How To Make A CNC Machined Bender From “Futurama”

If you’re a fan of The Simpsons, you may have heard of a little show called Futurama. Made by Matt Groening, the same creator of those yellow folks from Springfield, Futurama ran for 140 episodes and featured a cryogenically preserved human being who wakes up 1,000 years in the future.

One of the things he has to contend with in this new future is a robot called Bender Bending Rodriguez (“Bender” for short) – a fast-talking, alcoholic robot who looks very much like The Simpsons’ Homer.

He also looks like prime material for metalworking, so much so that Andriy from Engineer BrunS was commissioned to make a CNC machined Bender for one of his clients:

1. Creating the Head

Considering Bender’s straightforward design, it actually looks pretty easy to create his parts. Andriy first creates Bender’s head, making sure to leave the proper holes which will hold pieces which make up his eyes, ears, antenna, and mouth.

He then fills these holes with individually machined parts which he slots into holes located at the top and bottom of the headpiece.

2. Making The Legs

With Bender’s head looking as cocky as his TV counterpart, Andriy can start working from the bottom upwards.

He machines a couple of small caps onto the bottom of a metal stand, onto which he adds two lanky metal rods which serve as Bender’s feet and legs.

While the build itself isn’t meant to be a fully poseable action figure, the legs in particular are machined into segments to give an illusion of flexibility. It also keeps in line with Bender’s character design, so it’s an added plus.

3. Shaping Bender’s Body

Now equipped with somewhat sturdy legs, Andriy can work on building Bender’s body. He takes a rather large piece of metal, hollows it out, and makes Bender’s signature tubular torso.

In the show, Bender has a storage container in the center of his body which he opens using a knob. To mimic this, Andriy adds a small nub which fits on the side of the supposed opening.

4. Fitting Those Lanky Arms

Bender wouldn’t be Bender without those wacky flailing arms, so to compliment his lanky legs, Andriy crafts segmented metal rods in a similar fashion.

Unlike his legs, Bender’s arms need hands to hold things with, so Andriy makes a couple of pieces which slip onto the arms. Just like the show, the hands only have three fingers, which is more than some robots can say they have.

Lastly, Andriy makes shoulder pieces which connect the arms to Bender’s body.

Though I mentioned this build wasn’t an action figure, it does allow for some movement. Bender’s arms can be swung upwards to reveal a hidden compartment located under his head.

The head can’t be removed when the arms are down, so unless you know how to use it, this metallic Bender will keep your USB flash drives and keys safe (which is more than you can say for the real Bender).

Andriy CNC machines a ton of things on his YouTube channel, Engineer BrunS, a lot of which are inspired by pop culture, toys, and his own creative imagination.

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