Patio Side Table

thingiverse

<b><u>Updates</u></b> <b>31/01/21</b> Just in case you wanted a different type of connector for your table I have added 3 new ones. I have printed them all in TPU and they work pretty well. I have printed the white ones, which are a little thicker in ABS as well. I am not sure how the green one will print in other materials because it is quite thin. TPU does not split or break the same way as other materials so it is fine in TPU. Note: The glass Clips will not fit these connectors. You will require a different method of fastening a top on the table. <b><u>Summary</u></b> I needed some small side tables for my chairs on my deck. I checked on line and in the local big box stores and found that these were quite expensive. The only inexpensive tables I found were either not suitable for outdoor use or were cheap plastic ones. I happened to have recently rebuilt one of my decks and had several aluminum pickets left over. These were 19mm (3/4") square powder coated extrusions of about 3' in length. I figured that I could make a small table with about 4 of these pickets. I checked the pricing for aluminum on line and found it was quite expensive and then checked the big box stores for pricing of the pickets and found that I could get them on sale for about $2.50 each. Each table would require about $10 CAD in aluminum. I then checked for something to put on the top and found that for about $10 CAD I could purchase a 12x12 glass cutting board. Since these were to be small side tables I figured that would be a large enough top. I designed and printed top corner pieces (4 required) and base corner pieces with short legs/feet (4 required) that would hold the aluminum extrusions. To ensure the whole thing didn't just fall apart I drilled holes in the aluminum and inserted the aluminum caps from some blind rivets I had lying around. Anything with a 3mm diameter should work such as some small nails or machine screws but the rivets were a good size and cheap. I popped off the cap and just pushed these through the holes so they can still be removed to disassemble the unit. The placement and size of the holes in the aluminum extrusion is important. They need to be very exact. I drilled mine slightly larger to make fitting them easier. A jig and a drill press would make this job a little easier. Also make sure that the fit between the corners and the extrusion are snug but not too tight. If they are too tight they are hard to remove and too loose will make the unit rickety. TPU parts make a snug fit a little easier, but ABS is way easier to sand or file down to size. Make sure you spend some time and scale your print to fit perfectly before printing all the parts. I cut the aluminum pickets in half for the legs giving me about 18.5" for each leg (2 pickets - 4 legs) I cut up two more pickets into 8.5" lengths to make the 4 top and 4 bottom rails. This used a total or 4 pickets for a single table. The length of each rail will impact what size the glass will need to be. My glass measures 11.75"x11.75" so with the 8.5" rails this fits the size defined for the glass corner holders. This is important as these corner pieces need to be pretty close or they will not clip the glass in place properly. If the glass top is a different size, either the cross pieces (rails) need to be resized or the glass clips have to be redesigned to fit. If you require a different sized corner piece let me know and I can see if I can help with that. Of course there are other ways of fastening the top to the frame as well. To secure the glass onto the frame I decided I would make corner pieces that fit together. This should make the pieces easier to put onto the frame and easier for the glass to fit into. Each corner is made up of two parts that slide together into the corner and can be fastened together with a small bolt if necessary. This allows the glass to be easily removed for cleaning if desired. I printed the top corners in ABS and all other parts in TPU. All parts could be printed in TPU if preferred. The top and bottom corners could also be printed in ABS but the top glass clips should be printed in TPU so the materiel can be bent to fit the glass into place. Depending what you have handy around the house, each table will probably cost less than $30 CAD. There are no cross braces so the table does not have a lot of structural support for horizontal movement (lateral strength.) It should be fine to hold drinks etc that you would place on a patio side table. Extra strength could be achieved by adding cross bracing if desired.