{"id":355,"date":"2019-03-31T01:36:16","date_gmt":"2019-03-31T01:36:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/commons.princeton.edu\/epics\/?page_id=355"},"modified":"2019-05-06T20:42:32","modified_gmt":"2019-05-06T20:42:32","slug":"countr","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/commons.princeton.edu\/epics\/about-2\/2019-2\/countr\/","title":{"rendered":"Collapsible Counter"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Students<\/h3>\n

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Andrew Slade<\/div>\n
Computer Science, 2019<\/div>\n

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Project Description<\/h3>\n

The vast majority of students at Princeton live on campus for all four years \u2014 sharing common rooms, bedrooms, and bathrooms with other students. And unfortunately, when it comes to student housing, Princeton isn\u2019t known for its spacious living conditions. While this often pushes students to make the most efficient use of their space, this can become especially difficult when students wish to invite others to their rooms, whether for social events or casual get togethers. My project addresses this need by creating a space-efficient social piece: a collapsible counter.<\/p>\n

The counter is able to fold in half, allowing students to place it underneath their bed, desk, or in their closet when not in use. The primary feature of my counter is its collapsible capabilities. Imagine a small wooden counter that was split in half horizontally and then put back together with hinges that connect the top and bottom halves. That\u2019s essentially how my counter operates, but with a removable countertop that secures the upper-half of the counter when it\u2019s in the upright position. I hope my collapsible counter inspires Princeton students to find other ways to make the most of their space-limited dorm rooms, ultimately improving the quality of life for Princeton students.[\/vc_column_text][vc_zigzag el_border_width=”8″ css=”.vc_custom_1553988641874{margin-bottom: 20px !important;}”][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

Technical Background<\/h3>\n

[\/vc_column_text][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”2\/3″][vc_column_text]The two biggest challenges to building collapsible furniture are 1) creating a painless collapsing\/reassembling mechanism and 2) ensuring the stability and strength of the furniture. The collapsible counter overcomes these challenges by relying on two key technologies: the hinge and the \u201cedge in groove\u201d joint. To begin, a hinge is a mechanical joint that allows two objects to swing across a common axis, allowing only a limited range of motion. Each hinge is made up of three components: the pin, knuckles, and leaves (Marlboro Hinge). See Figure 1 for a visualization. The two leaves connect to each object, and each leaf has a knuckle \u2014 a set of hollow cylinders in which a pin can be inserted. The knuckles of both leaves cleanly align, allowing for the insertion of a pin that both holds the knuckles together and allows the leaves to rotate around a common axis. For any woodworking project that is seeking limited rotation between two pieces of wood around a fixed axis, the hinge is the ideal joint; and hence, the joint that\u2019s used to connect the top and bottom halves of the counter\u2019s sides. This allows the top-half of the counter\u2019s sides to fold downwards while the bottom half are fixed together via wood glue \u2014 allowing for a painless collapsing\/reassembling.<\/p>\n

Because the sides of the counter fold downwards, the project cannot support a countertop that\u2019s permanently fixed to its sides. This is where the second key technology, the \u201cedge in groove\u201d joint, comes in to play. The \u201cedge in groove\u201d joint is a unique joint between two boards where the edge of one board fits into the groove of another board, creating a flush and sturdy connection between the two boards. This technology is applied to the collapsible counter, similarly to Figure 2; however, the connection is between perpendicular boards instead of parallel boards. \u201cEdge in groove\u201d joints are most useful when seeking a strong yet removable connection between two pieces of wood (Rodriguez); and, for this reason, is the method in which the countertop is connected and secured to the counter\u2019s sides, when they\u2019re in the upright position. With regards to creating the groove, a 3D carving machine (i.e. X-Carve) was used to carve the exact dimensions of the groove into the countertop.[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]\u201cBEARING HINGES DIAGRAM.\u201d Palladium Products, Palladium Products: The Hardware Specialists, www.palladiumproducts.com\/bearing-hinges.html. (Figure 1)<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cHome Design Ideas.\u201d Home Design Ideas, Glen Oaks Pathology, glenoakspathology.com\/beveled-edge-wood-flooring. (Figure 2)<\/em><\/p>\n

