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Shane's R2 Build Log
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Shane's R2 Build Log
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The LegsI figured my R2 was going to be fairly heavy. And I was really concerned about the ability to not only support the weight, but also take a beating when out in the wild. For those reasons I opted for metal just about everywhere I could around the legs and feet. 
Back in 2010, I picked up a set of JAG's legs second-hand for $475. These legs are all aluminum, welded, and ground clean. They have mounting holes for the shoulder shims, booster covers, ankles, and details pieces. They have cut-outs for the shoulder hubs. There's also a cut-out in the middle for mounting booster jets, which I don't plan on doing in my build. All-in-all they're very nice. The seller even primed them before they got to me. These legs sat in my basement for 7 years before I got around to unpacking them. And, unfortunately, a lot has happened in the R2 Builders club in the interim. As a result, I had a difficult time tracking down information on these legs. JAG's specs call for #10-24UNC machine screws for most everything. However, the holes for mounting the ankles appear to have been tapped for something bigger. I'm guessing 1/4"-20. I'll know for sure once I test-fit everything. It's hard to say if the seller did this or if JAG did something different on this particular run. It shouldn't be a big deal though. Booster CoversI had originally purchased a really nice set of second-hand aluminum booster covers back in 2013 for practically nothing. They were beauties. Truly. And they sat in my basement for years before I got around to test fitting them. Unfortunately for me, they weren't JAG-compatible. I have NO IDEA who made them or what legs they were designed for, but the screw holes didn't line up and there wasn't any other way for me to drill and tap new ones. So in the end, I had to sell them off.
I later purchased a set of resin booster covers from Keith Henry. Keith has a reputation for great work. His booster covers are fantastic.  Of course, Keith's booster covers don't come pre-drilled or tapped for anything. But they're solid resin, so I can effectively mount them however I want. Shoulder HorseshoesI bought aluminum shoulder horseshoes from JAG himself back in 2009 for $165. These came with shoulder shims, as well as two button pocket shims that allow to you angle your button pocket if that's the look you want.  As with all of JAG's stuff, these are super well made and work well with his legs. Shoulder Buttons & HydraulicsMy aluminum shoulder buttons and hydraulics came from WorrParts. I picked them up in early 2017 for around $45.00 and $119.00, respectively.   Leg StrutsThe struts are one of the few components of my legs which are resin. I picked these up from Keith Henry for $25. As you can see from the photo, these things come in three pieces that are meant to be glued or screwed together.  Because I bought the long struts, I'm going to have to cut them down. And because they're resin, I still need to remove a bunch of excess material off the back and inside the tubes. Shoulder Hubs
I originally bought a pair of resin shoulder hubs from Keith Henry. But I wasn't thrilled about the idea of having a part that's supposed to look like metal look like plastic painted to look like metal. So I coughed up $165 and picked up a set of aluminum hubs from IA-Parts.  These come in three pieces and are held together by a single screw. They're really, really nice. These might inspire me to get aluminum struts before it's said and done. Under the Shoulder DetailsAlong with my leg struts, the under-the-shoulder details are the only resin pieces on my legs. These came from Keith Henry for $20.  Because they're resin, I still have some clean-up of excess material to do before test-fitting them to the legs. While I might replace my resin leg struts with aluminum, I'm fairly confident I'll leave these as resin. Shoulder Flange
I was torn for a long time as to what to do about the shoulder flanges. Initially, I was going to cut them from wood and wrap them with aluminum flashing as a cost savings measure. The more I chewed on the idea, the less appealing it became. It was something I felt would probably be noticed. So ultimately I dropped some cash on a nice set of aluminum flanges.  These flanges from Wayne Orr are great. They're solid aluminum, 1" thick, 6.475" outer diameter, and screw-hole compatible with Jerry Green's designs (5.125" bolt circle, 1/2 diameter holes). As a result, they mount to JAG's aluminum legs with no fuss at all. However, mounting them to the A&A frame is another issue. I describe how I accomplished this in the assembly log. Center Ankle
I went with a WorrParts center ankle. It's formed and welded sheet metal. It has screw holes for connecting the cylinders and wedges, as well as mounting it to the center leg. It also comes with a custom aluminum bushing, brass hardware, and the necessary bolts for mounting it the foot shell. Top-notch quality from WorrParts, as usual.  Outer Ankles
The aluminum outer ankles were another WorrParts purchase. Like the center ankle, these are formed and welded sheet metal. There are screw holes for all the details. These also came with ankle bracelets and shims (no screws for connecting to the legs, however). Each ankle has a bushing and hardware for attaching to the foot.  Ankle Wedges
I picked up two sets of resin ankle wedges from Keith Henry. These things just need to drilled/tapped, sanded, and painted.  Ankle Cylinders
These two sets of resin ankle cylinders also came from Keith Henry. Besides the normal resin part work, these cylinders all came with two stumps on the back. Presumably, this is where resin was poured into his molds. I'll have to remove the stumps before I do anything else with them.  Ankle Cylinder HoldersThere's not much to say about these cylinder ankle holders. What you see is what you get. They don't come pre-drilled or tapped for anything.
 Ankle DetailsThese "XXXX-TRA Ankle Details" from WorrParts are super light and come apart for ease of painting. They also come with the screws needed to attach them to the ankles. And because I bought Worr ankles, these things are pretty much ready to install out of the box. The only thing left to do is polish and paint them.
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