before returning to spokeshaving, or use a rasp to smooth it out. When spoke shaving it is best to use as little strength as possible and get into a rhythm to make the tooling as consistent as possible.

Once the wand is in the shape you want then move on to shaping the ends.

After years of practice we find repeated passes with a spokeshave can get the tip to the shape we prefer. You can use a carving knife as well, but with harder wood it can require a lot more force.

Sanding a wooden wand

After you get the shape and look you want move onto sanding. For wands sanding is really important. The wand needs a well-finished, smooth surface or it just will not feel right. Use multiple grades of sandpaper starting with the lowest grade sandpaper and ending with the finest.

Using wood stain on wands

Once the wand has the feel you want start applying the stain. Make sure to apply the stain in an open and well ventilated space. Remember, staining your wands will take multiple days, so you need a place where the wands will be safe and protected from rain or harsh sun. We stain our wands outside under our porch.

Above is a long line of wands after staining. Since it can take weeks to complete one wand we usually have several in the works at a given time. We also sand the wand after staining them because staining can make the wood feel rougher. Sanding can also give the wands an older look.

Waxing a wooden wand

After the last coat of stain has dried, apply beeswax to add another layer of protection and to give it a well-used feel. You want to wand to feel old and magical. This can require multiple coats of beeswax applied over several days depending on the condition of the wood.

Polishing the wands

The last step is to polish the wand using a rag or a bit of leather. We found leather does a great job getting a well-worn, ancient looking patina.

Now your wands are ready for use and harness the magic within!

Happy creating!

Carved Wooden Seals

February 25, 2025February 25, 2025 Lutin

These are old carvings that we forgot to post. We were inspired by the Chinese wax seals and wanted to practice wood carving, so we decided to make our own unique wooden seals.

Please note, this material is provided for informational purposes only and is not a guide on how to create the designs. Please take a look at our disclaimer.

Chinese wax seals

Here are some of our favorite seals. Most were purchased at a little store in the middle of San Francisco’s China Town right off of post street.

Crafted WaxSeals Alligator Inspired by Claude the Alligator, we decided to make an alligator seal. Its tail curves behind it and opens its jaws wide. The stamp would go on the bottom.

Crafted WaxSeals Alligator

This is the side view, where is shows off its tiny feet. There is some texture on the tail to replicate an alligator’s scales. At first the tail was indicated with a shallow grove but the carving was hard to make out or we opted to cut a slot to highlight the tai more clearly.

Crafted WaxSeals, Cat

This is the other wooden seal, which is a cat. The cat is perched on top of a wooden column, with its tail curved down the side.

Crafted WaxSeals, Cat

This carving captures the shape of a cat, with its pointed ears and curved body. We tied a red string around its neck like a collar to add a pop of color.

At the bottom of the seal, we added a stamp. We made the stamp out of an eraser and carved on the ancient Chinese character for ocean.

Here are the two wooden seals together!

Happy Creating!

Cosplay Dragon Tail

March 30, 2024August 4, 2025 Lutin

One thing we have always been jealous of is tails. Cats and dogs flaunt them as they strut around waving them in the air. So when making our dragon costume, we wanted a moving dragon tail that seemed alive. Not a dead tail, but one that had a personality of its own.

We searched through our past builds and thought the joint work on our little wooden robots would do the job. We also so some cool designs on the web like this one.

Please note, this material is provided for informational purposes only and is not a guide on how to create the designs. Please read our disclaimer.

Parts needed to build a cosplay, wooden, flexible tail.

This build just needed some wood, bolts, wood glue, rubber bands and lots of duct tape.

sistering two wooden dowels

Since we wanted the tail segments to interlocked, we glued two pieces of 2X2 wooden dowels together. Be careful not to put too much wooden glue, it just needs a thin coat. Make sure to give it two days to dry, you don’t want it to come apart when you start cutting.

Measure out the segments carefully. You can vary the lengths depending on what look you are going for. We went with four inches length on the top part and one inch slots on the backside.

Here is a view of the final design. Each segment will have the same “hat” shape.

Each hat will fit together in an alternation pattern. We tried making the segment in “z-shape” but it did not move as organically as the “hat-shape”.

After carefully measuring, we used our drill press to drill the holes. Try to make a tight fit for the bolts. If the holes are too big, the tail may stick over time as the bolt cuts into the wood.

Now it is time to assemble! It fits together like puzzle pieces. Make sure to put bees wax on the segments to protect the wood.

Now on to the belt for the dragon tail. To create a base for the tail, we used cardboard and high grade duct tape. An earlier build with standard duct tape did not last very long. First cut out a piece of cardboard about 5 by 8 to help guide you as you “weave” the duct tape. The cardboard does not provide any real support but just helps you remember the shape. The bigger the base, the more stable the tail will be.

Weave strips of duct tape alternating between vertical and horizontal directions. You want to use several layer, enough that it can support the tail.

Next careful cut four slits in the base for the belts. We recommend two belts but one top belt can work too. We used camping stapes for the belts with fast release clips to making taking the tail on and off easy. Here is another design that we borrowed elements from.

Next punch two holes in the base for the bolts to secure the L-braces. The L-braces will attach the tail to the belt. Use big washers when attaching the L-braces to prevent them from twisting into the duct-tape.

Now, attach the tail using four wood screws. Use small screws and drill guide holes, you do not want to split the wood.

Top view of a cosplay, wooden, flexible tail.

Finally, add two rubber bands at the base to give it some life, and your tail is ready!

