[Khalid]

Thats a very talented use of your CNC.. Did you machine the part 2-sided? Thanks for sharing the great work...

[Grunblau]

Thats a very talented use of your CNC.. Did you machine the part 2-sided? Thanks for sharing the great work...

Thank you very much for your comments : ) I milled the three legs in 6 halves and glued them together.

[FandZ]

Thank you very much for your comments : ) I milled the three legs in 6 halves and glued them together.

I would have never guessed that by looking at it. When you look at the picture before you painted it looks like you found 3 perfect branches and sanded the top and bottom.

BTW, my wife stopped as she passed and said that's cool. That's a big compliment coming from her.

[Benonymous]

Very nice results you have there, I imagine you could ask quite a lot of $$$ for that as a finished product

[tmbg]

out of curiosity, how well are the magnets holding up?

[BackyardWorkshop]

That's a very nice design - very cool - very original

to chime in on the foundry stuff I use the lost foam casting technique and created a few posts and a video on it (only a few ingots poured I promise)

http://www.backyard-workshop.com/pro...-projects.html

[srmaietta]

you could take your legs, and build a rubber mold from them. (one at a time) Then use that female rubber mold to cast wax replicas. The wax replicas get encased in high temp plaster (investment). then you put the plaster in the oven, wax melts out and you pour in the metal. Lost wax. Used for sculptures and jewelry alot. connect alot of the leg waxes together into one big tree and then you get to cast multiples at a time. Might need to find a foundry for this one..

have fun, Im jealous
~Steve

[Grunblau]

I dropped the prototype off at the foundry today. I am using Seaport Aluminum Prototype & Casting Co. in Toledo, OH. I was quoted $100 per leg for the initial sand cast. Seems okay to me for a 1 off, I would hope the price could come down a bit for multiples, as $300 + everything else I want to do = expensive table. So far, great people to deal with. They let us hang out and watch a pour. Here are a couple pics...

The legs at the foundry, The head casting guy, Chad dubbed my project 'Alien Table'



Me getting to watch them cast one of their sand cast molds... Chad is in the foreground.



I think I am going ahead with the magnet idea.. The new magnets are really strong, almost to the point of being a pinching hazard when you get one leg 6 inches from the other legs. I might add a horizontal washer to keep things from sliding in plane as it is much more difficult to pull the legs apart vs sliding them apart. I am open to suggestions!

I hope I have an update with pics of the aluminum legs sometime next week!!!

[Benonymous]

Great to see your project moving forward into the realms of metal! I like the magnet idea too, very neat. If you need some way to index the legs for assembly you could use a stainless dowel maybe? I look forward to seeing the finished "Alien Table"

[margni74]

looks sleak and stylish

[margni74]

I finished a 3D model of a table design I have been developing... I am working on a prototype to cast molds for the aluminum legs.

-I haven't decided what to mill the tops out of yet.

maybe some futuristic looking corian?

[Grunblau]

maybe some futuristic looking corian?

Awesome suggestion! I was considering Corian, I have milled it before and it was like butter. I might even go with white.. I know they have red. Corian is $$$ though. My initial attempt will probably be in some birch plywood.

Thank you for the comments!

[CarveOne]

Awesome suggestion! I was considering Corian, I have milled it before and it was like butter. I might even go with white.. I know they have red. Corian is $$$ though. My initial attempt will probably be in some birch plywood.

Thank you for the comments!

Corian is available in all sorts of styles and colors. Simulated stone and color combinations. Web search will give you some ideas.

CarveOne

[Ken Dolph]

Corian can be less expensive than wood. If you count all of the extra preparation and finishing that wood needs to end up with the beauty and durability of Corian, it can beat the cost.

duPont has an outlet specifically for furniture, art and industrial products. Art Specialties International (1-800-724-4008) sells just the quantity you need, not cutoffs or full sheets. They also have all of the consulting and adhesives help you may want. They also have a free information package on working with Corian.

With the great design of you table, I would give it a shot.

I hope this helps
Ken

[ger21]

Try here. Remember, you can glue smaller pieces together to make larger ones without a visible seam. Just make sure it's from the same lot #, so the color doesn't vary.
http://www.solidsurface.com/surplus

[margni74]

Awesome suggestion! I was considering Corian, I have milled it before and it was like butter. I might even go with white.. I know they have red. Corian is $$$ though. My initial attempt will probably be in some birch plywood.

Thank you for the comments!

glad i could be of help... keep this thread updated! looks like an awesome project!

[Timon Cain]

Instead of using magnets to hold the legs together what about redesigning them, I know that sucks, to have a T-slot and T tab in each leg? Then each leg's T tab would slide into the corresponding leg's T slot, locking them together. Just a thought. Nice looking table by the way. Really nice.

[Grunblau]

Thank you very much for the links!

I Just ordered some Corian samples! I am sticking with more graphic colors, the four end colors are translucent.

[Grunblau]

I ended up getting two sets cast for $500. The guy said if I went into production(100+), it would be significantly cheaper. I couldn't stop myself from doing a little sanding just to see what it will look like when it is smooth.

Here is a picture of the prototype standing over the new aluminum copies. Looks pretty simular... I am glad the prototype survived!




A view showing the difference between the sanded finish and the sand cast. I still have a lot of sanding left just to take out some imperfections...




Another view of the surfaces...




A view looking at the feet...




Here are the three pieces side by side...




Overall view of the pieces stacked. Here you can see the differences between the legs...



Let me know what you think!

Between working 50+ hours/week at my job and now teaching at a local college, I hope I'll be able to find some time to finish it!!!

[Hdale85]

Those look fantastic! Can't wait to see the finished table.