Thaed's end table

Folks, if we are to get to the Diamond Age, we are going to have to start printing furniture. We simply cannot shy away from destiny or from Mr. Stephenson's vision. A humble end table is a good place to start, then on to desks, chairs, beds & beyond. This end table has the following dimensions: Tabletop 11.75” square, 1/2” thick. Height of table with 5 inserts and a base and a top: 19.75” With 6 inserts: 22.25” tall. You can add or subtract inserts to vary the height.

Furniture can actually be art. If you search for table art in Google images, you can see stuff that's a lot more creative than what I'm doing. But I would submit to you, dear reader, that because the table is, near as I can tell, the first Makerbot printed usable end table without using wood and because the puzzle design of the top is mildly interesting and because the table is sort of aesthetically pleasing that it is (in its own way) art. I mean, c'mon, Warhol used soup cans!!

This design is simple using only 6 different printed parts. There are aspects of this project that can be used in other efforts. One of my fondest desires is to break into the custom computer case field. Becoming facile with easily assembled larger structures is crucial to this. The puzzle piece method can help to get me there. Also, the legs may be sturdy enough to implement into a chair design, but I'm not sure yet. A stool could be made with only a few modifications.

The limitations are only time and plastic. From design to print, this project took two weeks.

Print the puzzle pieces of the table top. There are 3 different types of pieces. I have labled them A, B & C. You need 4 As, 4 Bs and 1 C. Sand the female parts vigorously with 50 strokes each. Glue pieces together with hot glue. Print the legs and glue them together. With the top pieces, you can use a drill press to make screw holes and screw them in for extra strength. That's probably the best way to go. On the other hand, if you have had good experience with glue, you might be able to get away with glue only. For this build, I used glue only.