Open Desk Breakout Table

The idea behind buying a full-size ShopBot that could cut 4x8 sheets of plywood was to have the option of making larger scale projects like furniture. Another goal was cutting more projects than designing them to practice running the machine. Like in software development, design is the bottleneck.

With the Wikihouse Project we were able to cut projects so large they didn’t fit in our lab. OpenDesk provides furniture designs to be made locally. Now we have moved to a new space and have re-assembled the robot. Our first test project is to cut a copy of the Breakout Table.

Creating Files to Cut

1. Download project’s .dxf files
2. Open DXF file in Aspire and in Adobe Illustrator (or Rhinoceros for Mac Beta)

3. Convert to Aspire

   1.  Select vectors in Front Face including the green bounding box that represents the sheet of material. Group them. Copy group.
   

   2. Create a new file with dimensions 2438.4mm (x) and 1219.2mm (y) if their files are usually mastered in metric units.
   3. Paste object into a new file.
   4. Select group. Rotate -90degrees (CCW). Align Objects - Center in material
   5. Rename layer named after the sheet, i.e. “Sheet 1”.
   6. Ungroup Objects - Ungroup onto groups layer
   7. Define toolpaths referring to copy open in Illustrator.

Why did we copy the vectors into a new file?

All those layers in the DXF file really slow down everything in Aspire. When we tried to delete the extra layers, Aspire crashed so making a new file with only the data you need is safer. (After more investigation, it is deleting the layer with all the text - and therefore massive amounts of vectors - that is crashing Aspire.)

What are all these holes of different depths?

Reading their forum posts, some parts are intended to be dowelled together so the matching hole layouts are provided. We are not woodworking purists so glues, screws, and fasteners are fair game in our projects.

Get Cutting

This project requires four sheets of plywood. The extra challenge is there are no instructions included and only the stock images of the assembled table. A puzzle.

Sheet 1 - Hooks, Locks, Ribs, Cable Run

Sheet 2 - Ribs, Spans, Wings

Sheet 3 - Legs, Locks

Sheet 4 - Top, Panels

Assembly

[The real story - In the conversion from the original .DXF to Aspire and from metric to imperial material dimensions - after machining we discovered the parts and pockets were too small by a millimeter in every dimension. We attempted to re-route and sand by hand so the parts would fit but gave up after an hour. We adjusted the files using what we learned and re-cut all four sheets.]

The table top is machined on both sides, access panels on the top and pockets on the bottom. We turned it face down to begin our assembly.

The ribs that support the table top are multiple parts dowelled together.

Wing pieces hold the ribs, spine, and cable run to the legs.

Lower spans connect the table legs together.

Small pieces slide into pockets and lock the spine to the table legs.

Hooks on the footer spans slip into pockets in the legs and are locked into placed by a rectangular part. A hole in the part makes it easy to unlock the joint.

A solid access panel sits flush in the table top.

A perforated panel organized cords that feed below into the cable run that spans the width of the table.

A series of hooks are provided along the spine to hang backpacks or bags.

The Breakout Table at Open Desk is assembled and lightly sanded.

Notes

1. This table is heavy duty and a complicated build. The next time we plan to dowel the related parts together and then assemble starting with the base first. We should have started with one of their simpler builds.

2. The table base is constructed with double layers of plywood. We’re tempted to add another layer to the top, either melamine or phenolic coated.

3. As a standing table, we will route a bullnose with a 1/4in round-rover bit around the top edge of the table top for comfort.

4. The table is solid in the lateral direction. There is a wobble when pushed in the longitudinal direction that could be addressed with additional cross bracing. We are looking at this for our standing desks and have episodes of heavy typing that shake most bar height (~42in) furniture.

New Table for the Workshop

While waiting for glue to dry, we went ahead and quickly cut an AtFab One to Several Table. We added 3in casters for use in the shop as an assembly table. Some of the toolpaths need revisions - all the outside profile cuts are actually dimensioned for outside - but the shop prefers things that work over looking good.