That's the first thing I thought of. I went to animation school and we used light boxes for hand drawn animation. I actually bought a Crayola one for like $13 while my classmates were spending like $150 on professional ones.
@@dannybracken6982 True words. I'm still working with a light table I made out of a shadowbox from a craft store in college. Probably cost me $10 all in and I'm still using it 15 years later.
You could cut a silicone matt to fit it and use it as a soldering platform (those little grabby arms would really mesh well with it too). It's projects like these that make me wish I had access to a laser cutter.
Norm, if you glue in the base piece and then use a clip or double sided tape for the cutting mat. Then when done for the day, you could flip the platform over and put the pieces into the four areas between the supports. With this you could actually make a few of these and they could stack - making a way to sort multiple projects in the platform you are building them with.... Awesome stuff.
Very simple yet inspiring concept, useful for many... People will come up with a lot of cool variations on this, plus you can basically do the same thing with traditional woodworking without too much asjustment. Loving these videos simple and useful enough for me to get ideas from
I am studying model making at university and I’m going into my second year, watching this is such a great inspiration and I will definitely need to make one for myself
2 pieces of cut clear acrylic added to this project makes a table for cataloguing tiny things. Sandwich the tiny things between the two sheets of clear acrylic, add a light source underneath, and then place a sheet of tracing paper over. Using a marker make a dot on each thing as you count, and either use a hand clicker or just count.
Simple and neat. I dont know if I'd use it as a tray for putting together projects on. The holes on the side are a great place for a small piece to fall and get swept under the box, something that happens to me relatively frequently when putting things together. The other uses are neat, though.
The tray, could maybe include a finger slot on the side so you can pick the platform from the top, not just poke from undernearth. Or, just include a ribbon underneath your platform that you can just pull from the top.
You could add in the front part of the tray storage for small parts or tools for whatever project you are working on. That way you can put the cover back on and no worries about things going missing.
Suggestion: laser cut a 4x4 / 5x5 grid that can click in on top and sit in the corner (or 8x2 / 6x3 that can go along one edge) of the cutting mat for keeping track of small parts like screws while assembling or disassembling things.
Great idea! You might also want to attach a tray to the right or left side (depending on your dominant hand) for tools: tweezers, hobby knife, pencil, sharpie, etc.
What’s weird is in Canada we kinda use both, so 8.5*11 inches is our standard paper size, I know my weight in Lbs not KG, McDonald’s sells a 1/4 lb. and our wood stock is in inches too. But our gas is sold in litres, our food is sold in metric volumes mostly but often listed in imperial too... so our butter is sold in a pound, but listed as 454 grams.... Even the legal marijuana sizing amounts are imperial but with metric listed... 1/4 ounce is 7 grams, 1/2 is 14, 1 ounce is 28 grams... oven is used in Fahrenheit, but temperature outside is Celsius... It’s like ‘Murica is a bad influence on us.
I am a 56 year old Brit, but was educated in Ohio. We were taught the metric system in school and told it would be implemented very soon when I was 10 years old. Of course we were also told we would run out of oil before 2000, that there was a coming ice age, and a population explosion would cause mass starvations.
Cool platform and design! At the intro I was thinking you would be adding some extra buckets or something around the cutting mat to store the bits of not yet finished projets. But now having seen the whole video, I think an extra layer/platfom as an extra project/bucket/etc layer would be very cool. So you can put the cutting mat platform on top of another platform so it creates extra space around the cutting mat. Then the whole can be taken of the table to be stored till the next moment to work on the project again :-)
Norm, I too am intimidated by Abode Illustrator (AI). Would you think about producing an AI workflow video? Or what resources are using to learn (youtube channels, books, websites, etc.). Great job with the video. I can't get enough of you and Adam's work. Keep it up! 👍
Thermoformed trays could fit perfectly inside the four (existing) spaces. They could also (with some changes to one of the two wide sides) be altered such that those become drawers, and inside, pens, brushes, a small notes block, and other Maker tools could be fitted inside.
I like the lighting panel mode! Very cool, it's kind of similar to the way the Viltrox LED panels are set up, with lights around the edge of a diffusion panel.
Beef up the long edges with one more thickness of ply and add a surface that can be clamped to the table so you can use those little Japanese brass bar clamps to hold small parts while cutting / dremmeling etc.
If you still use one of these self healing mats you’re in the Stone Age. They make excellent tempered glass ones that come with risers in all sizes. The tonic studios one is my favorite by far.
