I made some things out of rubbish

[Building Candy]

...which you may want to see I have seen a lot of robots and things made out of junk and wanted to give it a go, most things will be on ebay, although I might keep hold of the rocket guy or build another one.

First up some little robot things out of:

Hard drive parts
some RC car parts
some custome made pieces
light fittings
receptionist bell

They all have switches on their heads and light up eyes.

Then I made some dogs out of tin cans, shoe horns and spoons.

I just now finished a rocket man, made out of old ceiling spotlight fittings, a crap pc mouse, 2 mini pc mice and a lot of leds, wiring and time!

 

[Building Candy]

Thanks guys

im having a bit of trouble with ebay because im listing in the "art sculptures" category or "lighting: other" plus with a name like "robot metal dog sculpture" its not something many people actually search on. I need a shop window to put them in really. Having said that I have sold 2 dogs so far happy with that.

The little robots took around 2-3 hours each. The dogs im able to make in 1 hour and the rocket man took me ages, maybe 20 hours, I had to make an aluminium frame inside the mouse to mount the limbs too, then tuck in 2 x AA battery holder and all the wiring is going through the legs and arms.

 

[Building Candy]

omg someone..... one of you probably just bought all 3 of the little robots!

I'll have to make some more now, yes I can do a built thread in here I suppose.

 

[Building Candy]

Thanks for the suggestions, now I know they will be well received i'll make more! I have some other ideas I havn't made yet.

The dogs are on for - £20
the little robots - £25 each
Rocket man £140

thats a lot because it took way longer to make.

 

[Building Candy]

I hope the listings state batteries not included. Very good!

Ah but batteries ARE included! I am such a good seller!

Very impressive, you are obviously talented! What do you do for a living?

Thanks, small company im at makes ID cards, so a mix of computer stuff and card production. Nothing like this, but thats why I enjoy doing this stuff in my spare time.

These are fantastic, please do make some more! My little brother has always wanted a dog but can't due to a few circumstances, so that little guy is perfect, thank you! Shall look forward to receiving it.

Thank you! you bought my last one, i'll have to make more.

I am only getting the last image?

Images loading ok here..... i think?


Thank you all for the positive feedback here and basically buying everything. I was a little hesitant about posting here and getting a GD bashing but that hasn't happened, so thanks. I'll post up here when I have more stuff made

 

[Building Candy]

If you're making more of those robots I'd quite like one like the first one.

Sure, i'll post in here when I have new stuff made.

They look great, if anything I'd say your prices are a bit low as I imagine it takes a long time to make / clean / list / ship.

Not sure if you've ever seen Money for nothing on BBC1 but there's a guy on there who does stuff like this and sells it for pretty good money: http://www.gizmobots.co.uk/

They always say that they have an electrician test everything though, not sure if that applies to low voltage LED lighting

You should make a store on Etsy, they have cheaper fee's than eBay and the buyers will pay a bit more. Not as big a market but its growing.

I keep a close eye on the time im working on things and price accordingly, thats why the rocket man turned out so expensive. Although it would be half the price without the lights, the wiring took way longer than I expected.

Im sticking to battery powered as I thought selling things that plug into the mains could be a minefield! As it is they run off 2 x AA or AAA's which im hoping will keep me out of trouble.

 

[Building Candy]

It is pretty scary when you work out how much you have to charge when making things yourself, can understand why production for most things gets shipped out to China . They do look awesome though, I'd put the dogs on Etsy for £50 and see who bites. Depends what you want from it really but I'm often surprised by what people will pay for things and its always easier to come down in price than go up

I've looked at lighting safety implications for a project I'm working on myself but I'm still not sure where you stand with modifying low voltage electronics (5v) so I've just tried to keep all the LED lighting as is with no modifications. Electronics just seems to be a minefield of potential liability

Yeh I think I can probably get round it because im not a business, if im a shop selling electronics then it needs to be legit but selling something that takes batteries, listed on ebay as "used" I could have bought it and then be selling it 2nd hand, either way im staying well away from the mains!

 

[Building Candy]

Very impressive, I too think you're probably selling yourself short, how long do the dogs take?

