Chassis Plate & Torso Frame

Goal

Chassis adapter plate CNC’d. Torso frame laser cut and assembled. Waist rotation working.

Day-by-Day Tasks

Day	Task	Method	Notes
1-2	CNC chassis adapter plate — 1/4” 6061 aluminum	Colex SharpCut SX 5x10’	First CNC job. Single piece, 1/4” aluminum. Include ALL mounting holes (waist bearing, battery bay, electronics bay, + Tier 3 track pod holes). Pre-drill, don’t re-machine later.
2	RaptorX: Scan chassis plate, verify against CAD	RaptorX	Check flatness, hole positions, edge quality. Fix anything before bolting to frame.
2-3	Bolt chassis plate to dolly frame	SS bolts, thread locker	First precision assembly. This plate bridges dolly → J5 body. Must be square and level.
3-4	Laser cut torso vertical frame — 3/16” aluminum	Laguna EX	Side plates, shoulder mount plates. More complex shapes than Week 2 steel brackets. Aluminum cuts faster + cleaner than steel.
4-5	Laser cut shoulder frame — 3/16” aluminum	Laguna EX	Pre-drill for 3 ASME servo positions per arm (Tier 3-ready).
5	Install waist rotation	Assembly	16” heavy-duty lazy susan bearing → chassis plate. ASME-04B servo. Slip ring for power/data through rotation.
5-6	Assemble torso frame onto chassis	Bolts, welded gussets	Torso vertical plates onto chassis. Weld steel gussets at stress points (hidden inside).
6	Mount torso tilt actuator	Linear actuator, pivot bolt	Actuator between base and torso. Pivot at waist bearing.
6-7	Install track-tilt actuators	Linear actuators x2	The iconic “tippy-toe” pose. Two actuators tilt the track pods.
7	RaptorX: Scan complete base + torso assembly	RaptorX	Verify frame is square. Check for weld warpage. Compare to CAD. This scan becomes reference for all upper body work.

Skills Practiced

CNC routing aluminum (new skill), more complex laser cutting (aluminum, larger parts), precision assembly (waist bearing alignment), scan-verify workflow.

Print Queue

Torso panels → head shell (begins, 40-60 hours)