robothut Posted June 13, 2008 Share Posted June 13, 2008 I know this topic has been covered before but I can't find it. Also I know some Alphadromer offered to lasor cut special clear plastic devices that could be placed under your robots feet to keep them from going flat over the years. But again I can't find the thread. So I am starting a new thread on this topic and anyone finds the other threads please feel free to add links here.Basicly I found a few robots in my collection getting flat wheels. My robots have always been displayed on Glass so there is no chemical reation going on here with the shelf material. I decided that I would like to support the base of some of my robots with clear glass inserts. First thing I thought of was Microscope glass slides, they are dirt cheep and come in several sizes. They are thin so you have to sandwich a few together with a drop of supper glue. I found that for most robots the small 1 inch by 1.9 inch ( 1 inch by 2 inch basicly) worked best for me. I made siports for my Mechanized robots and the Ray Rhor Robbys and this only take 2 slides glued to gether with a very smal drop of supper glue, then put one of these under each foot. The thunder robots required me to glue 3 slides together to get enough lift to keep the wheels off the ground. I payed under 4 bucks for 76 slides and the price goes down if you order larger amounts. Now I found that some of my bump and go robots are getting flat wheels so I plane to find a cheep lift for them as well. Since they require more lift I am thinking maybe there is a glass bead out there that might work or a very small ceramic tile that would sit under there. Will keep you posted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaxPower Posted June 13, 2008 Share Posted June 13, 2008 Just two nights ago, I was falling off to sleep when the thought occured to me that I hadn't checked the condition of my displayed robots' feet for a long time. Then I fell asleep and forgot all about it! Thanks for the reminder :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morbius Posted June 13, 2008 Share Posted June 13, 2008 I generally move the 'bots around and spin/rotate their rollers maybe once a month or more if I'm in the cabinets for whatever reason (of course I don't have 3500 of them to move about so it's not much time consumed). The first ones I noticed getting flat spots on the rollers were the TOMY Dingbot, Spotbot, and Flipbot, these flattened and nearly disintegrated over time. Hootbot is on his perch so he's fine! :lol: As you mention, keeping them completely off their feet is absolutely is the best choice = NO flat spots period.Thanks John for the reminder, much appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rocket_2 Posted June 13, 2008 Share Posted June 13, 2008 An inexpensive approach I’ve been using for robots with metal on the bottom of the feet is using quarter inch square white styrene (Evergreen strip styrene from a Hobby shop) cut long enough to provide stability. Then I use half inch wide magnetic roll tape with adhesive on one side from any Art & crafts store like Michaels or A.C. Moore. Cut small quarter inch strips and attach them to the styrene. They stick to the bottoms of the robots. If you pick the robots up or move them around the “lifts” stay on the robot. Some skirted robots need a little more lift so I glue on an additional 1/8”x 1/4” styrene strip. I could go the extra step of painting the styrene, but they look fine to me for now. My plan is to eventually replace them by using quarter inch square clear acrylic rod stock to make it look a little nicer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eagle Posted June 13, 2008 Share Posted June 13, 2008 I use strip magnets. Comes in a roll. Fridge magnets work also. Cut them to length and put them on the bottom of the feet. Even if the wheels are taller, just take two magnets and stack them. They stick to the bot feet even when moved. ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sparkrobot Posted June 13, 2008 Share Posted June 13, 2008 With a lot of my robots I use very small balls of blutac,I started doing this originaly to make them perfectly level[ yea I know I'm sad ]Then I realised it was actually keeping the wheels fractionaly above the glass shelf,,,,,Now I cant say it would be a good idea for any shelfs made of different material it might stain them,and more worrying what are the long term effects of the blutac on the robots paint work although I havn't noticed any change yet.. BTW you can get whitetac aswell which would look even better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaxPower Posted June 13, 2008 Share Posted June 13, 2008 So far, I like the magnet idea best (thanks Eagle!). I'll have to find a suitable source and try that out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robotz11 Posted June 22, 2008 Share Posted June 22, 2008 A little plastic tubing sometimes does the job :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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