Hexabot: Build a heavy duty six-legged robot!

Step 3 Cut and drill the metal

After procuring the metal, you can begin cutting and drilling the various components, which is a pretty time consuming task.

Begin by cutting they following quantities and lengths of steel tubing:

1" x 1"
- Frame rails: 4 pieces 40" long
- Leg linkages: 6 pieces 24" long
- Center cross member: 1 piece 20" long
- Cross members: 8 pieces 18" long
- Motor supports: 2 pieces 8" long

2" x 1"
- Legs: 6 pieces 24" long
- Leg supports: 4 pieces 6 " long

After cutting the steel tubing, mark and drill the holes according to the drawings provided in this step (the drawings are also available with the CAD files in Step 1). The first drawing provides the hole locations and sizes for Leg supports and Motor support. The second drawing provides the hole sizes and locations for the Legs and Leg linkages.

*Note* The hole sizes in these drawings are the close fit sizes for 3/4" and 1/2" bolts, 49/64" and 33/64", respectively. I found though, that just using 3/4" and 1/2" drill bits make better holes. The fit is still loose enough to insert the bolts easily, but tight enough to eliminate a lot of slop in the joints, making for a very stable robot.