Can this table be made with an indexer for under $30

[Gerald_D]

We buy these tables for $25-$30 from guys who sell them by the roadside in our neighbouring country, Mozambique. I think the folding legs, hand-carved from a single log, are amazingly clever. (The top diameter is about 20").

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[Evan Curtis]

Gerald I don't have an indexer but I've repaired a couple of those tables for a friend that brought them home from Africa. I had to drill and insert 1/4" pins where they had cracked (from rambunctious (sp?) children) in the cross grain section as can be seen in the 5th picture down. Anyway I always thought they where a clever design also. If you could use a wood that was less likely to split or crack across grain, or perhaps use a penetrating epoxy it would prove a stronger design.

[Ron Brown]

Gerald,

At one time I wrote some code to do both a wooden chain and a "ball and cage" on a conventional shopbot. With an indexer I feel sure that could be "carved". There might be a little work needing to be done with conventional carving tools. I did leave a bit of material needing to be done by hand with the chain and ball in cage on purpose.

Ron Brown

[Normand Blais]

Gerald clever design indeed. The other thing of interest is that this is build from a piece of log.Most people would take board from a "round" tree glue them into a square and turn it round before starting to carve. Working with raw wood make sense economically and aesthetically.
Happy new year. Long live your Forum