Is there anyone out there who made their own? or is there a site that details the process?
I am thinking about taking the top from my old card table (it's cardboard). The top is held onto the metal frame with small l-brackets, so I am taking some plywood, gonna cut it to fit the mateal frams, and screw it on with l-brackets. then of course i will sand that sucker, and then i am going to use a sharpie to draw the squares using a measure tape and a straight edge.
then i am going to take some clear plastic, an affix it to the board, so i can dry or wet erase.
just looking for some advice or other methods before i build.
thanks
I'd talk to your local high school woodshop to see if the teacher (who knows power tools and such) can save you time and effort or can think of a better way.
you can get dry erase boards that have lines drawn into it.
unless you are really steady, drawing straight, even lines like that, is going to be very difficult.
i wouldnt try it, but if you do, make sure that you clamp down your straight edge, and use a metal one.
you really have your hands full with this project.
the plywood would be good for dungeon tiles. they would not slide around, there is plenty of friction there.
ok, as a 31 year old carpenter's apprentice, I am slightly familiar with power tools, though i am having a hard time with the wood stretcher (if you know what that is, kudos to you!).
i've built several things in my time, just never put together a gaming table before.
when i googled this, mostly what i found were instructions on how to built ultimate gaming tables (too big and gaudy) or battle scenarios for minis games which i do not play.
I am looking for either info from anyone who may have built one before, or knowledge of a web site from someone who has built something similar to this.
thanks again
ok, as a 31 year old carpenter's apprentice, I am slightly familiar with power tools, though i am having a hard time with the wood stretcher (if you know what that is, kudos to you!).
i've built several things in my time, just never put together a gaming table before.
when i googled this, mostly what i found were instructions on how to built ultimate gaming tables (too big and gaudy) or battle scenarios for minis games which i do not play.
I am looking for either info from anyone who may have built one before, or knowledge of a web site from someone who has built something similar to this.
thanks again
Make sure you can replace the clear plastic easily, after a couple of years it'll need replacing.
Also means on occasion you can replace the grid underneath with a map.
If you've got the final battle for the campaign or set piece being able to have it laid out in glorious technicolour is icing on the cake.
Maybe use the battle paper sold here for the normal grid underlay.
Cheers
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I used to have a pieces of clear plastic that I ran through a laser printer with squares and another for hexes.
I put a map on the lowest layer and a piece of 1/4" clear plastic, 2'x3' on top. I used a dry erase marker to put down blast radiuses and area effect spells and whatever else.
The only problem was the sheet of plastic being bulky to carry around to different places to play.
I have built several tables for a friend's game store. The important question is how much space do you have? How portable does it need to be?
I typically build a two layer table - playable space on the top and a large shelf for the bottom. This works better for minatures games the roleplay since chairs do not fit under the table but you can stack the carrying cases on the shelf.
For role play, I start with a plywood deck the size I want. Next screw 2x6's flat to the bottom of the plywood, flush with the edge. Inside the circle of 2x5 screw 2x4' on edge. This produces a sturdy frame for the table top. Choose the height you want and cut 2 2x6's 1 1/2 inches shorter. Screw them to the center of the rectangle of 2x4's. Cut two 2x6's about 24" long. Screw them across the two posts with a 3/4 gap from the bottom of the post to the bottom of the 2 footer, making a 'T'. Between these two legs, screw a 2x6 running the length of the table. Now turn over the table. It is very stable- suitable for dancing. The top is rough plywood and screws are visable- so I get a sheet of board that is suitable for dry erase and cover the top. Don't attach it- you may need to replace if the wrong markers are used. To hold it in place, run outside corner trim around the top edge.
If you do decide to go the plexiglass top route- put permanent lines on the bottom. You can set it on top of any maps you have. Or you can use dry erase on the top side without disturbing the grid.
I have not used dry erase on plexiglass- but I have made some table tops with the grids and then set them over maps with no problems.
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Are you familiar with the tables (often seen in book and toy stores) where they set-up the wooden train sets for children to play?
These make a good foundation for a gaming table. Just put your grid down in the area of the recessed table top, plexiglass over it, and viola!. You can also make a removable top that rests on top of the raised sides, so that you can leave a particular set-up in place if you have to stop the game session mid-battle.
