I see a sticky and a new forum index materializing 
Zoomkat,
Woods OK but why stop there, heck just head over to your local large franchise hardware store. You got wood panels, (many of these places will cut to your specs), aluminum sheet, pvc, all manner of mouldings, grates, ductings, tubings, mountings, bearings, steel shaft (threaded and not), cables, pulleys, springs, … I mean I get crazy, my wife won’t go there with me any more. Anyways once you know what you got to work with it’s a lot easier to get ideas. Far as tools you really don’t need much, I’d recommend - drill, jigsaw, miter saw, hack saw, hand tools, a couple of small wood vises for joining, a little space to work isn’t bad either, oh and a book on basic carpentry’s a good idea.
Jim Shaffer
For those still interested en Woodenstein,
Found some older pics:
The chasis, and some of the materials used.
The wheel assembly and bottom view.
amodedoma.net/px1_prewheels.jpg
Thanks again for all the feedback, positive and negative.
Jim Shaffer
Someone a while back posted pix of a wooden prototype of a ROV type bot (I can’t find the link now) that looked very nice. As for tools, electric drills can be had for less than $20 (half that at Harbor Freight), and Lowes has a plastic miter box/saw combo for $8. I’ve followed wooden aircraft building for many years and wooden structures can be very light and strong. The below from another robotics site shows how someone can use inexpensive wood to make a simple first robot for for minimum investment in materials. Wood is definately DIY, but is an alternative when $$$ is tight for the usual plastics and metals.
actually I have used carbon fiber tape re-enforced balsa spars in lieu of spruce in a couple experiments and found it to be very strong if done correctly. Also some of the plywood used for r/c planes is incredible with 1/64" thick laminations. there was some discussion awhile back about the astetics (or lack thereof) of using cf for robots but used to structurally enhance inner structures it might really help cut down on weight and not even be visible if done well. applying that could make a mostly wood construction significantly lighter overall.
After seeing the latest pictures
I’m guessing you’d better add a shopvac to that tool list otherwise
may soon apply to areas around your home too.
Nice - keep posting - inspiring
Chris out
Yeah, shop’s got a lot of chips. To build the chasis I used the thickness planer and that thing mass produces chips. Anyway, I try to keep the shop slightly dirty and disordered - It’s like repelent for my wife (there’s another place she won’t go, often).
Jim
I was just over at Lowes and a 2’x4’ sheet of laun(?) 5.2mm thick plywood was only $3.98. There were other similar sized sheets of .25" thick plywood of various woods (oak, berch) for less than $10. Probably a good question would be what is the least expensive type of power saw that would provide the most usefullness to someone building using wood.
Deffinately a Jobmate brands are the cheapest. I bought a jobmate chop saw at Canadian Tire(another one of those only in Canada superstores 
) for only $50.00
For basic wood cutting (and thin metal too), an inexpensive jigsaw like below might be a good starter power tool. Bottom is the inexpensive miter box combo. The saw could also be used to make long cuts in in the thin plywood.
lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=p … lpage=none
lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=p … lpage=none