We spent the first weekend bending all 32 of the base rings, and a few of the top rings:




Tim double-checking the cutout the pattern in the spreadhseet. The as-bent circumferences were noticably different from the actual tubing cut-length, so it is a good thing we decided to measure and re-check! It turns out we hadn't taken into account the width of the tubing.




Once we knew the radii (radiuses?) to cut, we used a crude compass to draw a pattern on some landscaping cloth and cut it out. It fit! Go geometry (and go Stephen for doing most of the calculations). The test cloth doubles as a stylish skirt!




After a test-fitting, we transferred the pattern onto cardboard and fit the cardboard onto our sheet metal. You can see that two full cut-outs fit on one 4'x10' sheet of metal -- this was extremely important from a cost and ease-of-fabrication perspective.




We built a rigid arm jig for the plasma cutter to do the actual cutting. We hacked together an extension for my work table and drilled a 1/2 inch hole in the table for the vertex of the swing-arm.




Once we had the pieces cut, we used duct tape to temporarily put together the first prototype. Marianna was very excited!




Here it is, the prototype. Note that the head isn't actually attached yet, which is why it looks a bit tilted. It does look amazingly Dalek-like: I suspect because the original Dalek design was driven by the same ease-of-fabrication constraints as us. We'll definitely have to stick a plunger on one of them and take some pictures.




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