Since the top is recessed, the sides prevent dice from rolling off the table. Some designs also have the little storage buckets underneath (great for holding miniatures and terrain pieces for easy access).
Build it yourself, or buy one at the local big-box warehourse store.
A couple years ago, I helped my friend build a gaming table by getting an inexpensive kitchen table from ikea, putting an older model flatscreen in it, placing a bit of plexiglass on top, and mounting fans to take away from the recessed tv. It wasn't too expensive and we pulled up maps on a laptop conneted through the VGA ports.
What was really great about it was that I could download maps, make layers in photoshop to black out areas that had not been entered, and reveal them by turning off the layer. Once you get all your maps scaled up to 1" or whatever it's fantastic!
Is there anyone out there who made their own? or is there a site that details the process?
I am thinking about taking the top from my old card table (it's cardboard). The top is held onto the metal frame with small l-brackets, so I am taking some plywood, gonna cut it to fit the mateal frams, and screw it on with l-brackets. then of course i will sand that sucker, and then i am going to use a sharpie to draw the squares using a measure tape and a straight edge.
then i am going to take some clear plastic, an affix it to the board, so i can dry or wet erase.
just looking for some advice or other methods before i build.
thanks
I suggest doing the opposite:
Leave your plywood plain. Sand it and varnish/stain it all nice etc.
Then draw your lines on the plexiglass itself, which will allow you to insert different backgrounds between the board and the surface without loosing your grid. Actually, if you could cut *very small* groves in the plexi rather than simply use a marker, the result would be better.
(I used a dremel (TM) tool with a custom-made guide and rail to cut groves in plexiglass before)
If you are somewhat of an artist, draw/paint a few backgrounds on sheets of massonite or illustration boards trimmed to the size of your tabletop (one forest/outdoors background, one interior/dungeon background, one cave/underdark background). Simply stack the backgrounds under the plexiglass and select the one you need each game.
'findel
I agree, having a removable clear plexiglass top is much cooler--you can place maps under it, and those maps can have their own grid, or you can put a transparent grid overlay on them. That way, if you want to use squares in one scenario, hexes in another, and no grid at all on another, you're not "locked in" by what's on the plexiglass.
Also, I wasn't suggesting that you didn't know how to use power tools... it's just that guys who run wood shop are usually competent carpenters and have seen a lot of weird stuff in their line of work, and may have some suggestions. :)
When we did a Blood Bowl league, I made spare playing fields by tracing the one we had on plexiglass. It made it very convient to do games on odd fields by putting the plexiglass over different maps.
Is there anyone out there who made their own? or is there a site that details the process?
I am thinking about taking the top from my old card table (it's cardboard). The top is held onto the metal frame with small l-brackets, so I am taking some plywood, gonna cut it to fit the mateal frams, and screw it on with l-brackets. then of course i will sand that sucker, and then i am going to use a sharpie to draw the squares using a measure tape and a straight edge.
then i am going to take some clear plastic, an affix it to the board, so i can dry or wet erase.
just looking for some advice or other methods before i build.
thanks
I did the exact same process with a old ping-pong table that folds up with handles to move it as necessary. I used particle board in the bottom channel, although I would have used something stiffer in hind site. On top of that I use gaming paper, which is available on this site. I then placed plexiglass on top, although I recommend you go to a hardware store to let them cut it. It will cost double the price of plexiglass in regards to labor (plexiglass cost $45, they charged an additional $45), but the fit is exact.
The end result is a foldable plexiglass gaming table where I can lay maps underneath, and draw on top.
Good Luck.
When we did a Blood Bowl league, I made spare playing fields by tracing the one we had on plexiglass. It made it very convient to do games on odd fields by putting the plexiglass over different maps.
Brilliant!
