Although the community here surpasses my general knowledge of MT, I am an Industrial Woodworker with 20 + yrs. exp. and would be more than willing to help in any steps of the fabrication process .I’ll try to contribute where I can If anyone has any specific questions. My field of expertise covers: woodworking of all types/techniques , acrylic/pvc/polycarbonate...fabrication and manipulation , layout and design ( cad export;import/sketchup ) , design developement/improvement...My other skills probably don’t apply here. So where you may fall short maybe I can help.
I guess continue the thread or pm me.

Where were you when I was building my table? I could have used your help a lot! lol

Glad you’re volunteering your expertise! I’m sure people will find it useful. =)

I knew you were a craftsman jay! Woodworker huh? Cool. I love wood. I’ve done a few nice pieces in my time.
I’m sure you will, at some point, help someone with all that experience behind you.
There’s plenty of woodworking and plastics fabricating to do in building one of these tables.

I see most people have been using U-CHANNEL aluminum to run their IR LED’s. Has anyone considered H-CHANNEL? It would provide a clean way to run the wiring without a chance of snags/etc.

That’s a great suggestion and a beautiful illustration!
All the wires and resistors are in their own channel, nicely protected.

I wanted to use H Channel but i wasnt able to find them at the local hardware shop so i settled for a U channel.

Taha

I have thought about getting an h channel. But i spent days trying to find someone that sold it. The place i work at currently (Home Depot) doesn’t and neither does their competition. I called some metal places but they only have hudge ones that are 1” and up in height. They are quite hard to find. If any one knows of any places in Toronto Canada taht does sell H channel metal at 1/2”, please do share.

Off hand I can’t recall our source for aluminum at the shop , we use a few , but its nothing special and easy to order , I’ll get contact info and post asap. for those interested. And if your from the Toronto Canada area , that is where ours comes from usually, so your close.
NOTE: The H-CHANNEL typically is used for sliding glass doors that require glass uptop and a track for the channel to ride on.

I used a.. well, I have no idea what it’s called. I’ll attach a photo.

It’s perfect in my opinion, because your wiring has something to rest on, as opposed to just kind of hanging there, but at the same time It’s still easy to work with and easy to reach later on if you need to fix something (as opposed to the H profile).

This is opne supplier we use for aluminum:
http://www.extrude-a-trim.com/index.asp
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Emiel - 04 July 2008 10:09 AM

I used a.. well, I have no idea what it’s called. I’ll attach a photo.

It’s perfect in my opinion, because your wiring has something to rest on, as opposed to just kind of hanging there, but at the same time It’s still easy to work with and easy to reach later on if you need to fix something (as opposed to the H profile).

.
The h-channel I suggested also makes it easier to finish off the frame as seen below.

I love this illustration. You even made sure to have the wood grain in the right direction.

I did something very similar using a datto blade on the table saw to make the channel.

jay w. - 04 July 2008 11:15 AM

This is opne supplier we use for aluminum:
http://www.extrude-a-trim.com/index.asp
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Emiel - 04 July 2008 10:09 AM

I used a.. well, I have no idea what it’s called. I’ll attach a photo.

It’s perfect in my opinion, because your wiring has something to rest on, as opposed to just kind of hanging there, but at the same time It’s still easy to work with and easy to reach later on if you need to fix something (as opposed to the H profile).

.
The h-channel I suggested also makes it easier to finish off the frame as seen below.

There are many methods, I guess depending on the tools at hand , your limited to design.

Look’s nice, but is there a way to get the H-profile to Denmark?

I can’t find an aluminum supplier in Denmark, but there must be one there. Try a product search in your phonebook. I put an estimate quote together using FED X and its scary $$$.  close to $200.00 Canadian, for extrusion only worth about $30.00 Canadian. I wouldn’t even consider it.
Sorry can’t be more helpful. Maybe someone else knows a supplier?

How would you mount the H profile to the wood frame.  I used a C-profile screwed to the wood and routed out the area behind each led hole to fit wire and leds.  Then Just cut a slit on each side of the routed hole and pushed the led prong into the slit to hold the leds in place.

Touchmaster - 09 July 2008 03:14 PM

How would you mount the H profile to the wood frame.  I used a C-profile screwed to the wood and routed out the area behind each led hole to fit wire and leds.  Then Just cut a slit on each side of the routed hole and pushed the led prong into the slit to hold the leds in place.

I would just silicone the H-Channel down to the frame with a very small bead of silicone around the inside of the rabbit. Believe me, silicone will hold this down very securely. And if you ever need to lift the channel up you can. However if IR LEDS need replacing often, then I would recommend a small drop around the rabbit every 4-5 inches...easier to lift but will still hold well. illustrated below…

A better way is to make it easy to work on all the wiring without having to lift up anything and re-silicone. Below the H=Channel is siliconed to an inside wood frame which is then screwed from under into the main screen frame. No visible fasteners anywhere. There are more elaborate ways it depends on your capabilities.

If needed I could provide a highly detailed mock-up of vertical or horizontal table layouts, scaled,accurate for reference if anyone needs some help. A little description would help in design. AutoCad,Sketchup , simple pictorials , almost anyway really.