Who here has their own gaming table? I'm sure most of us use the kitchen table and a few chairs and coasters. But I've spent the past year thinking "Man I wish I had my own special gaming table", and this is the year for it. Summer is just around the corner and I'm spending it in the garage making a table and I'm after inspiration.
Anyone with a special designated table, did you have raised edges, if so how much? They seem somewhat necessary to keep dice escaping and cards falling, but the edge would make or break it I feel.
>>46331264
Here's mine, it's got small raised edges, which eventually I'd like to slightly cushion. Haven't decided how yet though.
Plans here: https://www.mediafire.com/?c3kscwhez9cesqa
>>46331264
I've seen the Geek Chic tables and they're pretty great, but way too expensive, even for a handmade, bespoke piece. They have all sorts of storage and drawers that make my organizational heart flutter, and the dropped playing surface is great for putting a game on hold temporarily, but the pricetag sours the whole thing.
So I'd like to DIY one, but have yet to find plans that look good. And then there's my total lack of skills...
>>46332887
That's really neat. Are you a board gamer, card gamer or RPGer primarily? I see a lot of board games but don't want to assume. I'm thinking about felt as a basis for mine, was wondering if you'd thought the same, or if you didn't then why not?
>>46332985
Honestly anon, woodwork isn't as hard as it's cracked up to be. I say this as a French Polisher who works with wood every day, you just need a few tools (visit your dad or something, he ought to have something in the shed).
>>46333304
Used to be primarily RPG, now primarily boardgames and some light wargaming, as well as small LANs when there's few enough people in town to fit.
I'd initially thought about felt as well, but actually really dislike the results - especially if you play any cardgames with sleeved cards - the pointed corners catch like you wouldn't believe on felt, and the surface as a whole doesn't wear as well as I'd like.
Instead I'm using nylon-backed neoprene as a play surface. You can get pretty big sheets of it from places like foamorder.com. I recommend no thicker than 3mm, and probably thinner. Really nice stuff, feels close to playmat material.
>>46333389
Neoprene? Isn't that used for scuba suits?
Thanks for the insight, I'm not a card gamer right now but if it's problematic for one thing it may clash with another.
>>46333462
Scuba suits, mousepads, that kind of thing.
>>46333505
Neat, managed to find a UK supplier. Why the 3mm thickness recommendation? I must be missing something (unless it's a cost issue), but surely thicker is better?
>>46333583
I've got 3mm myself, and it works well, but I wouldn't mind thinner because it'll be a little less cushion-y. Dice bounce a little farther than I'd like on that thickness, and heavy objects leave significant indentations for a day or so if they're left too long.
>>46333838
Ah I see, good call then. Would 1.5mm be pushing it do you think? Obviously I don't intend to throw miniatures at the table but accidents do happen, a little padding would be good.
>>46333895
1.5 or 2mm would probably be perfect, it's the width I think I'll get if I ever decide to replace my current surface - drop by the boardgame general sometime and let me know how it works out.
>>46333895
I'd go for 2mm so you don't accidentally rip a hole in it while moving a setting piece.
>>46333962
I'll be sure to, moving house soon so it may take a while.
>>46333966
I'll have a look, my searches only turned up 1.5, 3 and then it jumped to 6 and 10mm thickness. 2 sounds like a good middleground though.
>>46333966
This. Also if it's a permanent addition, get some felt to give it a finish like a pool table. It looks sexy as fuck and it protects the functional layer a bit. Also cheaper to replace if it gets stained and shit.
>>46334076
I figured I'm basically future proofing myself if I ever choose to murder my wallet further by getting into TCGs, based on >>46333389 alone. I'd originally thought Felt as well. But I guess we're in the future now and everything is scuba suits? Still slick as hell.
>>46334106
Yeah I guess it depends how you want the whole setup to look. I'm a sucker for comfy so I'd felt everything if I could.
>>46334125
nylon-backed neoprene is way comfier than felt unless you're super into the billiards room aesthetic
>>46334206
I think the issue here is that...what games table in any regard have you seen that isn't felt? Pool, snooker, poker, they all use felt. Unless we're going for Marble to go with Chess then Felt would be my first thought too.
So elegan/tg/entleman if you had the money and chance to commission a proper and prfessional gaming table what sort of features would you want? Where would you want the drawers if any? How large should it be/how many people would you want it to seat?
Let's see if we can crowdsource the perfect gaming table.
>>46334265
Then why don't card gamers use felt playmats instead of nylon+rubber?
Obviously you wouldn't want an elastic surface for something like pool or snooker, but for poker all you really need is something that makes it easy to pick cards and chips up off the surface. Felt does it by being a little bit compressible and having fibers stick up and separate the card edge from the surface, neoprene does it just by being compressible. Felt also tends to develop little burrs and snags over time, nylon fabric shouldn't do that unless you catch it with something sharp like a knife or toothpick.
>>46334268
Features:
>3-4 inch depression for play area
>Can be covered to convert into a dinner table while keeping the miniatures and board untouched.
>Drawers built into the side that can be folded or pushed into the table to conceal when not in use.
>A rack on the bottom to hold the sticks used to move minis at a distance.
>The entire board is covered In a grid pattern and is also a whiteboard.
>>46334268
for a more techy wishlist... it wouldn't be possible to be part of the table- well maybe if it was on the bottom and pointing up? Some sort of projection system that lets a person project their screen onto the play surface.
Rolltop tabletop cover thing, so you're not fumbling around looking for a safe place to set the tabletop cover aside. If there was some way for it to collapse into the table without tsking away from the usuability of the gaming surface.
>>46334724
So like the table cover mentioned in the top of the thread, see through would be cool so long as the space under it looked fancy enough. The drawers would be about 4-5 inches tall to line up with the depression then, question is how wide and long they should be, it would be cool to fit in a notebook at least into the drawers but then they would take up a solid third of the volume of the table if not more.
Instead of having the the depression itself be a whiteboard having pre-built panels made to fit inside would be more versatile and look better. That way the DM can draw up the maps that are going to be used prior to the game and then slide them in as the setting changes. This way the DM can prepare more thoroughly and the depression itself can be built with a fancier material on the bottom.
>Removable DM screen with spaces to clip tables and one side with a whiteboard to track enemies basic stats and initiative on
This is the table my current DM build himself. It has a whiteboard top with rope lights underneath for a storage space for players. The true benefit to this table is that it's completely collapsible, breaking down into a folding table-esque size. I've gotta say, it's pretty nice, especially if you can't afford a permanent installation.
>>46332887
Is that your cat?
>>46335419
Always the damn cat with you people.
>>46334717
I honestly don't know anon, maybe we'll have to take it up with Vegas?