Here's an idea... You'll probably make several of the risers so you can have multiple projects going on at once... right? AND I know Adam likes to make a custom tray for the parts... so taking inspiration from that... maybe you can make an outer rectangle that attaches to the platform to convert it to "Storage mode" ... when fitted around the riser it will have walls high enough to keep the parts from falling out _AND_ it may be possible to add a second layer for parts for storage (like a jewelry box), then the whole thing can be stowed away as a unit until you get back to it... Very versatile! I really like the design... Now I need to get myself a LASER cutter... got any recommendations? Which one do you own?
Nice little stand! I have a cheap Chinese 40W laser cutter but have no idea how to use it properly. It only runs on the [pirated?] CoralDraw that it came with and only runs on XP. Do you have any suggestions on resources to learn coraldraw or if it is possible to swap the control board out to allow it to run on newer software?
Of all the little modifications you were adding to it, I thought for sure you were going to put a bottom on it so it could hold tools, paints, supplies etc.
excellent video with a nice design, i was thinking at the start that makes great sense for storing on the go projects. it would be nice to have a link for a dimensions pdf for us without a 3d printer? to cut by hand. i love to make stuff but cant afford or have space for a 3d printer. and as dennis kuscu commented it would be great to see a low level storage system. something only 2 or 3" tall that could be used while we had multiple projects on the go and able to store in a rack to one side could be useful to a lot of us?
I recently found a Janeway collectible toy with a B'Elanna card with it. I paid 15 bucks for it. I think I got a really good deal. The owner of the shop said he had it sitting out for like two months and nobody noticed it. He even gave me a discount on the toy because I spotted it.
I know what you mean. I'm still mad at my father for throwing away my original Green Ranger + Dragonzord figures. These days I only collect coins of a certain age. And only as i encounter them, cause who has the money for that?
What a cool project! What laser cutter do you have? I am looking into getting one myself but I don’t want anything too big. Yours looks like the perfect size
Question. If I was using the cutting matt on this to actually cut, how much pressure can the stand withstand? Is it pretty delicate or fairly sturdy? Thanks!
SOLVING A PROBLEM THAT DOESN'T EXIST, I CRAFT ALL THE TIME AND I HAVE MANY CUTTING MATS FROM A5 TO A3 SIZES, HOW CAN YOU APPLY PRESSURE AND USE RULER WITH ANY ELEVATED PLATFORM?
I'd say this is still in Alpha. The edges should be higher, but that's not nice on the wrists. But then, is a riser good for the wrists? Detatchable sides maybe? Is this comfortable to have in your lap, say on a cartrip, a traintrip, or while in the livingroom on the sofa? Needs more support, 2 more bars at least, there should be ZERO give. Seems very unnececary, but I might try it.
My man before a few days ago my words did not have such power it's really wired i thought my only name was Robby and now i have many I don't even know WTF... see you soon my friend x
Hi Norm, it’s your next door neighbour over in Canada. I like the Amazon links you provide but they are for Amazon USA. When we click on them it screws up our Amazon account. We then have to reset back to .ca So if possible can you add a Canadian 🇨🇦link alongside you US link. This is the 3rd notice I have posted over the last 3 years or so. So if anyone over at Tested would like to help us out please add the link. Hope I make it hear from you soon.
Hell I wish I was making things & flexing my creativity right now. I am super broke and can't afford materials. Especially when I have to figure out a way to get a new CPU since my 7700k took a shit on me.. man times are tough right now. Less than $10 in my checking & savings accounts combined right now.
A light table is awesome for hand drafting. Makes it super easy to trace a drawing under the sheet your working on.
The little opening talk means a lot to a lot of people watching. Thank you, Norm, for taking the time to put yourself out there.
I really like stuff that's not just ONE thing. Very versitle plattform. Great job Norm!
Same. I have been getting into diy sprinter van builds for much of the same reason.
Cool Norm . hey it's a light box for drawing too.
That's the first thing I thought of. I went to animation school and we used light boxes for hand drawn animation. I actually bought a Crayola one for like $13 while my classmates were spending like $150 on professional ones.
@@3DJapan yep cheap and simple aren't always bad. I draw paint and design stuff so a simple little light box is very useful.
@@dannybracken6982 True words. I'm still working with a light table I made out of a shadowbox from a craft store in college. Probably cost me $10 all in and I'm still using it 15 years later.
