Cave Project: Winterfest Firetable

While working through design ideas for the patio at 9th Street Village, DIYcave co-owners Dave and Tim decided that 9SV needed a fire table. Once they started designing, it was clear that this table would be a great entry for the fire pit competition at the 2019 Oregon WinterFest. Special thanks to Dave for answering questions about the project.

What was your process for this project? We made a lot of sketches, then a full-size mock-up of the top out of plywood. We used a CAD program to start drawing up the table base and the fire pits, and we created a 3D model of the whole table in the program.

Next, we started sourcing materials and reaching out to friends about helping to create parts that were beyond our scope. We had great help along the way from friends and artisans in our community in getting parts we needed for completing the project. From there we started building, working through parts of the design we hadn’t yet figured out, and allowing the table to evolve as it came together.

What skills do you have to know to complete this project? Designing, metalworking, welding, woodworking, finishing

Did you learn any new skills? Combined, we already had many of the skills needed to build the table but had to brush up on and improve upon them.

What Cave equipment did you use to make this project happen? Metal bandsaw and chop saw, welders, plasma torch, oxy/acetylene torch, metal tumbler, needle scaler, grinders, planer, jointer, table saw, routers, bandsaw, chisels, hand planes, propane torches, overhead sander, circular saw, jigsaw, beam compass, die grinder… We even used the auto lift to hold parts up in the air to work on them.

How many hours did this project take? Not sure! A couple of hundred hours.

Did you come across any roadblocks during this project? How did you get through them? The biggest roadblock was finding enough time to work on it. We got through this by having a hard deadline for completion and putting in the hours to get the table done.

What advice would you give someone who wants to join DIYcave and start a project? The equipment and resources available here at the Cave are just phenomenal. The Members who use the Cave range from highly skilled makers to people who have never used a tool before and we all benefit from each other. Becoming a Member and getting access to space where you can make whatever you can dream up or learn new skills is smooth and very rewarding. Think it. Make it!

Have a project you’d like to work on? Interested in becoming a member of our makerspace? Learn more and stop by for a tour.