Rodriguez, Mario. \u201cAll About Tongue-and-Groove Joints.\u201d FineWoodworking, Fine Woodworking, 13 Nov. 2018, www.finewoodworking.com\/2005\/09\/12\/all-about-tongue-and-groove-joints.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cStandard Hinge Terminology.\u201d Marlboro Hinge, Marlboro Manufacturing, Inc, www.marlborohinge.com\/hinge-terminology.<\/em>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/3″][vc_single_image image=”503″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes”][vc_single_image image=”504″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes”][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][vc_zigzag color=”black” el_border_width=”8″ css=”.vc_custom_1553988646466{margin-bottom: 20px !important;}”][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

Design Drawings<\/h3>\n

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Fabrication Process<\/h3>\n

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The first step of my fabrication process was designing and prototyping via 3D-modeling (using the SketchUp software). Given the complexity of collapsible furniture, there was a number of different paths I could have taken in creating a collapsible counter, and SketchUp allowed me to test each one out. Once I settled on a particular approach — using \u201cedge in groove\u201d joints to connect the counter in the upright position & hinges for collapsibility — I tested its feasibility in greater detail and exact measurements. Once I arrived at a final model, the next step was creating the \u201cedge in groove\u201d joints since my entire project relied on this concept. I carved the grooves into one-inch thick wood using the X-Carve and then cut each groove into its own block using a band saw. Once I had these pieces and tested them on my wood to provide a proof of concept, it was time to cut my wooden materials to the proper dimensions — and I did so using a table saw.<\/p>\n

Now that I had all of my materials needed to create the counter, it was time to paint. I spray painted orange and black designs into the wood using painter\u2019s tape and spray paint. And now that I had all of my materials painted, it was time to actually connect the pieces. First, I connected the bottom half of my counter using wood glue and 90-degree clamps. Then, I connected each piece of wood to its corresponding lower half using hinges, half-inch long screws, and a drill. For extra stability, I used 4 hinges for the front piece, and 3 hinges for each side piece. Next, I pulled up each side of the counter and placed the \u201cedge in groove\u201d joints in what would be their final location when securing the upper halves of the counter for use. Once I had the joints where I wanted them, I glued the countertop to the top of the joints, ensuring that once the glue dried that the countertop would then fit perfectly on top of the three sides. I initially tried to drill the joints to my countertop, however the screw I used was too thick and caused the wood to split. Therefore, I figured it was safest to glue it instead. Lastly, I used a plastic hook to attach a Princeton Tiger decoration to the front of the counter.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Final Result<\/h3>\n

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[vc_row][vc_column][vc_zigzag el_border_width=”8″ css=”.vc_custom_1553988634650{margin-bottom: 20px !important;}”][vc_column_text] Students [\/vc_column_text][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/6″][vc_single_image image=”506″ img_size=”100×100″ css=”.vc_custom_1554158560015{margin-bottom: 0px !important;border-bottom-width: 0px !important;}”][vc_column_text] Andrew Slade Computer Science, 2019 [\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/6″][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/6″][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/6″][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/3″][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][vc_zigzag el_border_width=”8″ css=”.vc_custom_1553988638130{margin-bottom: 20px !important;}”][vc_column_text] Project… <\/i><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1379,"featured_media":767,"parent":212,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-355","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-12"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/commons.princeton.edu\/epics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/355","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/commons.princeton.edu\/epics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/commons.princeton.edu\/epics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/commons.princeton.edu\/epics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1379"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/commons.princeton.edu\/epics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=355"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/commons.princeton.edu\/epics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/355\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":772,"href":"https:\/\/commons.princeton.edu\/epics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/355\/revisions\/772"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/commons.princeton.edu\/epics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/212"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/commons.princeton.edu\/epics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/767"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/commons.princeton.edu\/epics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=355"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/commons.princeton.edu\/epics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=355"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/commons.princeton.edu\/epics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=355"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}