Hey guys, I am Sarah. Every week I comb through hundreds of DIY videos preparing projects for our weekly Maker show, Maker Break. Along the way, I find some good projects… and some GREAT ones, And right now, I’m going to share them with you! This is Sarah’s Top 5 DIY Tensegrity Tables,
I am sure by now you have seen these tensegrity table builds floating around the internet recently, and no it’s not sorcery, I checked. I have been addicted to watching these builds so thought it would be perfect for this week’s Top 5! Let’s Go!
#5 is H Carpenter
This is one of the prettiest tensegrity tables I have found so far. It is so simple and so complex at the same time, I love it. One of the reasons this one made it on to my list was that H. Carpenter used only hand tools for this build. Yes, that takes longer and definitely takes more patience, but the end result is stunning. Plus watching the entire build while he uses hand tools is just so soothing. I really like that he chose the darker stain for this piece because it contrasts well with the chains. Plus the glass top keeps this light and airy!
#4 is Chemical 14
These are normally made from wooden materials but what is the fun in always being like everyone else am I right? Apparently Allen had the same thought and decided to take a stab at building a tensegrity table of his own, but his is made out of steel and glass. He used 3” Square steel tubing for most of this build but also some 1” threaded rods and of course chains for the sorcery part of the table. He cut out all of the tubing pieces he needed and welded the frames for the top and bottom of the table together. Next he cut all of the rod’s down to size, and then welded the arms of the table to the frames and of course put it through a weight test. Once the arms were attached it was time to add the chains for all four corners. Once it was all assembled Allen cleaned up all of the tack welds and the corners and added the glass table top! Allen this is sick!
#3 is Greg’s Channel
Greg fell in love with the idea of a tensegrity table so much he sold his dining room table to make room for this build, and I think he made the best choice because this is sweet! This was a fun video to watch and even though he had a few issues along the way he recovered from them quickly, and you would never know by the end result! Greg started by mapping out all of his cuts, and angles for the arches he would need for this project. After cutting / routing the arches out he moved on to the table top. He drilled the holes for the chains and added a supporting frame to the bottom. Next her attached the arches to both ends and routed a beveled edge all around the table. He built these really pretty curved pieces for the bottom of the table and then slowly, and carefully assembled the entire tensegrity table, slowly increasing the tension on the chains until there was no more wobble.
#2 is John Malecki
This is actually the second version of Mr.Malecki’s tensegrity table. In some cases the sequel is not any good, but in this case it only got bigger, badder, and better. His first table was made out of wood and he wanted to beef up the design a little by using steel for the arms and the plates. I have to ask, what is it about building something that draws you into doing a “Strength Test”? This is why women live longer than men. After he safely climbed down, he added some detail to the metal arms and turned them into these fun geometric shapes and ends up painting them orange! Next he walks back into a secret room of treasures from the shop of Malecki and pulls out this gorgeous slab that already has bowtie details, that he finished up and framed out with maple. He attached the wooden slabs to the bottom and the top metal plates, and next was assembling it all together with the metal roping. He had a couple issues with that but figure it out and the final product is awesome.
#1 is Xyla Foxlin
This is the build that brought me to her channel for the very first time and I am hooked on her energy and creativity almost as much as I am addicted to coffee. But not quite. Xyla put her own fun twist on a Tensegrity table of her own using steam bent wood. She jumps into the project by building a little steam box, and then adds her boards that need to be steamed. Once they were done she pulled them out and clamped them to the mold she made. When they were dry she laminated them together. She did her own version of a strength test and then filled in all of the gaps with epoxy and flour. Once she had the frame for the tabletop ready she filled them with two different colors of epoxy. She installed the hardware for the base, and then assembled the entire table. Look at this! It’s so happy! Well, happy after a slight setback. She fixed it though! Don’t worry! Xyla, I am a huge fan of this!
That’s it! I hope you liked my list, but if you find a version of this project you think should have made the list add it to the comments below! Alright, do me a favor and like this video and if you are not already subscribed to Belts and Boxes please do that now, and hit the bell so you don’t miss any of our shows that come out during the week! You can catch me every Friday at 5pm for the Power Tool Week In Review with Rob, and every Saturday at 6pm for the next episode of Maker Break! See you then!
