Laser cut bamboo TV stand

Long story short:  Got a new 40″ LCD TV, need a TV stand.  Didn’t want to spend $200 on some crappy box stand.  Didn’t want to make a plain stand.  Thought that laser cutting + bamboo + silly design ought to make a good combination.  (This is the WTF is it thing…)

Death to the unbelieves who thought this will collapse!
Death to the unbelievers who thought this will collapse!

Read on for the build process…

Design

I wanted something different, unique, or maybe just weird and the first concept that came to me was this :

A little bit of chaos...randomly support struts
A little bit of chaos...randomly aligned support struts

It was going to be out of MDF, with the plates painted black and the supports painted red but I figured I probably suck a painting when I got drawn in by the BAMBOO material Ponoko had on offer.

Bamboo is a wicked temptation, almost 3 times more expensive than thicker MDF and limited to 5.5mm thickness I figured I needed a new design.  No need to show that here… lets just skip to see the result shortly.

Summary of design process (with links!) was to use Alibre Xpress to model up all the pieces and lay it as a flat pattern, export the flat pattern to DXF, convert it to SVG using Kabeja, check and apply Ponoko template using Inkscape and voila…

Assembly

The unpacking joy was already covered in a previous post which included a odd-ball of filler design as not to waste the material.  A replacement piece was kindly sent from Ponoko to replace the one damaged in shipping (Thank you Ponoko).  Here are all the pieces laid out on my snooker/table tennis table.

All the laser-cut bamboo pieces from Ponoko nicely laid out
All the laser-cut bamboo pieces from Ponoko nicely laid out

Remember to use protection dear…

If you looked closely there’s a can of ‘Danish Oil’ on the table which will shortly be applied to the wood to give…

A layer of danish oil to protect and stain the wood
A layer of danish oil to protect and stain the wood

Shiny! Much prettier too 🙂  Wait for it to dry and flip it over to coat the other side and the process can continue!

Putting it together…

Piecing it together is as simple as slotting all the pieces together as the following photos will show.

Piecing it together bit by bit, 'Slot & Play' style.
Piecing it together bit by bit, 'Slot & Play' style.
Basics of the frame assembled, structural rigidity achieved.
Basics of the frame assembled, structural rigidity achieved.
Plate plonks on...
Plate plonks on...
Plate slides in!
Plate slides in!
Plates lock in...with these little pieces...
Plates lock in...with these little pieces...
Close up of the decorative bits.
Close up of the decorative bits.
Looks kind of 'weird' doesn't it?
Looks kind of 'weird' doesn't it?

No sticky sticky yet

I’ve not applied any PVA glue yet at this stage but just wanted to test out if it can hold some weight.  Even without any glue all the pieces are locked in and stayed all together.

All pieces in place, holds together without glue!
All pieces in place, holds together without glue!
Rear view...
Rear view...
Load testing it with my PC
Load testing it with my PC

Load testing again with the PC on the top shelf...
Load testing again with the PC on the top shelf...

Final touches…

A bit of glue here and there and felt furniture feet on the bottom of the piece as not to scratch the tiles…

PVA Glue is always good...
PVA Glue is always good...
Furniture feet!
Furniture feet!
Furniture feet making their appearance again.  Camera flash on shows a more true colour of the bamboo.
Furniture feet making their appearance again. Camera flash on shows a more true colour of the bamboo.

The moment of truth!

  • It did not collapse. (I proved all those unbelievers wrong! Go zoom in on the first photo!)
  • It is not too expensive.
  • It was kind of fun and a great learning experience.
  • It proves that someone (me) who hasn’t made anything with wood since higher school still can create something with these new tools.
  • It is not too pretty/arty, but its different and unique and that’s good enough for me.
...it didn't collapse?!?!?
...it didn't collapse?!?!? (And why is this photo on its side...oops)
Side view - Media PC facing the wrong way...(oops again, so is the floor)
Side view - Media PC facing the wrong way...(oops again, so is the floor)
Rear view...
Rear view...

A plug for the great software and great service used to make this…

Ponoko and Alibre plug :)
Ponoko and Alibre plug 🙂

5 thoughts on “Laser cut bamboo TV stand”

  1. Hey JC, stand is brilliant, a real winner by my standards!!!! encapsulates all avenues of ingenious design – prob didnt cost u much to make either!! awsome stuff

    1. Hi Scott, I never thought anyone would be interested. But I suppose listing it won’t hurt 🙂 Will put it up sometime this week!

  2. A great job Madox, I will try to do it by myself, it’s amazing, I am very interested to do it.

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