Ken Isaacs - How to Build Your Living Structures https://archive.org/details/How.To.Build.Your.Own.Living.Str...
Wow, this is awesome, thanks for sharing. Perhaps a bit jury rigged, but I love the ingenuity and the rough aesthetics.
Grid Beam
41–50 of 71 posts
Re: Grid Beam
#42Earlier quoted context omitted.
I use 80/20 (this is a version 80/20 ready tube with a wooden option) all the time at work to build temporary (and sometimes permanent) desks, tables, cabinets, and test stands. There are a few advantages of predrilled hardware like this: 1) Holes always line up (don’t need to worry about drilling off-center) 2) only one tool needed (bandsaw to cut to length), reduces how many people need to get safety training on ot…
80/20 and other T/V slotted things seems like better approach for system like that
I've started collecting a system of 1" steel tube (sadly now 3USD/ft). make little 90 degree clamps out of 1 1/4 tube (w/ 1/8 walls) that have been cut down the middle the long way. weld little flanges on em and tap one side.
now you can pretty much go wild. desktop? throw some of the 1 1/4 on the bottom and you can just plug in the legs. monitor? make a bracket with a 10cm x 10cm vest plate welded on. wall panels in wood or steel with 1" backing frames? make some clamps with 2 1/2 and 1/4 wall tube
the 1/16 wall tube is fairly easy to cut with a manual hacksaw. get a portaband if you are spending too much time.
I really do think everyone is easily capable of learning to do this kind of work with a minimal investment of time and tooling and really can't imagine why people don't just make their own shelving and other basic furniture.
Re: Grid Beam
#43I mean, it's cute but I'm pretty sure most DIYers own a drill. Or wood glue. "A bunch of holes in a matrix" is useful if say you're designing a wall where you want to attach different things at different positions, but for anything else permanent you can just... buy the raw stock and drill them at exact spot you need My experience with something smaller scale (Makerbeam, screws used to press fit instead of holes so i…
I use 80/20 (this is a version 80/20 ready tube with a wooden option) all the time at work to build temporary (and sometimes permanent) desks, tables, cabinets, and test stands. There are a few advantages of predrilled hardware like this: 1) Holes always line up (don’t need to worry about drilling off-center) 2) only one tool needed (bandsaw to cut to length), reduces how many people need to get safety training on ot…
"Lining up" is a huge time-saver - compare making some shelves out of wood, where you will want to be fairly careful to measure the position of each shelf on each side to make them square and level, with "count 20 holes down on each side" (and I say this as someone who mostly knocks things together out of wood since I have more of it around - but still admire the Lego-esque predictability of extrusions).
Re: Grid Beam
#44Someone created a CNC mill to make Grid Beams [1]. However, I cannot find anything authoritative on whether Grid Beam itself is open source.
[1] https://hackaday.com/2017/09/27/beamcnc-computer-controlled-...
Re: Grid Beam
#45Wow! Love to see this here! I'm currently sitting at a desk made of Grid Beam!
Grid Beam is great for prototyping, temporary projects, or furniture where you'd want customizability/flexibility. Folks are right about the aesthetic - it ain't pretty. But the flexibility is well worth it for some things.
TLA suggests buying a kit but you can make it yourself - I bought a drill press and a bunch of 2x2s and went to town. It's a time sink for sure, but once you've got a bunch of "sticks" (as they call them) drilled and standing by, you can quickly put together all sorts of things. Last weekend my SO wanted some shelves for growing her seed starts and in less than half an hour we built them out of Grid Beam. When the seed starts are done, we'll take the shelves apart and the Grid Beam can be re-used for the next project.
Basic DIY instructions: cut 2x2s to lengths of 3, 6, 9, 12 inches, and multiples of 6 inches after that (1', 1.5', 2', etc). Drill holes 3/4" inch apart. The first holes should be 3/8" from each end. I use 5/16" holes I think, and 1/4-20 bolts.
Some other projects I've made with grid beam:
- my desk
- a card table
- a bike stand for maintenance
- a music stand
- 3d printer enclosure (beats a lack stack in customizability)
- High school plays: stage furniture/sets/props (painted of course)
- garage furniture - work bench, shelves, etc
Some more resources:
- Read a sample of "The Grid Beam Book"[2]
- Buy it from the publisher [1]
- Open source design for a Grid Beam making machine [3]
[1] https://newsociety.com/books/h/how-to-build-with-grid-beam-pdf?sitedomain=us&undefined
[2] https://books.google.com/books?id=H9D4l0q96vAC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_vpt_buy#v=onepage&q&f=false
[3] https://www.core77.com/projects/69637/BeamCNC-Works-with-Common-Materials-to-Help-Produce-Grid-Beam-ProjectsRe: Grid Beam
#46I mean, it's cute but I'm pretty sure most DIYers own a drill. Or wood glue. "A bunch of holes in a matrix" is useful if say you're designing a wall where you want to attach different things at different positions, but for anything else permanent you can just... buy the raw stock and drill them at exact spot you need My experience with something smaller scale (Makerbeam, screws used to press fit instead of holes so i…
> I mean, it's cute but I'm pretty sure most DIYers own a drill. Or wood glue.
I do, and I use them to make gridbeam.
Re: Grid Beam
#47Someone created a CNC mill to make Grid Beams [1]. However, I cannot find anything authoritative on whether Grid Beam itself is open source. [1] https://hackaday.com/2017/09/27/beamcnc-computer-controlled-...
> whether Grid Beam itself is open source
"Grid beam is a system of beams in which the width of each beam is equal to the hole spacing."
There's your source right there.
Re: Grid Beam
#48My sister asked me the other day "is gridbeam a thing?" and I said "yes, for me and about 5 other people in the world." Nice to see it make the front page of HN. I had been trying to come up with a modular construction system for years and when I discovered gridbeam it was pretty game-changing. Not so much because it saves me from having to do any woodworking, though being able to re-use the parts is nice when it happens, but more because it provides a framework within which I can design parts and know they'll all be compatible with each other. If this desk project doesn't work out, I know it'll be easy to re-use everything. More thoughts: https://www.nuke24.net/plog/26.html
Re: Grid Beam
#49For an even more customizable solution check out 8020(1) They’re not cheap, but they have engineers on staff who will help you finalize your project. I’ve used them for several things in the past and have been quite happy. (1) https://8020.net/
This is, in fact, just a (more expensive) version of 80/20 Ready-Tube with a wooden option, which is really nice (80/20 is aluminum only). It should be compatible with existing 80/20 hardware. 80/20 also offers project plans for some furniture: https://8020.net/xdiy1601
Wow, I made an account to download the BoM and that coffee table’s total price of materials is $1108 and the end table is $1378. I was expecting less than half that.
Re: Grid Beam
#50Wood's pretty re-usable as is, and these look ugly as sin