EMSL’s 555 Footstool

Furniture & Lighting Technology
EMSL’s 555 Footstool

Our friends Lenore and Windell of Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories, have cooked up a scale model of a 555 chip that works as a footstool.

We wanted a new footstool at the lab, and somehow came across the idea of making it in the shape of our hero above, the 555 timer chip.

We started our design by looking at the datasheets, and found a few good dimensional drawings that we could scale up. Our model is roughly 30 times actual size at 12 1/2″ long, compared to 0.4″ for a genuine 555 chip. More importantly, it’s a little over 8 1/2″ tall, which we determined to be a good height for a footstool.

The first stage of construction was to cut out a stack of 1/2″ thick plywood shapes on a CNC router. We used a strong and dense grade of hardwood plywood for this, since there are thin parts that need to be strong. There are 15 elongated hexagons, six with short legs, and four with long legs. Note that every shape has four alignment holes through it.

(The little black dot in the top pic is a real 555!)

44 thoughts on “EMSL’s 555 Footstool

  1. David Kavanagh says:

    That’s neat, but I would have been really impressed if the legs were metal and it was wired to an actual chip inside! That’d be a fully functional scale 555 timer/footstool!

    1. Антон Т. says:

      not chip but actual 555’s scheme with transistors and other stuff ^_^

  2. Matt Richardson says:

    I love it! Now we just need electrolytic capacitor side tables. Though they’d have to figure out how to get them to stand on just two legs.

    1. Anonymous says:

      And resistor throw pillows.

    2. Anonymous says:

      And resistor throw pillows.

    3. spencer says:

      don`t forget the LED

  3. Bill Bourn says:

    I would have settled for an encapsulated 555 embedded somewhere inconspicuously. However, since David mentions functionality, a timer that measures how long a “foot” has been using the stool would be radical too. 

  4. Anonymous says:

    That’s beautiful! I want one.

  5. Shawn Blaszak says:

    Nice!  Scale it up and you’ve got the potential for a coffee table too.

    1. Bill Bourn says:

      Gotta model the 8086 or 8088 for a coffee table. But maybe too many legs to work well as furniture on uneven floors. There’s a reason the three-legged stool is so popular.

      1. Shawn Blaszak says:

        Eh, you could always “cheat” and shorten all but the four corner pins a little.  That way, it still looks right but the middle pins aren’t actually resting on the ground.

  6. Anonymous says:

    He would like to make more, but it’s a “one shot” product.

  7. Elliott J. Olson says:

    Why make the whole thing solid? it could be made hollow and save plywood

  8. Elliott J. Olson says:

    Why make the whole thing solid? it could be made hollow and save plywood

  9. Anonymous says:

    I’d been thinking of doing something like that too, as a padded bench — it looks better than most modern furniture.  

  10. Sam Wilkinson says:

    Matryoshka Doll style packaging for ICs? Use assembled as footstool, remove innards for access to 555 timer chip inside!!!

  11. Sofia Lenard says:

    LMFAO my wife laughed her ass off when I showed that too her, I’d love to make one, lol it might be a 40 pin ICP

  12. Mark Law says:

    i would like to buy one

  13. Robot Platform says:

    Get in more ideas. There are many microcontrollers available. Go for Atmel, PIC, Motorola. Replace it for tables, chairs, doors.. and what not… Brilliant idea .. lol..

    http://www.robotplatform.com

  14. Anonymous says:

    I want one in a BGA package so I can also use it as a back massager.

  15. Tony Moore says:

    Ohh i want one so bad you dont even know. Did you mill the wood using a CNC mill? I would like the G-codes if you’re willing to give them away!

  16. Tony Moore says:

    Ohh i want one so bad you dont even know. Did you mill the wood using a CNC mill? I would like the G-codes if you’re willing to give them away!

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My interests include writing, electronics, RPGs, scifi, hackers & hackerspaces, 3D printing, building sets & toys. @johnbaichtal nerdage.net

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