One of the key principles that drives the Open Benchtable Project is the concept of being open source. The hope is that creative people can take what we have achieved with the Benchtable design and build on it using whatever ideas they have. Today, just as an experiment (and also just for fun) Timothée, a key member of the OBT team, visited the local Hackerspace here in Taipei to try his hand at creating some compatible OBT brackets using a 3D printer. The results are pretty impressive.

With the help of Kai and Mr Friday, leading members of the Taipei Hackerspace, Tim was able to get hands with a Makerbot 3D printer. Thanks to work from PureBlizz (HWBOT member) who helped create the required files needed for 3D printing, Tim was able to create some pretty good looking compatible spare brackets. The brackets were made using black LPA (bio-degradable) plastic. Of course one of the fun aspects of 3D printing is that he could have chosen any of a number of different colors.

After some experimentation Tim and the team found that using modified software to slow down the printer (underclocking?) actually resulted in fewer errors or blemishes on the final piece. Slowing down by around 40% extended the manufacturing process by ten minutes. In terms of eventual efficiency, it’s not easy to call as Tim was actually producing the brackets in single runs. A full plate of brackets is estimated to take a few hours. Another helpful hint discovered was that UHU glue help make sure small items such as the bracket stay in position.

Check out this video of the 3D printing process in action:

 

Harnessing the Creative Spirit

The OBT team is currently improving this website so that we enthusiasts can share their ideas and creations with others as well as offer access to our own designs and creations (such as the 3D printing files needed to make brackets). Indeed we’ve already seen a potentially great contribution from HWBOT member jaffers who has developed an SFX to ATX power supply bracket (it was in fact requested in the most recent OC-TV stream). This allows OBT users to mount less common SFX form factor power supplies. Check out the image below. It hasn’t been tested just yet, but I believe Tim is already planning a testing session this weekend, after of course he has managed to get it 3D printed. Some guys have all the fun.

You can find the original post from Tim and jeffers on the HWBOT forum here.

Check out these images from the 3D printing session earlier today:

Open Benchtable, Open Source

Watch this space in the next few days as we will hopefully be launching a new part of the site dedicated to helping build a community around the Open Benchtable. We are currently building a new area which explains the purpose of the OBT project, also detailing the nature of  the actual open source licenses involved, the usage models that are allowed as well as a place where creatives can share and collaborate on ideas like the SFX adapter outlined above. We are hoping that OBT owners and enthusiasts will collaborate to come up with some really outstanding ideas. Exciting times lie head.

Don’t have a benchtable yet?

Order your Open Benchtable now! We are producing the table in a limited quantity and It can be ordered now for $149 USD (Community Edition – incl. Open Benchtable + traveler sleeve).