B&F Hexatable

Royce S. Florian & Guillaume Baro

roycesflorian@gmail.com

Introduction

The B&F Hexatable is an open-source table, designed with and fabricated by software and machines that are found within the FABlab community. We hope to show the users of the FABlab community the potentiel that the CNC milling machines possess, while at the same time creating a functional and innovative contribution to the FABlab SU.

The B&F hexatable has not only been “designed” as just any ordinary piece of furniture. We seeked to engineer a piece of furniture that had a very high level of structural integrity so that it can withstand the rigors of use within a FABlab, office, co-working space or media lab. While at the same time, we wanted a table that could be made on the 60cm X 120cm cutting table of our “ShopBot Buddy”[CNC milling machine]. These “structual constraints” will be introduced and discussed in the “3D modeling” section of this wiki.

All FABlabs should be concentrating on the use of renewable & sustainable resources. We wanted this table to maximize the use of materials and create the least amount of scrap possible & optimise the tool-path where-as we can cut the table in the most efficent way possible. A series of materials hare currently under review and we hope to fabricate these tables with the most environmentally responsible choice of materials. The choice of material and the considerations will be introduced and discussed in the “Structual Simulation” section of this Wiki.

Table of contents

I.)Design Considerations : The results of the SU FABlab's requirements and design considerations are discussed within this first section. This section contains mostly aesthetic considerations and a few practical aspects concerning the functionability of a hexagonal table within the FABlabs and Co-working space.

II.)Design constraints and tool selection : Within our second section we will introduce a complete list of tools, machines, and software that was used for the completion of this project. All of the equiptment and software are at the disposition of all FABlabs within the FABlab community.

III.)3D modeling : Using the design software “Autodesk Fusion 360” we will demonstrate some basic functions that were used in the design of this project. A short video of the total design process is also included.

IV.)Static load simulation : Again, using “Autodesk Fusion 360” we will demonstrate two 3D Simulations for static load on this table : Load Bearing & Structual torison. The loads from the 3D simulations have then been tested on a real table so that a comparison between simulation and reality can shed some light on the limitations of mechanical simuations of “assembled parts”.

V.)Post-processing : After the modeling and simulations have been run, we must prepare the files in a manner that we can program our CNC machine so that we can fabricate the design. The software “Qcad is used to import our model files and position them neatly on a cutting surface so that we can minimize scrap material.

VI.)Shopbot : A basic introduction to the ”Vcarve“ software is given within this section. Vcarve is the software used by many FABlabs around the world to control their CNC machines. We will give a step by step explination as to how to import the “post processed” files and how-to setup the Shopbot Buddy to successfully cut out our table.

VII.)Table Assembly : With the parts now cut out we offer a step by step procedure on how to use basic handtools to neatly build the B&F hexatable