Materials | The Renters Set

Project Specifics

Seeking more information about how to replicate this project yourself? Download our comprehensive instructions, and reference our project iterations below.

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What are the right materials?

This project has 3 main components to its materials: wood type, size, and bow. To answer succinctly, each furnishing in this project is made out of a:

4'x4' sheet of flat 3/4" birch plywood.

"I've printed! What now?"

This project prioritizes customizability and ease. There are several ways for you to finish this set to really make these items your own, including sanding, painting, and staining.

Sanding

We highly recommend sanding your pieces after the CNC. Using 80-120 grit sandpaper to take off the sharp corners and remove any splintering from the CNC process can improve your general comfort with your furniture. Taking an orbital sander to each plane can smooth things out even better for later painting or staining, but even taking a sheet of sandpaper and hand sanding can help make your set feel more professional. Make sure to wipe away all sawdust residue before continuing, since leftover dust can interrupt the painting or staining process, or get into your clothes or carpets if left unattended.

Painting

Painting can be a great way to add your own personality to these sets. The design of these sets makes painting quick and easy, whether you want to make each set a uniform color or mix and match. We recommend priming before painting, and to keep in mind that adding layers of paint can increase the thickness of each section of plywood, and may tighten the tolerances when assembling the furniture itself.

Staining

Using wood stain can emphasize the natural beauty of your materials, and adds a layer of protection against water and humidity. The barest kind of protection would be using mineral spirits to wipe away any residue on the surface, but this can also prepare the furniture for staining later. Be sure follow the instructions on your stain, and treat wood in a well ventilated area with appropriate respiratory protection.

Frequent Issues

CNC projects often run into similar issues. We want you to have the best possible experience with your set, and offer up our solutions to some common problems.

Incorrect tolerances

In the event of too loose or too tight furniture, we do have a few recommendations. It is better that your slots are too tight, since our solution to that is taking low grit sandpaper to the panel or a wood file to the slots and carefully removing thickness. CNC furniture also usually loosens up a little over time, so it's not too bad an issue if your pieces are really tightly slotted together. However, if you print your pieces too wide, or found things have loosened up and are too wobble, taking thin cards, paper, or plywood shards to wedge in between pieces can help minimize issues.

Gaps in lamination

Plywood, especially lower grade plywood, can have errors only visible after cutting into it. These gaps in lamination rarely impact the structural integrity of the piece, but can be visually distracting. The best way to fill these gaps is mix 50% sawdust and 50% wood glue, and packing this paste into any holes in the laminate. It's important to give wood glue a full 24 hours to cure, and only sand after things are completely set. This paste will not stain in the same way as the rest of your wood, so it's important to take that into consideration when finishing your pieces.

Too wobbly

Issues with wobbliness can really impact the user experience of CNC furniture. We recognize that issues can arise in the process, and sometimes the best and easiest way to solve these is with hardware. If you decide to add screws or nails to your furniture, it is best to pre-drill holes before adding hardware, since plywood can split and crack very easily when it's lamination is compromised, using 2.5" to 3" hardware. Other options include wedging card stock, paper, or thin layers of plastic in hidden spots in your furniture; while it's inelegant, it works wonders, and is easy to remove or alter at a later date.