Moth Stool

A wooden stool designed in software and milled with CNC machine. The original idea and the twist-lock mechanism design belongs to twistab and is not permitted to use in commercial purposes. (http://www.twistab.org/)

To make the stool you will need:

Software:

- Adobe Illustrator

- Rhino or Solidworks

Tools: CNC milling machine, hammer and chisel, sand paper

Material: 18mm thick plywood board (the stool is 46 cm high and approx. 35 cm in diameter)

Rhino and Illustrator files from which the stool was made. If you aim for the exact same design you can simply use the rhino file in which parts are already put into specified layers that are needed in further process by the machine. If you opt to to make few alternations of your own and feel more comfortable with illustrator you can do so. You can export your Illustrator drawing as .dxf file and import it in Rhinoceros. However, it is possible that mistakes occur in this transition (unconnected lines etc.) that need to be fixed so preparation may require additional work. If you decide to use Illustrator file, pay attention to sort parts in the right layers in Rhinoceros.

The file prepared in Rhinoceros needs to be further prepared and sent to the CNC machine.

If you have already used CNC machine you may be familiar with setting it yourself, otherwise ask the operator to help you with getting your stool cut.

When the milling is done you will have four parts that need to be polished and assembled.

Use hammer and chisel to break the bonds ('bridges') that held stool in place during milling and remove redundant parts. Next, use some sand paper or a file to smooth the surface.

Finally, assemble the stool as shown in the picture above.