charlie davidson: 'uni' table

the ‘uni’ table is cut from a single pieces of plywood image courtesy of charlie davidson

charlie davidson, who previously participated in our designboom mart tokyo, has designed ‘uni table’, made from sustainable plywood. for the design, davidson chose to use the alpha system / traditional wood cut style joint that takes into account structural loading, re-assembly and ease of manufacturing. to minimize the use of plywood, he came up with a solution where a pair of legs could be cut from two smaller pieces of ply, which results in a jigsaw-like connection to key the leg components together. the two pairs of legs are then joined together with two side rails held in place by the alpha system. the table top then locks into the side rails.

the top is cut from the underside, using a standard 3 degree tapered cutter normally used in machining wooden moulds that require a draft angle. this produces the tapered edges around the tabletop’s edge and cuts the angled holes into which the legs locate and fiction locked into place. the round cut maple’s natural beauty is maximized by the large table surface, with its curved sides flowing with the grain of the veneer.

an exploded view of the table image courtesy of charlie davidson

detail of the alpha system which locks the legs and table top together image courtesy of charlie davidson

the underside of the table with how the legs and table top connect image courtesy of charlie davidson

the ‘uni table’ image courtesy of charlie davidson

image courtesy of charlie davidsonchar