That's what we should have done for the Beach Blood Bowl season...
my group has used a bunch of different home made game boards.
the first was a large (4'x6') dry erase white board with a grid (made by using electrical tape, a ruler, and lot and lots of time.
the second and much much more effective is simply taking a large piece of plywood (ours is about 6'x10 or so but you could use any size to fit your gaming space) we then spray painted the entire thing white on one side, let it dry and used strips of duct tape to outline a grid and the spray painted black on the board, letting dry and removing the tape and rinse and repeat for horizontal lines creating a nice even grid across the entire thing.
so at that point we had a large white piece of plywood that fit nicely on top of our 2nd table, problem was we couldn't write or draw maps on it so we took a roll of lamination paper and covered the entire table, this is very time consuming seeing as you have to be very careful to avoid air bubbles under the lamination paper.
this whole process took about 3-4hrs not counting the time the paint took to dry and had nice results
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Is there anyone out there who made their own? or is there a site that details the process?
I am thinking about taking the top from my old card table (it's cardboard). The top is held onto the metal frame with small l-brackets, so I am taking some plywood, gonna cut it to fit the mateal frams, and screw it on with l-brackets. then of course i will sand that sucker, and then i am going to use a sharpie to draw the squares using a measure tape and a straight edge.
then i am going to take some clear plastic, an affix it to the board, so i can dry or wet erase.
just looking for some advice or other methods before i build.
thanks
Here's my suggestion...buy some of the basic maps in the paizo store, slap em down, then cover the whole thing with plexi-glass. My group is planning on building our own table, and will be doing this, albeit with just one of the flip maps, not covering the whole table (just the center of it).
If you want to draw them yourself, I would recommend marking off one inch increments on each side of the table and using snap chalk-line to put the lines down straight, then using a spare piece of (straight) lumber as a ruler to sharpie in the lines.
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We built a game table, but I am thinking it is MUCH bigger than what you want.
The top layer was 4x8 and covered with felt. We had a 4x8 battle mat that used for drawing maps on. We had a second layer that was 6x10 that provided space under the map layer for books and such, had lights under there to help with seeing in the shadows there, and a ledge we could use for writing and dice rolling. The four corners essentially were bookshelves useful for storing extra books and papers.
It was VERY VERY useful for gaming, though big. If you have the space it was nice because everyone had their own personal space and no one was crowded.
Biggest drawback was who ever sat directly across the end from the GM had a harder time seeing the map clearly.
For version 2, I plan on a slightly smaller version, include power this time (we added power to the first one but it was awkward to get to) and I like the idea of a plexiglass top in addition to the battle map (added versatility).
Though I STILL want vacuum tubes somehow! :)
Though I STILL want vacuum tubes somehow! :)
Well, if you aren't afraid of some mechanical work (and you don't sound like you are), and you don't need the tubes to perform their original function...
You could use this MAKE article, or this little bit (not my recommendation if you can work with the MAKE article) to make the vacuum tubes be your lighting under the playing surface.
And if you need a source for tubes: try here (never did business with them myself).
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Though I STILL want vacuum tubes somehow! :)Well, if you aren't afraid of some mechanical work (and you don't sound like you are), and you don't need the tubes to perform their original function...
You could use this MAKE article, or this little bit (not my recommendation if you can work with the MAKE article) to make the vacuum tubes be your lighting under the playing surface.
And if you need a source for tubes: try here (never did business with them myself).
lol so freaking cool!
I picture the edges of the table clad in copper with little rivets for show. The bookcases that support the table are also covered in copper. These I would like to decorate somehow. Not sure of the design yet though. Something SteamPunk of course... I could get the vacuum tubes to do a little flashing sequence when not in use as lights maybe.. Or the vacuum tubes could signal who's turn it is... or or or or
oh man the complexity of the table just went through the roof!
I tried using some of the super-awesome flip mat maps and laid a sheet of plexiglass over them so I could draw on them. It was an absolute disaster. The glare from the plexiglass made the flip mat almost impossible to see. Players kept trying to put themselves inside walls and, basically, nobody could tell what was what.
So, I'd just say, if you're hoping to have an awesome cover for your complicated maps, take a really good look at how much glare you'll get before you attach plexiglass to it permanently.
The lighting in the room probably affects that--use some indirect lighting and you won't be looking at big reflections of light bulbs on the tabletop.
It rises...it rises...it rises from the dead.
Four years and then a response came....