The Downloadable (And Free) Piece of Furniture

• August 19th 2013

by UrbanTurf Staff

There is now a 2.0 option for the do-it-yourself furniture folks out there.

OpenDesk is a website that allows users to download digital files of various pieces of furniture for free and then either assemble the piece themselves or have a local craftsman in the area put the piece together.

Now, you probably shouldn’t get excited about this first option unless you have the skills, materials and instruments to make it happen. In order to do it without help, one needs to have access to a CNC machine, an automated milling mechanism that can produce the sawn pieces of wood needed to make the piece of furniture. They will also need the aforementioned skills and materials, so in short, you already need to have some furniture making skills in order to really save some money.

However, OpenDesk offers a few other options for those that are not adept with crafting furniture using their bare hands. In addition to offering the plans for free, the site can facilitate getting the end user a ready to assemble package or the already-assembled final product. Of course, this requires the involvement of an area craftsman, which in turn makes the price much higher than gratis. For DC folks, the closest craftsman working with OpenDesk is in Pittsburgh.

If you are handy and skilled, however, just download the plans for one of the stools, desks or tables and get to work.

This article originally published at https://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/the_downloadable_free_piece_of_furniture/7474.