Page 100 - Robot Builder's Bonanza

Chapter 7

Working with Wood

f billionaire Howard Hughes could build the world’s largest powered airplane out of spruce
Iwood, how hard could it be to construct a small robot out of the stuff? Wood may not be
high- tech, but it turns out it’s an ideal building material for hobby robots. Wood is available just
about everywhere, it’s relatively cheap, and it’s easy to work with.
In this chapter, you’ll look at using wood in robots and how you can apply simple wood-
working skills to construct wooden robot bodies and platforms.

Check out Chapter 8, “Build a Motorized Wooden Platform,” for a hands- on project making a
FYI robot base out of wood. This platform can serve as the foundation for a number of robot
designs you may want to explore.

Hardwood Versus Softwood

While there are thousands of types of trees (and, therefore, wood) in the world, only a rela-
tively small handful share the traits that make them ideal for building robots. Wood can be
broadly categorized as hardwood or softwood. The difference is not the hardness of the wood,
but the kind of tree the wood is from.
Hardwood is produced from trees that bear and lose leaves (deciduous), and softwood
trees bear needles (coniferous) or do not undergo seasonal change (nondeciduous). In general,
deciduous trees produce harder and denser woods, but this is not always the case. A common
hardwood that’s very light and soft is balsa, often used in craft projects.

Planks or Ply

Unless you’re Abraham Lincoln, building a robot from lumber hewn from the forests of Ken-
tucky, you’ll most likely purchase milled wood in either plank or laminate (ply) form. (Milling
means it’s cut and formed to size.)
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