The soft light box is great for product photography, I need to make one to take pictures of my cars as well, thank you for the tutorial Norm.
You could cut a silicone matt to fit it and use it as a soldering platform (those little grabby arms would really mesh well with it too). It's projects like these that make me wish I had access to a laser cutter.
Norm, if you glue in the base piece and then use a clip or double sided tape for the cutting mat. Then when done for the day, you could flip the platform over and put the pieces into the four areas between the supports. With this you could actually make a few of these and they could stack - making a way to sort multiple projects in the platform you are building them with.... Awesome stuff.
Very simple yet inspiring concept, useful for many... People will come up with a lot of cool variations on this, plus you can basically do the same thing with traditional woodworking without too much asjustment. Loving these videos simple and useful enough for me to get ideas from
I’m amazed by the varied number of uses of your platform!
I am studying model making at university and I’m going into my second year, watching this is such a great inspiration and I will definitely need to make one for myself
2 pieces of cut clear acrylic added to this project makes a table for cataloguing tiny things. Sandwich the tiny things between the two sheets of clear acrylic, add a light source underneath, and then place a sheet of tracing paper over. Using a marker make a dot on each thing as you count, and either use a hand clicker or just count.
Project vector file (for .2" thick material): www.thingiverse.com/thing:4424120
8"x12" Alvin Cutting Mat: amzn.to/3gWdgma
LED light strip: amzn.to/3ePmcrA
Atmosphere aerosol haze spray: amzn.to/3ePicqZ
Helping hands: amzn.to/3eLXbNR
Star Destroyer snap fit kit: amzn.to/370Vjhy
Jigsaw puzzle vector generator: community.glowforge.com/t/jigsaw-puzzle-generator/9284
Simple and neat. I dont know if I'd use it as a tray for putting together projects on. The holes on the side are a great place for a small piece to fall and get swept under the box, something that happens to me relatively frequently when putting things together. The other uses are neat, though.
The tray, could maybe include a finger slot on the side so you can pick the platform from the top, not just poke from undernearth.
Or, just include a ribbon underneath your platform that you can just pull from the top.
You could add in the front part of the tray storage for small parts or tools for whatever project you are working on. That way you can put the cover back on and no worries about things going missing.
Thank you Norm! That was really great and I’m going to make one for my nephew for his small puzzles. He’ll love it. Stay safe!
And...now I want a glowforge...😎
Love this!
Thanks for all the great content!
Suggestion: laser cut a 4x4 / 5x5 grid that can click in on top and sit in the corner (or 8x2 / 6x3 that can go along one edge) of the cutting mat for keeping track of small parts like screws while assembling or disassembling things.
Great idea! You might also want to attach a tray to the right or left side (depending on your dominant hand) for tools: tweezers, hobby knife, pencil, sharpie, etc.
When the US will go to metric system everybody will be happy 😉
What’s weird is in Canada we kinda use both, so 8.5*11 inches is our standard paper size, I know my weight in Lbs not KG, McDonald’s sells a 1/4 lb. and our wood stock is in inches too. But our gas is sold in litres, our food is sold in metric volumes mostly but often listed in imperial too... so our butter is sold in a pound, but listed as 454 grams.... Even the legal marijuana sizing amounts are imperial but with metric listed... 1/4 ounce is 7 grams, 1/2 is 14, 1 ounce is 28 grams... oven is used in Fahrenheit, but temperature outside is Celsius... It’s like ‘Murica is a bad influence on us.
@@H3110NU Are you at least sorry for this mess? :-)
I will never switch to the metric system.
I am a 56 year old Brit, but was educated in Ohio. We were taught the metric system in school and told it would be implemented very soon when I was 10 years old. Of course we were also told we would run out of oil before 2000, that there was a coming ice age, and a population explosion would cause mass starvations.
Excellent as always! That Tested-engraved ply sheet underneath the cutting mat looks incredible as well!
Scale it up to an A3 or A2 with the lighting and you have a overlay drawing table :)
Perfect for motion drawing of tracing something !
Cool platform and design! At the intro I was thinking you would be adding some extra buckets or something around the cutting mat to store the bits of not yet finished projets. But now having seen the whole video, I think an extra layer/platfom as an extra project/bucket/etc layer would be very cool. So you can put the cutting mat platform on top of another platform so it creates extra space around the cutting mat. Then the whole can be taken of the table to be stored till the next moment to work on the project again :-)
Great work, Norm. I love the light box especially.
