calculate spans on angled table front

Joseph Swift · Post by **Joseph Swift** » Mon, Mar 12 2007, 2:28PM

I'm working on a conference table and am looking for some assistance, I hope I can explain my question.
My table is a desk sort of and is 30 inchs deep, (front to back) and is U shaped with chairs around 3 sides. The desktop will be radius cut but the front will be radiused using angled panels rather than a true radius for cost savings. I know the angles I need to use to create my desired 180 degree U shape and know the overall length and width I need it too be but am not good at figuring out what the panel widths need to be to come out right. The attached file is a crude drawing I made as a presentation rough sketch and it is not to scale(I kinda guessed just to get it close). I now have the job and need to design a desk/table to spec.
Does Ecabs have a function to help with this or is this a cad thing (Idon't have one)? Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks for reading my ramblings.

Joseph

Joseph Swift · Post by **Joseph Swift** » Mon, Mar 12 2007, 2:38PM

I'm not sure if you can manipulate my jpegs so if not here are a couple more veiws

Joseph

Peter Walsh · Post by **Peter Walsh** » Mon, Mar 12 2007, 2:45PM

Joe,
In order to have built a presentation in eCab, you must have built some cabinets, etc. Take the whole thing into the drawing editor and dimension it all up. That should show you the dimensions that you need. Of course, if the cabs are not sized right, you may have to edit each one to adjust things, but you can get to where you need to be to build it without too much difficulty.

The drawing editor icon is the one with the \"t\" square. You can take an individual cabinet or the whole layout to the editor, your choice.
regards,

Joseph Swift · Post by **Joseph Swift** » Mon, Mar 12 2007, 2:55PM

It is the dimensioning up thing I'm having a problem with. Is it best to start with what are reasonable guesses for cabinet widths and then trial and error from there to get it to come out or is there a way to figure this in a more straightforward manner.

Thanks for you time.

Joe-

Peter Walsh · Post by **Peter Walsh** » Mon, Mar 12 2007, 4:11PM

Joe,
I usually start with the overall length and width of the whole project and then divide it down into symmetrical pieces, sizing each cab to one of those pieces so the total when placed together adds up to the final width or length you want. I keep in mind the size of each piece, taking into consideration ease of handling, weight, customer entry door limitations etc. None of that is precise, but a 6ft. long cabinet is heavy and since I work alone, I watch that my pieces don't get so large they are hard to handle or lift while building and finishing.

Other shops build things as big as possible adhering to the rule that bigger is simpler and better. They usually are more than one man shops.

Once you have designed the cabs you can dimension each cab (or the whole assy) and actually print out both cut sheets and optimized nesting to get the best yield out of the sheet goods. Once the cabs are designed lots of data is available to build what you want.
In eCab there is no quick and simple \"instant\" room with a printout on how to build it. You must put in the hours to build each cab and fit them together on the screen. This reveals lots of items that might not have worked if you just started to build without a plan.

I lay out my rooms to the exact size of the customer room and can readily see if the assembly design is getting too big or is too small. Thus, there are no surprises when the stuff lands on the job site as too whether things will fit.

Keep in mind that once you have saved the cab designs, you will be ready for the next similar job with some work already done.

I noticed that there is a training session on eCabs coming up shortly in Vegas. I highly recommend it for many reasons, none the least is to learn just how much can actually be done with the software.
regards,

Joseph Swift · Post by **Joseph Swift** » Mon, Mar 12 2007, 4:32PM

Thanks for your help and advice Peter. As I began laying this thing out I am finding things that I want to be sure not to miss so the mock-up value of the program is quit evident.

Joe-

DanEpps · Post by **DanEpps** » Mon, Mar 12 2007, 7:19PM

Maybe this is what you are looking for Joe.

Take the diameter of the outside circle and multiply it times PI (3.141592) and divide the result by the number of sides it would take to make the table a full circle. This will give you the length of each side for the outside edges.

Then take the diameter of the inside circle and do the same calculations. This will give you the length of each side for the inside edges.

(D*3.141592)/n where n = the number of sides needed to make a FULL circle.

You know the inside circle will be 60\" smaller in diameter than the outside circle (table depth = 30\" * 2 sides for the diameter). The only blank you need to fill in is the diameter of the outside circle.

Note: This works ONLY for sides of equal length.

Joseph Swift · Post by **Joseph Swift** » Tue, Mar 13 2007, 7:42AM

That is exactly what I was looking for Dan. Thank You!