While i wait to get my glowforge to come, I decided to learn how to use another cad program: fusion 360… for my first design challenge, A glowforge stand… it needs to be functional and very minimalist…
It needs:
foot print no bigger then gf
wheels (for portability and make it easier for gf plus)
-drawers for tools
height (with gf and wheels) about 29" same as typical desk
-etched ruler on front (for quick measure of manerail)
Other possibilities:
organizer for materials (possibly with cabinet door)
cabnet door (also double as a seting chart)
Reason for posting this is for more ideas?
How many drawers?
How big the drawers need to be?
Here is going to be the kicker designing it so it can all be cut on gf but be bigger then the bed in every way…
i think i do it with different joints…
As someone who needs to still sort out my own tablespace - and will probably make one from scratch as well - can I ask if you intend to post your files for others? I think lots of people would like to see that.
Just today, I started building custom furniture for my office/studio above the garage I had built a year ago. Along with my desk, bookcase, layout table, and other counters, I need to come up with a table for the Glowforge. I keep going back and forth between placing it 4 or 5 feet from the outside wall to make it easy to use the pass-through of the Pro or placing up against the wall on some sort of wheeled table that can be pivoted out when I use the pass-through.
I also hope to incorporate drawers or other storage below. For the height, I need to factor in the filter. I’m hoping I can leave it under the Glowforge even when I’m venting to outside. I expect to vent outside on all except the coldest days.
I’ve been wondering about something similar to the way floor-mat tiles go together, possibly 1/4" pieces, layered and staggered to build interlocking 3/4" stuff?
It makes sense to me to make this as a modular as possible, so you could easily swap between shelves, drawers, or cubbies for each level, and to be able to adjust the working height for extra short or tall people. If you did it that way, consider making the top modular unit the same height as the GF filter. I’m curious to follow your progress, I think whatever you figure out will be applicable to many other oversized projects.
My 2cents, don’t skimp on the casters, and don’t forget to reinforce against racking(bending side to side). Also accuride style slides suck, but I just really really hate accuride…(that’s a personal opinion).
When the book Nomadic Furniture was published decades ago, I made most of the furniture for my apartment from the book. Here is the kind of joints used. They are ultra strong.
Slots are great if you can cut accurately and if your material can accommodate the stresses. Butt joints and screws work great if you design your structure well. A stretcher or back within the gables and top/bottom will greatly help with racking. The back can be done as a butt or rebate. Also if your back or stretcher is cut square , it will square up the structure.
would you want to add any fold down top to add just a little more top space. I understand wanting the footprint not much bigger than the GF , but always nice to have a little space Maybe to set the roll of tape down, or your beer, or the piece you just took out ( or caliper) or a pencil… even a few inches of table top space extra (as long as your building it…) Just my thoughts… !!!
The reason i was thinking about making it the same foot print as the glowforge is im trying to use the top of the gf(which should be about level with desk top) as extension of the desk… i did think about putting pull out board…
One thing you should really take into account is noise reflection coming out of the bottom of the glowforge. Right under the button area is a radiator and under that are vent holes that leak a lot of noise if facing a hard surface.
I’ve been experimenting with my setup. I’ve tried using sound reflectors off the base of the unit, but that wasn’t the optimal solution. I’ve found that a hollow base for the unit with sound dampening material in it helps a lot in reducing noise, especially high end noise.
A hard surface on top of sound dampening material, I assume? Or is there a sound dampening material that is stiff enough to maintain the air gap beneath the Forge?
No, that would actually make it a bit worse, as any hard surface is going to reflect sound which is what Im trying to avoid. I am shooting for more of a silencer type effect, a place to pull in the sound and keep it there. Luckily the top of my ‘table’ wasnt officially attached so I could easily experiment, so I made a small an-echoic chamber for it to sit on. Ill post a thread regarding it in a few to share.
