TableHatch

thingiverse

# Table Hatch [GitHub page](https://github.com/ein-shved/3D-TableHatch) ## About Some IKEA furniture has thick enough tabletop to place there something useful. Additionally all thick panels made from paper and they are hollow, so they are easy to break or cut the holes in them with just knife. ## What do you need to reimplement As I said, you (or maybe your friend) need the 3D printer, knife and thick enough (30 millimeters in my case) tabletop made from paper like IKEA-ones. Additionally you may need for [FreeCAD][1] installed on your PC. It is absolutely free, you can install it from your Linux Distribution repositories or from site. Or you can use prepared by myself models which I used for myself if they suit you. I will start with printing hints in case you choose to use ready-to use models. Then I will show you how to mount the printed hatch, then - how to modify models for ones who familiar with FreeCAD and at last - for ones who do not. ## Printing The model has two parts: the box and cover. You can print the box any way you wish but if you prints it with borders to top you should to handle the borders from their bottom to make them fit snugly to the surface. If you have a dirty or rough printing table - you better to print the cover with face up to achieve the better result. ## Installing This is simple. Cut the hole and place there your new hatch. Be aware of wooden bones inside the tabletop. ## Modifying (Simple) There is the table 'Data' in FreeCAD project with all basic parameters (do not forget to add 'mm' or other units to values): * Box - this is the main values you need to modify. The describe the __inner__ useful square of your hatch * Width - width (by Y) * Depth - length (by X) * TableWidth - the thickness of overall your tabletop. * TableWall - the thickness of plywood the table made from. * InnerSpace - the height you can count on. Calculated from two above minus 2 mm. * BoxWall - the thickness of models's walls. * UpperEdgeHeight - the thickness of the box side * UpperEdgeWidth - the width of the box side * Gap - the extra gap between the box and cover. * PushDistance - the hatch opens like the lever arm. This value is the shortest arm where you push. * CoverTurnEmphasis - how far the rotor will supports the cover. ## Modifying (In detail) 1. Open TableHatch.FCStd file with freecad 2. Double-click on __Data__ table. 3. Click on the value you want to edit and modify it like in Excel. Do not forget to add units ('mm') to your values. See previous chapter to find the values description. 4. Go back to the model view.. 5. Rebuild the model if needed and check is it looks okay. 6. Export models: select one of the fusion (CoverWithBones) with left-click and File - Export, save the stl model (cover.stl). The same for another (BoxBaseEmphasis -> box.stl). [1]: https://github.com/FreeCAD/FreeCAD