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Step 2Materials Used
I've tried to document all items that went into the costumes but I may be missing a thing or two...
Materials we used:
.032" 5052 Aluminum sheeting @ $0.00 - Used for the body and head pieces. Material remnants laying around at my work.
18GA (.048") cold rolled steel @ $0.00 - Used for the formed angle corner braces & trim pieces (I planned on using 20GA but couldn't find any scrap laying around. The 18GA added a bunch of unnecessary weight and I may re-make those parts from 20 or 22GA for another Halloween.) Material remnants laying around at my work.
.250" 5052 aluminum @ $0.00 - The claws. Material remnants laying around at my work.
(4) Aluminum Mini Round Wall Louvers McMaster part # 2016K4 @ $1.16ea - The ears on the robot heads.
(250+) .125" Aluminum Pop Rivets McMaster part # 97447A310 @ $8.24/250 - I thought this would be enough but bought another pack at Harbor Freight to be safe. We probably used about 275-300 rivets. (I also bought a rivet gun at Harbor Freight but this is a long term tool that isn't just for these costumes so I'm not counting it as part of my budget. You can get a rivet gun for as little as $5.00 but I sprung for a nicer model that would also install riv-nuts.)
(12) Steel Extension Spring McMaster part # 9654K14 @ $7.00/12 pk - These are attached to the claws to spring them open.
(1) Propane gas feed tube from an old BBQ @ $0.00 - This made an excellent antenna for the robot man costume.
(4) Galvanized Ducting 4" diameter X 6.5" length @ approx $3.00 from Lowes - These were used to house the claw hand mechanism.
(1) 25' package of 4" diameter dryer ducting @ approx $17.00 from Lowes - We used less than half the package to make four arms.
(1) Old AMD K6 computer @ $0.00 - Scavenged old dead antiquated computer for accent pieces. Used motherboard, K6 chip, an e-prom chip, heat sink, cooling fan, front control panel (with a turbo button!!!), LEDs, power sockets, miscelaneous plug ins, power wiring bits, and an IDE cable.
(1) changing color LED power button from a CPU case @ $0.00 - My old computer at work had a failing power button. After a computer upgrade, this little gem landed on my desk courtesy of our IT guy. It made a nice addition to the front of the robot girl costume.
(4) Old dead laser focusing lenses @ $0.00 - This is the part that inspired me to build robot costumes. I have looked at these for a number of years and thought they would make the best eyes for a robot. We had a box of lenses that had been phased out and replaced with a new style collecting dust at my work. They add a special touch to the heads.
(4) LED puck lights @ $6.99/4 pk from Fred Meyer - I was looking around the flashlight section for something to light up the robots eyes. I found the LED lights and they looked like the ticket. When I got them home, I found that they fit perfectly inside the lenses. Some free wavy blue plastic sheeting was cut into circles and used inside the robot girl eyes to give them a more friendly look.
(5) feet of .375" diameter split plastic wire housing @ $0.00 - We used this to protect our arms and necks from the sheet metal edge. Sections were also used for accent pieces on the robot backs.
(2) Old broken bike helmets @ approx. $20-30 each when new - We both had helmets that were past their prime for protecting our heads in bike crashes. Some quick work with a hand saw after removing the plastic skin allowed the helmets to fit nicely into the robot heads. These could be considered practically free since they had years of use for their intended purpose. They both would have been trashed eventually since they were cracked.
(1.9) yards of silvery pleated fabric @ $7.00/yard bought last minute at 60% clearance sale of Halloween stuff from Jo-Ann Fabrics - This fabric was the perfect match to the drier ducting but unfortunately this was the last of it. There wasn't quite enough to cover the legs of the robot man. The girl robot is only covered up to the knees where the skirt takes over.
(4) buttons & light covers from old CNC controllers @ $0.00 - These were scavenged from parts bins at my work from antiquated CNC controllers that had been parted out to make more shop space. We used two red light covers for the robot man and a red & green button for the robot woman for accent pieces.
(1) panel mount toggle switch @ approx $3.00 from unknown source - This came in a multi pack of car wiring supplies and had been laying around for years. Time to put it to good use for powering up the lights on the girl robot body.
(1) 4 AAA battery holder @ $1.99 from Radio Shack - Power supply for the girl robot body lights. (this may need to be switched out for a 2 AA battery holder.)
(4) Magnet cabinet door catches @ $1.09/ea. from Lowes - The display model in the store had a very strong magnet but the ones I got home with were pretty weak. These were intended to hold the backs on the costumes which did work for a short time. During a trial run of moving around in the costume, the girl robot back fell off and could have injured my girlfriend if it caught her calf on the way down. Wood floors would also pay the price if the back fell indoors. We aired on the side of caution and drilled holes for wire tying the backs on for our party. We actually bought (8) total but the unopened ones will be returned or used for home projects.
We also bought about $15.00 in miscellaneous nuts, bolts, screws for the claw hands.
All materials for the robot girl skirt were free and included cardboard, nuts, bolts, washers, and a can of silver spray paint.
Other miscellaneous materials include loads of duct tape, 1" dowel rod for handles inside the claw hands, electrical wire, crimp connectors, key chain rings for the claw hand mechanism, some upholstery foam, and maybe some other odds & ends I'm forgetting.