I guess if you start producing more of them, then they'll take less time as you'll be used to the process etc.

Yes exactly right, the first one took me a day of faffing about and trying different sized cans, spoons to get the proportions right. Now if I have the right bits and plenty of tea I can make a dog in about an hour.

 

[Building Candy]

Hello people, I have made another run of dogs and 2 new little robot guys. I will be putting them on ebay soon.

They all look so happy!

First one has a sort of grabber dealy and a spiny gun thing, the 2nd has a grabber and I was going for a flame thrower? I ended up spending way too long making bits like the little gas bottle thing, rather than reusing stuff I had.

 

[Building Candy]

Any cats in the plans?

If I sell all the dogs im defo going to look at it yes

 

[Building Candy]

Thanks guys, really appreciate the feedback , love the can-ines name lol.

Dogs are on ebay: www.ebay.co.uk/itm/192761397992

Robots are on too now: www.ebay.co.uk/itm/192781580366

 

[Building Candy]

Still loving your work!

These robots took longer to make than the last ones?

yeh im getting more ideas as I go along, but I find myself having to make parts to get what I want rather than just sticking parts together lego style.

 

[Building Candy]

Thanks chaps, yes they sold pretty quick, im working on more robots at the moment, the weathers keeping me from going to fast though, its a bit chilly in my garage.

Awesome. You don't do requests by any chance do you?

I'll listen to an idea

 

[Building Candy]

I was thinking about an Android, as in Google's mobile OS little character.

in metal, like a shiney one? thats an idea, I might look into that.

 

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Thank you , yes I have 1 made and am working on another, i'll put them up in here when there both done.

 

[Building Candy]

Dog just arrived. It's just as good in the flesh (well, metal).
Definitely be interested in anything else you put up for sale...

I've bought a dog from you, thought my wife would like it. She loves the robots more so will have to get one when you're ready again

Thanks thats great news! Im glad you like them, means a lot to me.

I have a couple of dogs left.

I have 1 new little robot made and 2 more half done.

A couple of people have said about making the Android robot, so I will be making a few of these in polished and brushed finish aluminium, but that will be a few weeks, I need to have a think about how to do them

 

[Building Candy]

Well, they certainly are popular: Those two didn't last long before they went!

Came back home now, doh

.......... I'll definitely be interested if another batch of these appear. Either way though, top work and inventiveness.

I've bought a dog from you, thought my wife would like it. She loves the robots more so will have to get one when you're ready again

..............Definitely be interested in anything else you put up for sale...

Amazing work, love those little robots so would definitely be interested in one of those

Hello people, trying to be fair to everyone here so im going to put these on a regular auction rather than a buy it now. I'll put them on ebay sunday night.

Made 3 this time:

Red eyes: looks a bit grumpy

Blue eyes: has a choppy thing and a chainsaw.

White eyes: Toasty flame thrower exterminator.

 

[Building Candy]

Sorry, didnt realise I wasnt allowed to put ebay links in.

Will the red one still open beer bottles if asked nicely?

Well spotted

Got anything cat related?

No, I might do at some point, im working on the android robot next.

 

[Building Candy]

Android robot time!

I was planning to make this about 12cm high, but the bar and tube would have been about £40 alone! So im going for a more reasonable 8cm ish high.

Got some thick wall tube and some bar, 45mm diameter.

Cut and turned the body down to the right length

cut a shoulder into it for the gap between the head and the body.

onto the head, hacksawed it to size and then flatten it on the lathe

cut a shoulder on that so it sits inside the tube body.

drilled and taped the middle so I can hold the head on from the bottom.

Holding the head the other way round, trying to dome the head as best I can roughly

adding a bit of thread to hold it lower down so I can shape the whole thing, looks like a wastegate!

slowing the lathe down a bit and shaping it by hand, a bit dodgy but not too bad.

and left with something like this

only a rough finish on it so far, but the fit is good

more tomorrow

 

[Building Candy]

Superb, love it. Is that a work lathe or do you own it?

You don't see much fitting & turning nowadays. Always a pleasure to see the art still being used.

Im very fourtunate to have an awesome space in my garage for my car and a little workshop.