I was very clear about what I wanted as I built the desk and robotic arm lamps. How we would get there was a little fuzzier. The electrical cable had to feed through the assembly and it had to fit around the structure I would weld. First came the structure of 1.5" square tubing. The angles were cut by eye and I tacked it up as I went. The arms had to be removable so we could get it all in the door. This job would use up plenty of scraps for there were lots of small pieces.
I decided to laminate it up using 1" 30 lb Precision Board. I had plenty on hand and it would minimize the labor in removing the material for the structure. I designed the files in EnRoute as simple cut files. The medallions were routed as 3D files and took a little longer to route than the others. Each arm assembly would be made up of 36 pieces which were still being cut on the MultiCam as I started in on the project.
I started on the bottom, tracing the structural steel and then cutting out the material necessary. Then I glued and screwed the pieces around the tubing. The center (squarish) portions of the arms are four layers thick. The round medallions with the 'M's are six layers deep. I still have to fabricate the hydraulic cylinders and add all the piping and wiring along with a bunch of rivets on the bottom portion of the desk. Then I'll get to the front and sides as well.
The desk is coming along nicely and should be a show stopper when we are done.
Stay tuned...
-dan