Materials we used:
.032" 5052 Aluminum sheeting @ $0.00 - Used for the body and head pieces. Material remnants laying around at my work.
18GA (.048") cold rolled steel @ $0.00 - Used for the formed angle corner braces & trim pieces (I planned on using 20GA but couldn't find any scrap laying around. The 18GA added a bunch of unnecessary weight and I may re-make those parts from 20 or 22GA for another Halloween.) Material remnants laying around at my work.
.250" 5052 aluminum @ $0.00 - The claws. Material remnants laying around at my work.
(4) Aluminum Mini Round Wall Louvers McMaster part # 2016K4 @ $1.16ea - The ears on the robot heads.
(250+) .125" Aluminum Pop Rivets McMaster part # 97447A310 @ $8.24/250 - I thought this would be enough but bought another pack at Harbor Freight to be safe. We probably used about 275-300 rivets. (I also bought a rivet gun at Harbor Freight but this is a long term tool that isn't just for these costumes so I'm not counting it as part of my budget. You can get a rivet gun for as little as $5.00 but I sprung for a nicer model that would also install riv-nuts.)
(12) Steel Extension Spring McMaster part # 9654K14 @ $7.00/12 pk - These are attached to the claws to spring them open.
(1) Propane gas feed tube from an old BBQ @ $0.00 - This made an excellent antenna for the robot man costume.
(4) Galvanized Ducting 4" diameter X 6.5" length @ approx $3.00 from Lowes - These were used to house the claw hand mechanism.
(1) 25' package of 4" diameter dryer ducting @ approx $17.00 from Lowes - We used less than half the package to make four arms.
(1) Old AMD K6 computer @ $0.00 - Scavenged old dead antiquated computer for accent pieces. Used motherboard, K6 chip, an e-prom chip, heat sink, cooling fan, front control panel (with a turbo button!!!), LEDs, power sockets, miscelaneous plug ins, power wiring bits, and an IDE cable.
(1) changing color LED power button from a CPU case @ $0.00 - My old computer at work had a failing power button. After a computer upgrade, this little gem landed on my desk courtesy of our IT guy. It made a nice addition to the front of the robot girl costume.
(4) Old dead laser focusing lenses @ $0.00 - This is the part that inspired me to build robot costumes. I have looked at these for a number of years and thought they would make the best eyes for a robot. We had a box of lenses that had been phased out and replaced with a new style collecting dust at my work. They add a special touch to the heads.
(4) LED puck lights @ $6.99/4 pk from Fred Meyer - I was looking around the flashlight section for something to light up the robots eyes. I found the LED lights and they looked like the ticket. When I got them home, I found that they fit perfectly inside the lenses. Some free wavy blue plastic sheeting was cut into circles and used inside the robot girl eyes to give them a more friendly look.
(5) feet of .375" diameter split plastic wire housing @ $0.00 - We used this to protect our arms and necks from the sheet metal edge. Sections were also used for accent pieces on the robot backs.
(2) Old broken bike helmets @ approx. $20-30 each when new - We both had helmets that were past their prime for protecting our heads in bike crashes. Some quick work with a hand saw after removing the plastic skin allowed the helmets to fit nicely into the robot heads. These could be considered practically free since they had years of use for their intended purpose. They both would have been trashed eventually since they were cracked.
(1.9) yards of silvery pleated fabric @ $7.00/yard bought last minute at 60% clearance sale of Halloween stuff from Jo-Ann Fabrics - This fabric was the perfect match to the drier ducting but unfortunately this was the last of it. There wasn't quite enough to cover the legs of the robot man. The girl robot is only covered up to the knees where the skirt takes over.
(4) buttons & light covers from old CNC controllers @ $0.00 - These were scavenged from parts bins at my work from antiquated CNC controllers that had been parted out to make more shop space. We used two red light covers for the robot man and a red & green button for the robot woman for accent pieces.
(1) panel mount toggle switch @ approx $3.00 from unknown source - This came in a multi pack of car wiring supplies and had been laying around for years. Time to put it to good use for powering up the lights on the girl robot body.
(1) 4 AAA battery holder @ $1.99 from Radio Shack - Power supply for the girl robot body lights. (this may need to be switched out for a 2 AA battery holder.)
(4) Magnet cabinet door catches @ $1.09/ea. from Lowes - The display model in the store had a very strong magnet but the ones I got home with were pretty weak. These were intended to hold the backs on the costumes which did work for a short time. During a trial run of moving around in the costume, the girl robot back fell off and could have injured my girlfriend if it caught her calf on the way down. Wood floors would also pay the price if the back fell indoors. We aired on the side of caution and drilled holes for wire tying the backs on for our party. We actually bought (8) total but the unopened ones will be returned or used for home projects.
We also bought about $15.00 in miscellaneous nuts, bolts, screws for the claw hands.
All materials for the robot girl skirt were free and included cardboard, nuts, bolts, washers, and a can of silver spray paint.
Other miscellaneous materials include loads of duct tape, 1" dowel rod for handles inside the claw hands, electrical wire, crimp connectors, key chain rings for the claw hand mechanism, some upholstery foam, and maybe some other odds & ends I'm forgetting.
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