Nice project Norm!!
Cool project Norm!
Love this project! Thanks for including the vector file and link to the mat. Good seeing you, Norm.
This has the stench of genius all over it Norm! I'll be making one of these tomorrow.
With the lights you could also use it for tracing things.
Norm, I too am intimidated by Abode Illustrator (AI). Would you think about producing an AI workflow video? Or what resources are using to learn (youtube channels, books, websites, etc.). Great job with the video. I can't get enough of you and Adam's work. Keep it up! 👍
Thermoformed trays could fit perfectly inside the four (existing) spaces. They could also (with some changes to one of the two wide sides) be altered such that those become drawers, and inside, pens, brushes, a small notes block, and other Maker tools could be fitted inside.
Very cool, wish I had a laser cutter but I’ll attempt something inspired with regular wood I hope. Nicely done Norm, very versatile build, I love it.
I like the lighting panel mode! Very cool, it's kind of similar to the way the Viltrox LED panels are set up, with lights around the edge of a diffusion panel.
Wow luv watching ur creative build ....kep up....always waiting for ur videos....luv from india
I for one really appreciate the content you guys provide , thanks so much!
Beef up the long edges with one more thickness of ply and add a surface that can be clamped to the table so you can use those little Japanese brass bar clamps to hold small parts while cutting / dremmeling etc.
very cool norm! nice too see you building on here
That is cool. Thank you for sharing.
Hey Norm! very nice project, thanks for sharing, very inspiring to fire up my laser and get into cutting.
You could also replace the cutting mat with a piece of anti-static work mat, trimmed to fit, for assembly of small electronic projects.
Yes! I was thinking a silicone mat either cut to size or custom cast as a “top sheet” for soldering
SUCH a great, achievable project
That came out amazing, great job.
Cool.and I have that bandai star destroyer
Flip it upside down, sorting tray
Add the puzzle support on top of the cutting mat/acrylic for nolling.
Awesome work, Norm! You've come so far since Tested started.
Love it! Awesome work, Norm!
Vector drawings are rad!
Triangles instead of squares gets you better stability with less material.
Great build! This looks really neat!
Why does Adam dislike journalists on one hand and compliment them on the other?
If you still use one of these self healing mats you’re in the Stone Age. They make excellent tempered glass ones that come with risers in all sizes. The tonic studios one is my favorite by far.
Hey, Norm, this is one of your coolest videos! Also, your presentation style is great these days.
The illuminated box could also be a tracing table. Made one for my wife similar to that just 2”x3’.
Norm, I love your content, great ideas. Thanks.
Here's an idea... You'll probably make several of the risers so you can have multiple projects going on at once... right? AND I know Adam likes to make a custom tray for the parts... so taking inspiration from that... maybe you can make an outer rectangle that attaches to the platform to convert it to "Storage mode" ... when fitted around the riser it will have walls high enough to keep the parts from falling out _AND_ it may be possible to add a second layer for parts for storage (like a jewelry box), then the whole thing can be stowed away as a unit until you get back to it... Very versatile! I really like the design... Now I need to get myself a LASER cutter... got any recommendations? Which one do you own?
Cool, let me just get out my laser cutter and get to work.
You sir, are AWESOME!!!
Great work Norm
Thank you Norm!!!
The illuminated version of it could all so be good as onion skin for animating drawings ,
Love it just wish i had a laser cutter .
Hey norm!!
Nice work my friend, it’s like a transformer, risers in disguise
@10:02 niiiice
can you sell this as a kit?
Nice little stand! I have a cheap Chinese 40W laser cutter but have no idea how to use it properly. It only runs on the [pirated?] CoralDraw that it came with and only runs on XP. Do you have any suggestions on resources to learn coraldraw or if it is possible to swap the control board out to allow it to run on newer software?
Of all the little modifications you were adding to it, I thought for sure you were going to put a bottom on it so it could hold tools, paints, supplies etc.
excellent video with a nice design, i was thinking at the start that makes great sense for storing on the go projects.
it would be nice to have a link for a dimensions pdf for us without a 3d printer? to cut by hand.
i love to make stuff but cant afford or have space for a 3d printer.
and as dennis kuscu commented it would be great to see a low level storage system.
something only 2 or 3" tall that could be used while we had multiple projects on the go and able to store in a rack to one side could be useful to a lot of us?
