Hello everyone,
time for a new update.

 

 

Assembling the first prototype was great, it gave me new and overall it went better than expected; I’ve redesigned few pieces in order to address the problems met, working toward publishing the V1.0 release. I would have liked to jump straight to the V 1.0 but I’d like to test the updates of this version before committing to a proper release.

Mainly I’ve opted for taking out excess weight thus making the project both lighter and cheaper. Now the pieces fit into 2 plywood sheets instead of the previous 3. Moreover I’ve reworked the leg to bracket connection aiming to increase the torsional rigidity of the tabletop.
I’m happy to say I completed the assembly manual. You can find it attached at the end of this post.

Anyway, as the work around the table comes to completion, I’ve finally started to work on the next project, an interesting post will follow soon.

 

As always feel free to join on Discord for more discussions and to download the latest release on github

G

Hello everyone!

Despite the delay I’m happy to tell you I managed to assemble the first prototype of the table. Obviously, there where a few errors in the design, still less than expected though!

IT WORKS 🙂

 

Design : 

V.07 went into production: since it was a prototype and I wanted to save time, I made some last-time adjustments in order to counter potential failings or errors. It worked, mostly.

Here, for example, I designed an hole to set a stiffening block to balance out rigidity issues.

Process and Manufacture: 

I had two choices: either go buy the plywood panels and deliver them to the shop or let the service provide for the raw materials. Obviously the first option is cheaper, but I had no time to find a proper van / truck and a single plywood sheet measure up to 2440 x 1220 cm.

Once you ‘ve found your service, it goes like this :

Phase 1) Find the cnc service  >  send the files (get a quotation)  >  Buy the wood and deliver it  >  wait  >  go get back your pieces

Phase 2 :

Set the pieces on a table > get glue dowels and maybe few vises > assembly the pieces with dowels, glue and sand them according to the instructions > wait

Now you’re ready to play lego : )

 

Errors:

The biggest error was trusting the manufacturer based on the size of his company and the abundance of tools he has, without personally checking the quality of his work.

As a results I’ve received several splintered pieces. While this doesn’t subtract from the functionality of the table, it still hinders it’s overall cleanliness.

VERY IMPORTANT : find a cnc service with a spoil board system installed. This means your plywood sheet will rest screwed on top of the spoil board and the cutting edge will be able to cut the whole depth of the sheet. In my case, my service didn’t use a spoil board but had hoses installed, this meant that the last half millimeter was cut outside the machine causing splinters to happen.

Other errors involved mostly design issues. (e.g. wrong depth of dowels’ holes and too strict tolerances between joints)

 

 

Costs:

Concerning costs, one table is currently sourced out of three birch plywood sheets (I’m trying to fit it better) and it costed me 750€, material and milling,
It’s not cheap nor too expensive, but with the variations in costs due to the scarcity of materials (price of wood increased by 30% in one year time) and the Ukrainian war (here in Italy birch is mainly imported from Russia), it’s not easy to make it cheaper than it is.

 

Next Updates:

 

As shown in the pic below, V 0.8 will correct all the issues of the 0.7 prototype and include a few improvements. I’d like to make it lighter, remove the outer edge and proceed with a frameless chassis.

I’d like to fit the pieces into a shorter quantity of sheets, in order to make it cheaper and integrate the stiffening block as shown in the pic below.

I’ve yet to decide if the tightening bolts need to be kept, but if the tests are solid, I’d like it to goo too, thus the central beam would retain a cleaner shape.

 

 

Thank you for your patience,

as always feel free to join on Discord for more discussions and to download the latest release on github

G

 

 

After almost a month of delay, I finally managed to get the first prototype milled.

First Impressions: I’m not satisfied with the quality of the milling, I choose a Cnc manufacturer with no experience on dealing with this kind of job and as a result I’ll spend the weekend sanding the pieces. My fault…

Please employ a manufacturer which uses a spoil board based cnc mill, otherwise the wood will splinter needlessly.

I’ll assemble the table in the next few days. 

Soon a longer post with all the instructions and explanations attached!

Thank you!

G

We finally sent quotations two weeks ago and should be able to mill the pieces in about two weeks!

Few considerations: 

• we had quotations spanning from 500€ (plywood included) to 750€,  we decided to go through with the higher price due to the faster delivery.
• Again, concerning prices, starting in late 2021, all kind of construction wood got a rise in price up to 50% their 2020 price, thanks to this our current quote could seem a bit inflated upwards (rough extimate cost of 1 plywood panel size1220x2440 being 100-130€)
• As it is right know, the V0.6. table fits 3 plywood sheets, starting with V.0.7, we will work towards fitting it in just two, hopefully cutting the final price down 15%.

While we wait, I’ve started working on the “frameless” table, which will be the final choice for most of you(since I believe almost no one needs a self-healing cutting mat on top of it : )  ).

Here next few images : 

As you can see from the model view, the perimeter thickness is doubled to 36mm in order to achieve better overall proportions and to rise the stiffness or rigidity of the wooden board while keeping the frame as narrow and light as possible.

Thank you,

G

Hello Again! 

We are ready for the testing (first build) phase; we will hopefully have a working prototype in a pair of weeks!

Short update on the project:
Most of the joints have been reworked and the central beam is now leaner by 5 cm (height), now we’re finally ready to get a quotation for the milling and start to build the prototype.

Once built (and tested)we will release the first version of the assembly manual.

Past issues solved in this release :

• The outer frame angle joint ( A in the picture ) has been reworked and now it’s both easier to assemble and cheaper.
  
• After a short consideration we decided to keep the pieces fit to 3 plywood sheets to increase the compatibility of the schemes to the most common sizes available on the market.
• The proportions have been reworked and now the overall design is leaner and lighter. We are trying to “carve out” as much material as possible.

Notable issues still to be tested/solved :

• dowels : few pieces ( LEGS) sport the holes for inserting connecting dowels on their outer side. It’s ugly but it was the cheapest way to fix the leg together without working on a two side milling.
• legs-to bracket : this connection will be thoroughly tested on the prototype; realistically we’ll go toward designing a single leg+bracket piece in stead to the current two; The piece should end up being stronger and simpler.

We are still working on a the 3d model unreal engine walkable demo.

Cheers,
G

Good news!  here  you can reach Github, an online repository, where all the projects will be shared and continuously updated until the final release. If you don’t know the platform, it enables you to download our content and update your “fork” modified version of our designs.

In the meanwhile the design on the table is progressing, and we are ready to start building the first real prototype. There are still few adjustments to be made to the design but hopefully the release date won’t be too far ahead.

This is what will come out of the Cnc router 

Remember to visit our repository  in order to download the current version of the table (v0.5.a) 

Please consider our releases as case studies only until they reach the 1.0 launch version. 

Cheers,

Gio