Anyone here built a poker table before (or any kind of table)?

[Dudd]

Well, I guess any kind of table will do. Basically, right now I'm bored and don't feel like going to class, and have spent the last hour or so using MSPaint to come up plans for making a poker table. (Laugh, but it works. All you need is right triangle trig and to use one pixel as a reference point)

Anyways, I've never built anything before. Nada. Nothing. But, I figure, we play a fair amount of poker here in the dorms, all we have is a crappy folding table that makes it tough to play with more than 4 or 5 guys, and I've got break coming up, giving me several weeks to work on this. Now, it seems like this would be a fun little project to do, but I have no idea exactly what it entails. Can you just use a good wood glue to put the pieces together, or would that be too flimsy? (obviously not for the legs, I stll haven't decided what to do about them) How much time would this realistically take? And, perhaps most importantly, how much would this cost? I really have no clue what materials I'd need to use, so those of you with experince could help out there. I could get pretty much any tool I needed, so that's not an issue. Thanks for any suggestions.

MSPaint Wonder

 

[Dudd]

Anyone?

 

[ScottMac]

Well, the most common mistake is glueing wood cross-grain. Wood expands and contracts along the length of the grain. If you secure two pieces of wood together such that the grains are at right angles, either the glue bond breaks, or the wood (eventually) splits.

A tabletop is usually secured to the rails with a clip / cleat that fits into a groove in the rails ... that way the tabletop can expand and contract independently from the rails. That is also why drawer bottoms are not glued, but rather fit into a groove and allowed to float.

This is only a problem with solid wood. If you use plywood or other composite (particle board, OSB, masonite) you don't have to worry about it.

If you make the main tabletop out of something like oak plywood, then add solid oak trim on the edges you should be OK. Places like Rockler and Woodcraft have unfinished table bases semi-cheap, just make the tabletop and finish it.

Good Luck

Scott