So I'm building a gaming table...

[OfRiceAndHen]

...and I need some help with the surface. I'm trying to figure out what I can do with it. I've looked into an acrylic sheet on top of a white grid, dry-erase paint, and many others. But I'm stuck, so I thought I'd come here for some advice. I've seen examples of good gaming tables (namely, the Ultimate Gaming Table) but I'm a starving college student, so I need to do it on the cheap. Any advice or comments would be greatly appreciated.

 

[d12]

dry erase board is very cheap and can be cut to shape

 

[Festivus]

I have personally tried two different ways, and am aware of 3 ways possible:

1. Paint the whole thing with white enamel paint. Do a few coats. Sand between coats. The paint should be under $30. Then use a dry-wall framing square to make your gridlines in pencil. Sharpen the pencil before each pass along the grid. If your doing a table the size of mine, you are looking at drawing a lot of lines (mine is 8'x4'). This will likely take a long time but will also be your best looking table. I hope to return to this one soon.

2. Use the large presentation gridded paper, lay them down and cut to size. This will be ready for game play that same day. Disadvantage, the lines are really light. This is my current setup only until I can redo the other (painted) sides lines. I think those pads are rather pricey, around $30 for a pad of them.

3. Black thread and thumbtack method. As with option 1, paint the table white, but instead of using pencil to make your lines, take a spool of black thread and wrap around thumbtacks placed one inch apart on the sides of your table. Then do the other direction and if you did it right (e.g. everything square) you should have a grid when done. I haven't tried this but if you do, let me know your results... I am contemplating it.

Place a sheet of plexiglass on top and you are ready for gameplay. My 8'x4' plexi sheet cost me about $125. It's probably higher now. I also recommend buying two 4'x4' sheets as they are far easier to manage. The drawback of the plexiglass is scratches. Mine is only a year old and showing some scratches... probably hard to avoid. Oh, and purple dry erase doesn't seem to come off of it very well. I suggest just using Vis-a-vis markers.

One last thought about the ultimate gaming table. The way they do it is the expensive way and has a couple drawbacks. First, it's big... very big. Without the drawers you need to have 8' of clearance on the sides, with you need 10'. Second, the corners of the table aren't supported, and the table bows when someone leans on the corner. If I was to do it again I would do the 4x4 post method I saw in another recent post here on ENWorld.

 

[Dragon Snack]

I have two 4x8 particle boards that I picked up at Lowe's (probably available at most big box hardware stores) that are covered with a dry erasable material (about $12 each). I also picked up a sturdy 4x8 panel (I spent $25 on this, but other materials are cheaper) and some banquet table legs (about $15). I figure that will make a decent gaming table on the cheap.

Haven't taken the time to actually put the lines on the boards and put it all together, so I haven't seen it in actual play. No idea how stable it be or how long the 'dry erase' surface will hold up (which is why I bought 2 of the boards)...

You will probably need a truck or van to transport the boards, although they may cut them into smaller pieces for you if you wanted to go that way (since you're a college student and probably live in a small apartment or dorm room).

Good luck!

 

[KB9JMQ]

I affixed dry erase board (got it at Lowes) to the top of a sheet of 1 inch plywood.
Works great for a table. All short term notes and tracking buffs, HPs etc is easy to do on it.
I then made another small table (3x3) about 11 inches tall also of dry erase but I use my Tact-tiles on it. It has been a great setup.

 

[OfRiceAndHen]

I have two 4x8 particle boards that I picked up at Lowe's (probably available at most big box hardware stores) that are covered with a dry erasable material (about $12 each). I also picked up a sturdy 4x8 panel (I spent $25 on this, but other materials are cheaper) and some banquet table legs (about $15). I figure that will make a decent gaming table on the cheap.

Haven't taken the time to actually put the lines on the boards and put it all together, so I haven't seen it in actual play. No idea how stable it be or how long the 'dry erase' surface will hold up (which is why I bought 2 of the boards)...

You will probably need a truck or van to transport the boards, although they may cut them into smaller pieces for you if you wanted to go that way (since you're a college student and probably live in a small apartment or dorm room).

Good luck!

Hmm, the 4x8 particle board w/ the dry-erase surface seems to be what I'm after, but couldn't find it at m Lowes. Did it have a specidif name?

 

[SiderisAnon]

Hmm, the 4x8 particle board w/ the dry-erase surface seems to be what I'm after, but couldn't find it at m Lowes. Did it have a specidif name?

You're probably looking for two different things here. I've only see dry-erase board as a separate product from the 4x8 particle boards.

At the local Home Depot, they have sheets of dry-erase board that are about 1/8" thick. I believe they come 2x4 only. The table I'm working on is also using 4x8 particle board (cut to two 4x4 for ease of storage) that each has the dry-erase boards glued to it. The nice this is that if the dry-erase gets damaged over time, I can pry it off, sand things down, and glue a new piece in place.


I'm still debating the grid. I'm thinking of putting one down with permanent marker, as I have markers I unfortunately know will permanently stay. If you're planning on drawing on the dry erase board, do not make your grid too dark or you won't be able to draw over it later.

 

[Nyarlathotep]

When I built my gaming table I went down to a local hardware store and picked up a 4x8' board of some material I can't remember (I'll try to find out and update my post when I do).

It's essentially white board without the expensive price tag (a sheet of it cost something like $30.00 CAD). Scored a 1" grid on it using a carpet knife and T-square then drew on it with a black dry-erase which I cleaned off with a rag to mark the scored grid. After two years of play it's still in great condition!

 

[Dragon Snack]

Hmm, the 4x8 particle board w/ the dry-erase surface seems to be what I'm after, but couldn't find it at m Lowes. Did it have a specidif name?

Mine says "1/8 smooth panelboard, white". I found it in the back, right next to the others.

I couldn't find it on their website, the closest thing I could find was "AquaTile 1/8"x4'x8' Tileboard White", item number 16605, under Building Products: Walls. That's probably the same thing.

 

[OfRiceAndHen]

Yeah, just came back from Lowes and the Tileboard seems to be the best bet, costs about $12 USD and looks like it could be dry-erase. For the grid, scoring and marking seems the best bet, but that is a permanent solution and I may want to use the table for other things later on. I've thought of using thin tape to make lines, but I'm not sure how well that will work. Anyone have experience using tape for a grid?