The Brew Stool

The Brew Stool is a small and sturdy camp stool that is meant to serve as a somewhat portable camp stool that can hold your drinks for you while sitting around the fire! If you finish one drink, you can just reach down and open another one!

The stool is constructed using a CNC machine to cut out identical layers that are then compressed together using spacers and threaded rod.

Materials used

• 8ft x 4ft MDF board
• Threaded rod at least 12in long
• 8 Nuts
• 8 Washers
• 2 cans of Mod Podge - Acrylic sealer
• 2 cans of spray paint (Your choice of color)
• wall mounted bottle opener
• Glass bottles with beverage of choice

Tools used:

• Fusion 360 for Model and CAM file
• Crawlbot CNC Router
• Hammer
• Chisel
• Belt sander
• Rotary sander
• Files
• Wrenches
• Angle grinder (With cutting wheel and grinding wheel)

I used Fusion 360 (which is free for students!) to design my Camp stool and make a CAM file that was compatible with the CrawlBot. In the first model, I just modeled the first layer that also included the 4 spacers which I wanted to use. This is the model that I later used to set up the CAM file in. The second model model is not necessary and only so that I could get a feel for what it would look like when it was put together. The second model is very easy to make and takes about 3 minutes to make by using the move and pattern function.

When setting up the CAM file, make sure you have the machine leave tabs so that the pieces are not completely loose. If the pieces are cut completely free, they can move and then come into the path of the spinning bit which will launch then across the room and potentially destroy the machine.

If you have never used Fusion 360 or have never used the CAM function on Fusion 360, here is a in depth tutorial that was made by my Professor Zane Cochran: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLoGiNhFcH1v...

This will probably be the longest part of the build process depending on your CNC machine and how you have your CAM file set up.

Start by uploading your CAM file to your CNC controller and then home the machine.

Once the machine is Home'd you can begin cutting, I recommend cutting one piece at a time but if you have a good CNC machine that you trust, you could go ahead and set up your CAM file so that it will cut all your pieces in one run.

We originally wanted to use 12 layers but went down to 10 because of time constraints

Once a piece is finished, use a hammer and a chisel to break the tabs and pull out your pieces. Then use a belt sander, rotary sander or a hand file to smooth out all the edges. Or you could wait until you have all your pieces and tighten them together on the threaded rod so that you can sand all the pieces together.

Once you have all your pieces cut out and are happy with the finish on them, take them outside and layer them up with Mod Podge so that the MDF is sealed. Definitely use the Mod Podge because the MDF soaks up the spray paint like crazy. I did 2 layers of Mod Podge and 1 layer of black spray paint.

Once I had all the pieces painted, I put them together and used an angle grinder with a cutting wheel to cut off the excess threaded rod. Then to get rid of the sharp edges, I used a grinding wheel to smooth out the edges. After that I did one last coat of paint before I mounted the bottle opener.

Good job, you did it!!!