Mini Tetrahedral Tensegrity Table Details

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10 entries

1 Introduction: Overall Design, and Fun with Geometry

This series of blog posts describes the design and construction of the Mini Tetrahedral Tensegrity Table I built recently. The SketchUp model is av...

2 Preparing the Pyramid Stock

The first step in building the pyramids was cutting the angled strips for the segments. [Tensegrity Tetrahedral Table - Parallelepiped Dimensions....

3 Pyramid Templates and Jigs

Before starting to cut the pyramid segments, I cut/built some templates from the second half of the maple board I resawed and planed for the pyram...

4 Cutting the Pyramid Segments

Finally, I was ready to start cutting the side segments, starting with the top ends. I clamped the template to the sled with its vertical edge ali...

5 Beading Wire and Crimp Tubes

Early on, I was pretty sure I was going to use some kind of wire to hold the table together. I remembered working on a craft project with my daugh...

6 Assembling the Pyramids

Now that I knew I was going to use beading wire with crimp-secured end loops, I had to decide how I was going to connect the two pyramids. (I decid...

7 Making the Top and Bottom Disks

I had an old scrap walnut board with lots of character that I thought would be perfect for this project. I had hoped I could resaw it in half so I...

8 Disk Details--Attaching the Outer Support Wires

Before I could apply finish to the disks and attach the pyramids, I had to iron out the details of how to attach the three outer support wires. Th...

9 Finishing the Disks and Attaching the Pyramids

I wanted to use glue to attach the pyramids to the disks, because I didn't want any visible fasteners. But it was very apparent that I would need ...

10 Tensioning the Wires and Completing the Project

At this point, the moment of truth had arrived. It was time to attach the tensioning wires and hope they didn't tear the pyramids apart or result ...