OpenWorkstand

Inspiration

I needed a small workstand to keep my projects organized and neat on my desk, and thought it would be a good idea to incorporate a modular design for attachments (soldering hands, vice, etc.)

What it does

It replaces miscellaneous separate tools of a normal workbench with one workstand and small external modules.

How I built it

I drew up both the soldering hands and workstand in FreeCAD before printing them out in PLA on the hackathon-provided makerbot. I used

Challenges I ran into

The editable file of the workstand was lost through a computer problem, and the initial design for the helping hands was not workable (the key to fix the hands to the stand was larger than the keyhole).

Accomplishments that I'm proud of

Having a printed model that actually does a job (not just a prototype).

What I learned

CAD menus are annoying to understand, but useful. Also, have USB keys handy

What's next for OpenWorkstand

More modules, an easily editable base file for people to design their own modules.

Built With

• freecad
• makerbot
• misellaneous-hardware
• pla