Hey tested crew I hope you are all safe and well with your families.
With a few more tweaks and make three in total, you could turn that into a cheap way to make a three key light system for photos and film making!
Love what you do
Damnit. Now I want a laser cutter.
That looks good
Thank You. Cool Video.
HA! He said LEGO, not LEGO's... Norm, you can come back anytime.
Also, if you really want to make those smoke effects pop, try adding some more backlighting!
I recently found a Janeway collectible toy with a B'Elanna card with it. I paid 15 bucks for it. I think I got a really good deal. The owner of the shop said he had it sitting out for like two months and nobody noticed it. He even gave me a discount on the toy because I spotted it.
I really need to do something with my ToS card collection. They're in excellent condition from decades in a plastic crate.
@@Grandwigg I don't usually collect toys like that. But when I found that I had to scoop it up
@@Grandwigg I knew it would be worth something to somebody one day
I know what you mean. I'm still mad at my father for throwing away my original Green Ranger + Dragonzord figures. These days I only collect coins of a certain age. And only as i encounter them, cause who has the money for that?
The ad the came up right before this was for the glow forge laser cutter.... may not be intended but funny.
What a cool project! What laser cutter do you have? I am looking into getting one myself but I don’t want anything too big. Yours looks like the perfect size
Maybe a shallow drawer beneath one side for tools.
Good idea!
That is pretty sweet
I would love to see Gundam kit builds.
thanks norm
Video starts at 1:32
Question. If I was using the cutting matt on this to actually cut, how much pressure can the stand withstand? Is it pretty delicate or fairly sturdy? Thanks!
very sturdy between the crossbars and the outer edge supports. but definitely better for delicate work and not heavy duty cutting
Mr Norm how do you like the Glowforge over the Dremel lc40
I wish I have a laser cutter too!
The adult Norm, is trying his best to keep the very young and expressive Norm, from going nuts about this design
How hard would it be to convert the files for 3d printing? Or even doing a regular print to glue and cut the plywood?
Should be very easy-take the flat vector and extrude the outlines to .2” thick objects
Very cleaver!!
Why would you raise you cutting mat? For extra.. inaccuracy?
Love it.
I would love to do projects like this but I don’t have access to a laser cutter/CNC machine etc. they’re also rather expensive and can’t afford it.
My fpv drone has 3 missing wires before it's ready to fly again. Better build a platform first.
SOLVING A PROBLEM THAT DOESN'T EXIST, I CRAFT ALL THE TIME AND I HAVE MANY CUTTING MATS FROM A5 TO A3 SIZES, HOW CAN YOU APPLY PRESSURE AND USE RULER WITH ANY ELEVATED PLATFORM?
I'd say this is still in Alpha.
The edges should be higher, but that's not nice on the wrists. But then, is a riser good for the wrists?
Detatchable sides maybe?
Is this comfortable to have in your lap, say on a cartrip, a traintrip, or while in the livingroom on the sofa?
Needs more support, 2 more bars at least, there should be ZERO give.
Seems very unnececary, but I might try it.
My man before a few days ago my words did not have such power it's really wired i thought my only name was Robby and now i have many I don't even know WTF... see you soon my friend x
Hi Norm, it’s your next door neighbour over in Canada. I like the Amazon links you provide but they are for Amazon USA. When we click on them it screws up our Amazon account. We then have to reset back to .ca
So if possible can you add a Canadian 🇨🇦link alongside you US link.
This is the 3rd notice I have posted over the last 3 years or so. So if anyone over at Tested would like to help us out please add the link.
Hope I make it hear from you soon.
Hello, what laser cutter did you use for this project?
Norm has a Glowforge. He mentions it early in the video :)
@@robfenwitch7403 Thank you, it must have past by me at high speed that one....
Which Star Wars Set is this at the beginning?
What laser cutter are you using?
It is a Glowforge, I'm sure Norm has a referral code this is mine glowforge.us/r/XxUXj7
does anyone know what model he was working on? where is can be purchased?
it's this one here--a perfect tiny starter snap fit kit amzn.to/370Vjhy
@@tested Ace, thank you :)
Hell I wish I was making things & flexing my creativity right now. I am super broke and can't afford materials. Especially when I have to figure out a way to get a new CPU since my 7700k took a shit on me.. man times are tough right now. Less than $10 in my checking & savings accounts combined right now.