Adjustable Drawing/drafting Table
Introduction: Adjustable Drawing/drafting Table
My latest project is super important for me. I have recently decided to go back into product design and wanted an area that I can work from that isn't a boring desk. I decided to design and fabricate my own drawing/drafting table using steel A frame legs and a big hefty piece of Oak.
The design had 3 important parts that were a must.
1. It had to look industrial
2. It had to have a big chunky flat work surface
3. It needed to be adjustable
The gas strut allows me to set the table angle at any angle between 7 and 40 degrees meaning while drawing I can easily change the angle of the table to suit my needs by either pulling up or pushing down on the table.
Supplies
I used the following materials:
For the frame
6M of 40x40x3mm mild steel box section
The steel was supplied by Rapidmetals.co.uk, it was delivered within 2 days of the order being placed, packaged really well and secure, the pieces were cut to the correct length and cut at perfect 90degree angles (which when working with any material at exact lengths, this is important). You can see from the image attached that they amount of different materials they have available is huge and although they are called rapidmetals.co.uk they also have engineering plastics. Although there is a large amount of information on their website they also have an online chat and a super fast email response times.
This is the first time using this company and it will not be the last! I work on multiple projects each year and I will be using rapidmetals.co.uk for all. 787
Thank you rapidmetals for supporting this project.
The mechanism
The adjustment of the table top angle is achieved using two flange bearing units with 20mm ID
One 250mm gas strut to keep the table top at the correct angle (The weight of the table top stops the strut from fully extending.
Two 100mm 20mm wide steel round bar
The table top
The table top is a 980x625x40mm solid Oak kitchen worktop offcut that was found on Facebook marketplace. I decided to use this as its big, chunky, aesthetically what I'm looking for and importantly its flat.
Step 1: Fabricating the a Frame Legs
The first thing I did was use my CNC software to create the legs digitally which gives me the exact angle needed at the top and bottom of the steel to achieve the correct angle of the A frame. I printed the angle sections, checked they were 40mm wide (width of the steel), cut them out and glued them to the ends of the steel with Pritt Stick. Doing this give me the exact lines i needed to cut in the steel and by putting a template on both sides of the steel it means the cuts on both sides are even, especially when cutting with an angle grinder!
I did the same thing for both ends of the leg for all four legs. Once the angles were cut I cleaned and chamfered the edges to allow for a better connection when welding, clamped two legs to the table in the correct place and stick welded down the seam.
When welding I tack welded on one side first, flipped the legs over, checked the joint was ok and welded fully around all edges. Once the top was welded I added small square caps to the bottom of the legs and cleaned all the welds up with a flap disc on the angle grinder.
Step 2: Fabricating the Table Top Mounts
The table top mounts were a very similar process to the A frame legs however I was able to scribe a 45degree line on the steel using a set square as a guide rather than printing the angles.
The mounts are 250mm pieces of steel box section with two 45degree angles, welded together to form a V shape. I created a small 45degree jig using my CNC machine for a project a number of years ago which came in handy to clamp the steel too, ensuring it stayed at the 45degree angle.
I also welded a 100mm piece of 20mm round steel in the corner of the V to create the pivot point. This was done with careful measurements and using welding magnets to keep it in place. Although this is critical, to ensure the pivot points are in the same place on both mounts, the flanged bearings do have some play in them if they don't sit exactly the same
Once the pivot pieces were welded I added extended caps onto the ends of the V and drilled two screw holes to allow me to fix them to the table top.
This was then repeated as two of these mounts are needed.
Step 3: Mounting the Bearings and the Table Top
Mounting the bearings
As the two A frame legs were identical mounting the bearings was easy. 787