Introduction: Reversible Acrylic Hand Holder
This is a hand that can hold stuff for you. You can also pose to make gestures, and you can even turn it into the other hand by reversing it!
Step 1: Bill of Materials
You'll need the following to complete this Instructable:
A 3mm thick acrylic sheet at least the size of an A3 sheet of paper
20x bolts 3mm in diameter, and a shaft at least 12mm long
20x nuts also 3mm in diameter, to go with the bolts
Tape or any adhesive, just in case things go a bit wrong. You never know!
A couple hours. Nothing too lengthy here, but there's a lot of tiny pieces that take time to put together!
Step 2: Cutting
First you'll need to laser cut all the parts on your acrylic sheet. I'm going to assume you already know the proccess, and if you don't, there are many guides online on how to do it. Always make sure with the person running the machine though. I have included a pdf document ready for cutting, as well as the svg, in case any modifications need to be made. Make sure to count the pieces after cutting it, since a lot of them are very very small!
Attachments
Step 3: Building the Fingers, Part 1
In this step we will be assembling the joint highlighted in blue in the first image. Slot the middle stalks of the "I" pieces (highlighted in pink in the second image) into the holes on the "wide H" piece (yellow in the second image), making sure that the tops and bottoms of the "I" pieces align with the edge of the "wide H". Next you want to take the two remaining pieces (blue in the second image) and sandwich the wide H between them. Now you should have something like the second image. If they don't fit too snugly together, then bring out that adhesive and make them stick.
Now make 4 more of these before moving on.
Step 4: Building the Fingers, Part 2
Next we'll be making the segment in green. Join the two shortest pieces together as shown in the second image. Now place two of the remaining pieces and sandwich one of the short pieces between them, like in the thrid image. Do the same for the other side, and you'll have something that should look like the last image.
Note that acrylic sheets can vary in thickness even on the same sheet, so if the pieces here don't fit together well, especially the yellow pieces, take out your adhesive of choice and make them stick.
Like before, repeat this step for the remaining 4 pieces.
Step 5: Assembling the Entire Finger
After you've assembled all of the other segments, all you should have left are these long pieces highlighted in red. This part is where you'll be taking out the nuts and bolts, so be sure to prepare those. Stick those long pieces like in the second and third images, and use the bolts to secure them together. Tighten the nut hard enough so that the joints don't swing loosely.
Step 6: Final Assembly
Take the vaguely-palm-shaped piece and shove the tab on the bottom into the slotted square base, as shown in the first image. Now take one of your completed fingers and align one of the holes of the palm (it doesn't matter which one) with the other holes on the thicker end. Make sure that the thicker end sandwiches the palm hole. Now fit a bolt and tighten the nut so it doesn't swing freely.
Step 7: It's Done!
And there you go! Now your hand is complete and can be handy. Here's an image of the hand being used as a makeshift mouse bungee.