Doughboy
04/22/2004, 15:16
After seeing the popular Clixbuilders website and seeing that schweet game table I had to have one! I emailed the webmaster for dimensions and other particulars but I couldn't wait for a response so I went out and made my own. I don't have digipics yet but I will soon enough. Here is how I made mine:
Went to Home Depot and purchased a half inch 4'x8' sheet of MDF(medium density fiberboard) and had them cut it in half. This gave me two 4'x4' squares to use in case I screw one up. (Total: $15.74)
Purchased 2 yards of felt at my local Wal-Mart. This was more than enough. (Total: $7.36)
Went BACK to home depot and was looking in the moulding section to find something that would border off a 3'x3' in the middle of the board (just like Clixbuilder's). Found some perfect 8' sticks of half inch by half inch moulding. Purchased 2 of those and had them cut 'em in half. So I had 4 sticks of 4'x4' strips of moulding. (Total: $5.35)
Went home and began to assemble. I put the 4'x4' MDF board up on the saw horses and began doing the 'stretch and staple' method to put the felt onto the table. My staple gun had a tough time going through the MDF so when I finished I went ahead and used my trusty hammer to pound those suckers all the way in.
Next, I cut off the excess felt that was dangling underneath the table. By this time it was looking very nice!
(optional) Spray painted the 4' sticks of moulding black with some quick drying el cheapo spray paint.
Measured my table to make sure it was 4'x4'. To my suprise it was a little over 4' both ways. This was to my advantage. I marked 6" from the edge of the table on all 4 sides and made a few little black dots with a sharpie. This was marking my 'inner border' as to where the map was going to go.
By this time the half inch pieces of moulding were done drying from the black spray paint. I made some cuts and sanded some rough edges so they'd be ready to be put on the table.
Here is where I ran into my only pickle. How do I attach these 'black borders'? Did I want to nail them right on top of the felt? I wasn't sure if this would ruin the integrity of the already stretched felt on the table. I had some velcro suggestions but I just didn't want to go that route. I wanted something a little more permanent. So I decided to go out and get some really small 3/4" or 1" nails. I found some perfect ones at my local hardware store that cost me $2.00 for a pack of 100. I only used nails on the ends of the moulding. This way I can pry these up easier if they need to be removed to 'refelt' the table or if I want to run some large table top game of something else.
All in all this table rocks! I've got a bordered off map area...a dice rolling area...even a place to put the clix that have been KO'd. No cupholders yet...that may be something down the road. Just thought I'd post this in case anybody wanted some sort of outline.
Happy clicking!
Went to Home Depot and purchased a half inch 4'x8' sheet of MDF(medium density fiberboard) and had them cut it in half. This gave me two 4'x4' squares to use in case I screw one up. (Total: $15.74)
Purchased 2 yards of felt at my local Wal-Mart. This was more than enough. (Total: $7.36)
Went BACK to home depot and was looking in the moulding section to find something that would border off a 3'x3' in the middle of the board (just like Clixbuilder's). Found some perfect 8' sticks of half inch by half inch moulding. Purchased 2 of those and had them cut 'em in half. So I had 4 sticks of 4'x4' strips of moulding. (Total: $5.35)
Went home and began to assemble. I put the 4'x4' MDF board up on the saw horses and began doing the 'stretch and staple' method to put the felt onto the table. My staple gun had a tough time going through the MDF so when I finished I went ahead and used my trusty hammer to pound those suckers all the way in.
Next, I cut off the excess felt that was dangling underneath the table. By this time it was looking very nice!
(optional) Spray painted the 4' sticks of moulding black with some quick drying el cheapo spray paint.
Measured my table to make sure it was 4'x4'. To my suprise it was a little over 4' both ways. This was to my advantage. I marked 6" from the edge of the table on all 4 sides and made a few little black dots with a sharpie. This was marking my 'inner border' as to where the map was going to go.
By this time the half inch pieces of moulding were done drying from the black spray paint. I made some cuts and sanded some rough edges so they'd be ready to be put on the table.
Here is where I ran into my only pickle. How do I attach these 'black borders'? Did I want to nail them right on top of the felt? I wasn't sure if this would ruin the integrity of the already stretched felt on the table. I had some velcro suggestions but I just didn't want to go that route. I wanted something a little more permanent. So I decided to go out and get some really small 3/4" or 1" nails. I found some perfect ones at my local hardware store that cost me $2.00 for a pack of 100. I only used nails on the ends of the moulding. This way I can pry these up easier if they need to be removed to 'refelt' the table or if I want to run some large table top game of something else.
All in all this table rocks! I've got a bordered off map area...a dice rolling area...even a place to put the clix that have been KO'd. No cupholders yet...that may be something down the road. Just thought I'd post this in case anybody wanted some sort of outline.
Happy clicking!