Expandable Folding Table/Cake Plate/Cupholder

thingiverse

Behold: My entry into the FirstBuild/Thingiverse kitchen countertop challenge! This is an expandable table/cake plate. When folded, the skirt measures 75mm in diameter. When expanded, the table is 100mm in diameter. Everything has .2mm tolerances. Not sure how much it needs. It's currently 100mm fully expanded, but could easily be scaled up to 200 or 300 for a cake plate sized table, and still printed on a small printer. The design is based very loosely on a Fletcher-Capstan table, which was loosely based on a design patented in 1835. The Fletcher-Capstan table has 962 components, and mine has 22 (28 if you have to print the larger pieces in quarters). Also, mine doesn't spin - not as fun, but I was on a 2-week limit here! I think I beat the size expanded/size folded over the 6-sided Fletcher-Capstan table, though. All of the parts have .2mm tolerances, and are aligned in such a way as to make them easily 3-d printable. They all should slip fit into each other. There are individual pieces in different STL files, in case your printer has issues, or in case you need to print out the larger pieces in 1/4 size and glue together. There are only 22 (28 plus glue?) pieces. The pieces, design, and tolerances have taken me more than a week straight to design, redesign, and throw out entirely. The skirt is not attached, but slip fits over the pieces when folded or unfolded. There are 4 large and 4 small rail things. Assembly is completed by pushing the rail pieces into their respective holes in the base, slipping one leaf at a time on from the center, then fitting them all on. The skirt supports for when the table is folded simply slip underneath. I am so glad to get this done! I've put a ton into this! Thanks for the challenge, Thingiverse and FirstBuild! Edit: I'm entry number 250! Too cool! Instructions Made in Rhinocerous 5 - 2-d drawings started in AutoSketch 9.