Back of a cosplay, wooden, flexible tail.

Here is a back view showing how the base looks when completed.

Two cosplay, wooden, flexible tails side by side.

Here are both dragon tails completed!

Happy Creating!

Making of Number Six and Number Seven

October 7, 2023November 15, 2023 Lutin

After finishing Number three, we wanted to make smaller and lighter walking robots. Leveraging what we had learned from building our first walking robot, we made two mini robots, Number Six and Number Seven!

Please note, this material is provided for informational purposes only and is not a guide on how to create the designs. Please read our disclaimer.

Because we had a completed robot design it was easy to make sure we had all the parts we needed before beginning. Since Number Six and Number Seven were smaller we were able to spend about the same amount of money but use lighter steal parts. We hoped the reduced weight would make for better walking performance.

making a robot

The steal tubes also had bolt threads as apposed to pipe threads. Pipe threads are “V” shaped which made it difficult to get a piece tightened pointing the correct direction. With bolt threads we could use a nuts to tighten the connection between the tube and the pivot joints however they were positioned.

Working as a team the assembling went fast and in less than a day we had the beginnings of two robot. One trick we have learned is to use the floor as an assembling space. We are cramped for space and using step stools can be tricky in a workshop so the floor tends to be safer.

Here is a completed frame. It cannot stand yet and has to be held up. Here we had the initial knee designs. The knee design was important when we were developing the first walker. Later we switched to a tube in the piston rod that acted more like a spring to prevent the leg from over extending. What is critical in our approached is letting the robot fall forward but stop the fall before the robot is in a position it cannot recover from. The sister team learned this trick from a class at school where the teacher said when humans walk forward it is more like a controlled fall.

Now we start on installing the air pistons. We had to repeat this process many time because we kept switching around to position of the pistons and the direction of the air tube couplings. If the pistons are not the same on both side the robot will veer to one side and if the coupling are facing apposing ways the tubing becomes impossible to arrange. We have found facing the coupling up is typically the best orientation.

We did have to modify the piston attachment by removing the peg. This did require a parent’s help as the clip that secured the peg was difficult to remove without breaking it.

Next we began attaching the pneumatic air tubes. When measuring make sure to know were the pneumatic solenoid valve will be attached and account for the full movement of the legs. It is best to do one tube, test it, then do the opposites side. We found as we added tubes we had to change the initial lay of of the tubes. The tube work is a bit of an art form much like wiring a control unit.

Here is a close up of the all the piston installed.

Here is another view of the tubing being fitted and a close up of the pneumatic solenoid valve. Make sure to do clean, straight cuts with a sharp scissors to assure not leakage when attaching to the couplings.

Here is a front view of a completed design for Number Six and Number Seven. For testing we used a leather book strap so we could reposition the components as needed. We also tested a number of different air pumps. This pump, which we did not use in the final design, was the quietest and used the least amount of power. Latter, we switched to another model because this model kept shutting off after prolonged use.

Like with other designed we used a garage door remote controller because it reverse polarity to the pneumatic solenoid valve which switches the air flow from one leg to the other enabling the robot to walk. It is the small black box in the center of the robot.

The battery we secure to the underside for protection (the light blue box under Number Six). Instead of doing lead acid battery for Number Six and Number seven, we switched to a 12V 6Ah Lithium Iron Phosphate Battery from our lead-acid battery due to it much lighter weight and increased amps.

Here is Number Six walking in our yard.

Here is Number Seven walking in our workshop.

Steampunk DIY walking robots

And here we have all three robots, Number Five, Number Six, and Number Seven going for a walk together! The larger robot is Number Three. Number Seven is in front and Number Six is on the left.

Happy creating!

Making Mandrake Roots

September 10, 2023October 14, 2024 Lutin

Inspired by the character Professor Sprout (from Harry Potter) and this wonderful article, we set out to make our mandrake root for Halloween.

Please note, this material is provided for informational purposes only and is not a guide on how to create the designs. Please read our disclaimer.

Mandrake roots are a mythical plant that has a root that looks like a person. They scream when they get pulled out of the ground, and hearing the screams can knock you out, or even kill you. They are featured in Harry Potter, but were invented before that. For more information, go to the article above.

For our mandrake roots, we used a type of foam-like clay called Foam-Mo. Foam-mo is really useful for making organic details like plants and animals. It air-drys and can be painted, but has to be sprayed with a plastic spray, or else it will disintegrate. We recommend using several layers of the under-coat spray for maximum protection. We painted the mandrakes with acrylic paint.

DIY mandrake root

Make sure to use a nonporous surface for a build table or the Foam-Mo will stick to it once it dries. We used old cutting boards.

To make the mandrakes, we made ovals for the head and body, and tubes for the legs. We also rolled out thinner tubes for the tree branches and flattened small diamond shapes for the leaves. We used a pencil to made the lines in the leaves and to make the eyes, lines on the body, and the mouth. Remember, no two mandrakes are the same, so make them all slightly different.

Foam-mo is pretty delicate, so we needed to be careful when attaching stuff. To make it hold it’s shape, we used stuff to prop up the mandrake roots while they were drying. to make the edged look like roots, we gently pulled out thin strands of Foam-Mo at the end of all of the limbs.

After the Foam-Mo dries, we sprayed it with a plastic spray and painted it with acrylic paint. We painted them all slightly different shades of brown and green.

Please DO NOT water your mandrake, even if they tell you to! They are definitely not waterproof.

Happy creating!