Want your own gaming table? Today we have the finishing touches you can put on the game table you built at home from yesterday’s edition of quarantine tutorials!
If you missed the first segment of building your very own gaming table, make sure you take a look at Building a Gaming Table Part 1
By now you should have your materials, and it all is probably coming together for you!
Finishing Up Making a Gaming Table At Home:
Here are the building materials and roughly what it will cost for the last tutorial:
You should see something like this
- (A) ONE 4×8 foot piece of sanded plywood (1/2 inch thickness) – $19
- (B) ONE 4×4 foot piece of sanded plywood (1/2 inch thickness) – $7
- (C) TWO 1×4 inch 6-foot boards –$6
- (D) FOUR 1×4 inch 4-foot boards –$8
- (E) ONE box 1 and ¼ inch drywall screws – $4
- (F) ONE box 1 and ½ inch drywall screws – $4
- (G) Staining product, I used the pre-soaked wipes – $7
Finishing Touches
Now we have to add the sides to prevent those pesky dice from rolling off the table. Starting with the 2-foot pieces of plywood you had cut (A.2), you’re going to attach them on the 4-foot sides of the table. For the width and smaller sides, you can use 1 and ¼ inch drywall screws (E) for this and drill one hole in every 6 inches using starter holes. About 3 inches up from the bottom.
Do this for both 4-foot sides, and once you are done, you’re close to the home stretch. Doing the 6-foot length sides (the bigger sides) the same way, except you are going to use 1 of the 4-foot pieces (B) and 1 of the 2-foot 1 inch pieces (B.2) per side. That extra inch covers the 2 half-inch thickness from the width railings you just put in. Following the same process of drilling starter holes then the 1 and ¼ inch drywall screws (E) as before, screw these into the side.
By doing it one board at a time and try and keep them flush against one another when putting them next to each other so the gap is minimal. Once finished, it should look like this:
Now you’re ready to stain your sides (G), and if you want to stain the tabletop itself, that’s up to you. Speaking of covering it, the cheapest option is to go into your local craft store and buy a piece of felt that is the color you want.
The nice people at the store will even cut it for you for free, just make sure it is 4-foot by 6-foot (some pieces of fabric do not get as big as 4-foot width). The cost was $4 with a coupon! Every fabric store has an online coupon; be sure to pull it up on your phone or print it off before going.
For the staining, follow the instructions that they recommend and let it dry for a day or two, then put your piece of felt on top and boom, you’re good to go! With the wipes it is super easy, you just put on the gloves, open the pack, wipe the parts you want stained, and then throw out the wipe. (Note that one packet is enough for the rails but not the table itself, so you will need more if you choose to do that as well).
As you can see this is a pretty easy and affordable way (about 60 bucks) to build a gaming space. You can set this on the floor, on a kitchen table (just be sure to cover the kitchen table), or just use a couple of folding tables to support it. Folding tables are pretty easy to find at garage sales or on Craig’s List for cheap!
There you have it, your own gaming space! Maybe you can use this time to create a sweet hobby space that you thought you never had time for! Why not show your family how to play to help pass the time?
Have you already built your gaming table? Has this been helpful to you at all?
Let us know in the comments of our Facebook Hobby Group, and make sure you enter the latest monthly giveaway for FREE today!
