Don’t throw away those scrap engine parts

CANDABA, Pampanga - It may appear like it is some sort of a game that children play, but for 33-year old Joel Dela Cruz, a welder from Barangay Bahay Pare in this town, making robots out of scrap engine parts can earn him big bucks.

They gallantly stand inside his house – which was turned into a showroom – armed with laser beam guns made out of worn out spark plugs and steel pipes, life support systems made out of used radiator hoses, lungs made out of flat iron and ribs which are actually connecting rods welded together.

His shop looks like an ordinary welding shop. But inside, one may feel like he is part of the cast in one of Stephen Spielberg’s sci-fi movies. Joel's robotic creations, however, are immobile because he does not have the technology to make them move.

Joel started making his realistic robots when a Japanese businessman asked him if he could make samples of life-size figures for an exhibition at the World Trade Center. "I was just challenged by the Japanese. It just told him I would try, and much to my surprise, I did," he recalled.

When Joel started making robots last year, most of his friends and neighbors were surprised to find out that his creations looked like the ones seen in the movies, with manually moveable parts, weapons and detailed features.

Last October, his robots were featured at an exhibit at the World Trade Center in Pasay City, where his creations drew the attention of foreign and local visitors alike. And to prove that he is indeed making big money out of it, one of his robotic figures sold for $25,000, with 40 percent going to the Japanese investor who funded the materials.

The visitor would be even more surprised to know that Joel's detailed and realistic robots were not made out of a sketch or a plan. Basta nasa isip ko lang. Tapos kapag nakita ko na ang mga materyales, alam ko na kung paano ako bubuo ng isang robot, he told The STAR.

Joel buys scrap engine parts from machine shops. After the necessary materials have been gathered, he would work on a single figure for a couple of weeks then his business partner would look for potential buyers, mostly from Japan and other Asian countries. But "if to see is to believe," he said one of his priced creations is an eight feet-long robotic crocodile displayed at Cartimar.

Joel said that by making use of worn-out engine parts, he is not only making money but doing his part in environmental protection. Kasi ang mga gamit diyan ay itinatapon na lang sa kung saan. Pero dahil pwede pa uling magamit, hindi na ito ikinakalat.