Thanksgiving | RoboTurkey 3000

I finished one more turkey assemblage just in time for Thanksgiving.

When I first got the idea for this guy, I thought assembling the pieces would be quick and easy because most of the parts were going to attach to the hole in the center of the coffee basket that would become the turkey’s body.

Unfortunately, it turned out to be a lot more difficult than I had originally envisioned. Holes had to be drilled out because they weren’t quite large enough, pieces had to be forced into place because they didn’t want to cooperate and, for a long time, the turkey just refused to stand upright.

I got him done, thanks to much help from my husband, who has mad turkey robot engineering skills and, when it comes to helping his wife with mechanical projects and power tools, the patience of a saint.

Here’s what I started with: a coffee filter basket, a bunch of old measuring spoons and two gold furniture feet.

Step 1 was to slide a bolt through the hole in the tablespoon that would become the turkey’s head …

… and then slide the bolt into the hole in the coffee basket.

So far, so good.

Next, I laid out the rest of the measuring spoons in a fan shape, with the largest ones in the middle and the smallest ones on the ends …

… and slid them onto the same bolt the head was attached to. I secured them in place with a nut.

He was already starting to look like a turkey.

At that point, I pulled the measuring spoon tail feathers off so I could drill holes into the bottom of the coffee basket for the turkey’s legs.

Then I put everything back together again.

In order to keep the turkey upright, I had to add a couple of additional tail feather spoons that rested on the ground like a kick stand (the husband’s idea).

Finally, I dug out a few beads and baubles to use as the turkey’s facial features …

… but when I had them glued on, I was underwhelmed. He felt a little blah. I wanted him to have more personality.

So I dug back into my stash of beads and baubles and tried again.

I was much happier with his new face.

Behold: RoboTurkey 3000.

He joins Robot Turkey 2.0, who I made earlier in the week …

… and the original Robot Turkey that I made last year.

I still have lots of leftover turkey parts and lots of ideas, so I will probably continue to add to the flock next year, but I’m calling it done for now.