Then, I worked on making the small steel armatures that attach to the center rod that goes through the rod end which is attached to the skull.
I posted a drawing of this on the first page. I will have all 4 of my rods in the next few days, and will take pictures of those as soon as I get them. For now, here is the drawing again:
The thin piece of metal between the two nuts where it says, "Rotate Armature Attached Here" is the piece I made next. In the drawing, you are seeing a side view, so it doesn't look like much. Using the one my friend fabricated for my first complete rod as a model, I made three more. Mine didn't come out as pretty, but they will be just as functional.
I started with a small random piece of steel.
Then I drew the shapes I needed to cut out with a sharpie and put it in a vise:
Next, with a hacksaw....a VERY DULL hacksaw, I did my best to cut out the pieces, and file the edges down. I put the three pieces back in the vise and drilled out the large holes where the rod goes through, then turned them over to drill and tap the holes that I will connect the linkages to that will rotate the skull left and right:
Finally, I tapped the holes:
And now I have all 4 of the rotate armatures needed for the central rods:
As I said, Mine were not pretty, but the holes are in the right places. My friend made the second one in. That's the one I copied. It does not have to be exact....thank goodness.
As I mentioned, I'll have a lot more detail on the central rod in the next few days.