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MAKING A COLLAR


Although I already owned a terrific laser-cut collar manufactured by Lorenzo D'Allessandro, I wanted to try my hand at collar making. Besides, I wanted to attach the collar to the torso using the same sort of locking device used on the original hero robot costume. Master robot builder Craig Reinbrecht was kind enough to fabricate for me the three locking clamps, as well as the upper and lower aluminum channel collar rings. The rest was up to me.

I ordered sixty 6-foot lengths of Extruded Acrylic Square Bar, 1/4" square, from McMasters Carr [part number 8728 K13] at $1.21 per 6-foot bar. You can get 6 of 7 collar ribs out of each 6-foot length of bar. I ordered more than I needed to make 108 collar ribs because I knew that I would require a lot of practice before figuring out how to make a perfect rib. At  $1.21 for each 6-foot length, practice is inexpensive and worthwhile.

After making 150 ribs, I finally figured out the correct technique for making perfect ribs, without any bubbles and with a perfect point in the middle. The next 108 ribs were flawless. It only took a few hours to cut the rods into 108 12-inch lengths, wash them, heat them in the oven, and bend them in the jig.

I set the oven to 275 degrees and let the rods heat for about 7 minutes. I noticed that rods in the left side of my oven heated much faster than rods in the right half of the oven. The rods are ready to be molded in the jig when they are floppy like a licorice stick.

After swiftly placing them in the jig, I used the wooden handle of a spatula to push the plastic into the right bend in the middle of the rib jig. This technique assured a perfect shape. Bending the rod by hand prior to placing it in the jig or using my fingers to push the rod into the bend had unsatisfactory results. Only the wooden handle worked to my satisfaction.

The acrylic hardens in about 30 seconds, so one must move quickly.

Next, I cut the ribs down to the correct lengths using another jig. Finally, I glued them into the collar rings using Goop household adhesive. This final phase of the project took a couple of hours at most.

I was delighted with the results! Everyone imagines that the collar is the most difficult part of the robot to make simply because it is so impressive looking. In fact, it is one of the easiest parts to make. Anyone with an oven, a hack saw (and a jig, of course) can make a collar.

Click on thumbnail image to see the full size photograph

Acrylic rods heating in the oven
Rods taking shape in the jig

Finished, though untrimmed, rods stacking up on the dinning room table
The final product