Master Thesis SS18

”Open Design for Wood Structures” consists of a series of strategies to enable anyone, using low-cost fabrication machines, tomanufacture modular interlocking wooden elements without acquiring advanced crafting or technological expertise. The proposedapproach relies on two complementary steps: A method to generate cutting guides and templates and manufactured them with low-cost FDM 3d printers. These allow accurate manufacturing of timber joinery on conventional wood-working machines. A workflow for the design and fabrication of reversibly assembled modular structures composed of timber elements with custom joinery. Due to the highprecision required to fabricate with timber joinery, such structures are usually produced by highly skilled craftsmen or by using advanced CNC manufacturing processes . As an alternative, Felix proposes a method to analyze a given joint, and based on a selected wood-working machine, define the relative placement between the tool and the timber element for cutting the required shape. The positions are then encoded in a 3d printed cutting template, which allows a user to precisely place a wooden part on a woodworking machines, allowing precise fabrication without need for advanced wood-working skills. A first iteration of the method relied on creating cuttingguides to be used on a table saw. A second iteration, further reduced the need for large tooling, by replacing the table saw with ahand-held mill.