It has been an incredibly eventful last couple of weeks working on my final project and there has been a ton of progress towards the final result. After a discussion with the professor, I realized that the scope of building the entire project from scratch is not feasible with the constraints of the Idea Forge shop’s abilities and timeline. So as a pivot, I am utilizing two separate tables that fit inside each other and combining them into one design and then changing their aesthetic to polish the project into the modern minimalistic aesthetic that I am hoping for.  Below is an image of the two tables that I am using as a starting point:

From this starting point, I first started by taking apart the small table for I will only be using the tabletop from this part in my design which you can see in the disassembled image below:

I am thinking though that I could end up using the base of this little table in a balancing solution if I end up having a bending moment that is too significant for the current large base since it does have a cutout on one side. Caring that thought in my back pocket I then went on an adventure into The Home Depot where I worked with an amazing associate who is a fellow engineering student in a masters program here at CU who was a huge help in helping me find the hinge and brace I needed to properly support the lower table while also allowing it to move in the way I am desiring. The hinge and support that I selected are below:

I will need to paint these parts to match the aesthetic after the fact but for now, I feel confident that they will perform their responsibilities well in supporting the action of rotating the lower table top. Look to the next two weeks I will be focusing hard quickly on getting the bottom table mounted and functional to ensure that I have a working final project then I will be taking it back apart to paint the components needed and get the insert into the top table top. With these specific tables, it is quite simple to remove the table tops from their base so it will not be difficult to remove this piece and just do the insert for the one tabletop without bringing the entire artifact into the Idea Forge which will make their staff much happier and make my transportation far more manageable.  I look forward to continuing to work on this project and cant wait to share the final result with everyone! Stay tuned for the final product coming soon!