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A table made for war!

Want to show off your painted figures? Got a cool conversion? Need some ideas?

A table made for war!

Postby Jay » Mon Mar 17, 2014 11:09 am

Hello I'm moving into my house next week and it came with a new sturdy 6' x 3' oak table, so I need to build a surface that's 6' x 4'. My initial idea is a piece of MDF, cut down the middle with a hinge in the middle but that'll stop it being flush with the table. As it doesn't need to be foldable but still needs to be compact to put away I was think instead of a hinge in the middle, lots of magnets where the two parts meet and something like a bolt on the sides to further secure it.

Ideas, thoughts?
Please excuse my chaotic spelling and grammar, I am Dyslexic, to my friends that means I am retarded and should always wear my water wings and helmet.

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Re: A table made for war!

Postby timewizard » Mon Mar 17, 2014 11:54 am

This is another idea at least. A portable game table top that sits on top of a dining table.

http://www.hirstarts.com/tips28/tips28.html#top
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Re: A table made for war!

Postby Spack » Mon Mar 17, 2014 12:50 pm

Hi Jay. I've got a similar situation, 7' x 3' table. I ended up just using 2 sheets of 6' x 2' MDF (I think it was around 12mm thick) for my gaming surface, didn't bother with hinges or any way to secure them as they stay put due to their weight. Haven't gamed for a long time, but it was sturdy enough to take the odd knock from Slate or the kids without shifting :)
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Re: A table made for war!

Postby conscriptboris » Mon Mar 17, 2014 2:51 pm

@ TW, awesome link, I am going to make the table, and buy some of those moulds. I remember seeing them a few years back and had completely forgotten about them.

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Re: A table made for war!

Postby timewizard » Mon Mar 17, 2014 2:54 pm

I have a few of his molds and cant recommend them enough. They are very high quality and the level of detail in them is incredible. I have made a good number of plaster casts out of mine and they're still like brand new.
"I have found again and again that in encounter actions, the day goes to the side that is the first to plaster its opponent with fire." - Erwin Rommel
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Re: A table made for war!

Postby KInG » Mon Mar 17, 2014 3:37 pm

I have some also if you want them, coz my casting days are over.

50% off and u pay postage. ;)
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Re: A table made for war!

Postby KInG » Mon Mar 17, 2014 3:38 pm

As for table. You could sink hinges into top surface of board so it folds in over them flush.
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Re: A table made for war!

Postby Jay » Mon Mar 17, 2014 3:45 pm

The thick mdf sounds like a winner nice and simple cheers guys though that folding table looks cool!
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Re: A table made for war!

Postby Spack » Mon Mar 17, 2014 4:08 pm

Just be careful how you store the MDF - I kept mine upright against my garage wall and they bowed a bit. Would probably be ok with them stored long side down but I didn't have the space to do that. Flipping them over from time should help keep bending to a minimum. Or you could just screw on some 2" x 1" battens to the edges on the underside, although if they overlap the edge of the table you'll have to add battens where the surface will sit on the table to keep it level.

Something like this: http://www.warseer.com/forums/showthrea ... ost4565945

but with extra battens in the middle where the table will be.

I have also used pasting tables in the past, two of them side by side gives roughly 6' x 4', but they can get a little wobbly on their own legs. However, a couple of these with the legs removed and extra battens added to support them on a table top would give you a gaming surface made up two foldable panels that fold down to fit in a space around 3' x 2' x 6". You could also get some wood dowel and then drill holes in the facing edges, pushing the dowel through both panel edges to secure them together when they're on the table making a much more sturdy surface.

I'm now tempted to drag my two pasting tables out of the shed and refit them for placing on top of my dining table ... :)
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Re: A table made for war!

Postby D-warfer » Mon Mar 17, 2014 4:15 pm

Jay wrote:Hello I'm moving into my house next week and it came with a new sturdy 6' x 3' oak table
Ideas, thoughts?

Get a large rubber sheet tablecloth..that stays on under everything, no matter what.
1) its non stick so helps with the table sliding bits(whichever above you choose).
2) Its not going to tear the oak a new one as you slide it into place week in week out.
EDIT( it also prevents over hot dishes burning straight through onto the surface which I think was the original reason I did it.)
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Re: A table made for war!

Postby Spack » Mon Mar 17, 2014 4:17 pm

Yes, a cloth under the board is a great idea. I tend to use an old xmas plastic tablecloth that we have in the house - it's heavy duty, doesn't slip, and as it's also used when the kids are painting or gluing it does matter if it gets damaged by the gaming table.
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Re: A table made for war!

Postby D-warfer » Mon Mar 17, 2014 4:24 pm

"thoughts?"
Does this place accept woodwork for your do anything competitions, it would be grand to have a saw off. Apart from the odd bird table I've only really ever built one of those robot assault courses.. (looked a bit like dali had attacked a snooker table).
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Re: A table made for war!

Postby timewizard » Mon Mar 17, 2014 4:41 pm

D-warfer wrote:Does this place accept woodwork for your do anything competitions, it would be grand to have a saw off. Apart from the odd bird table I've only really ever built one of those robot assault courses.. (looked a bit like dali had attacked a snooker table).


We'll take it under advisement. I'll discuss it with the other competitions mod and let you know soonest.
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Re: A table made for war!

Postby Cain Tiberius » Mon Mar 17, 2014 5:04 pm

Another option would be if you had the MDF/wood board in section. Would be to drill holes and use wood dowels to hold and line the sections up. If you still have problems with them separating, use hooks like the kind on folding paste tables. The drilling would have to be carefully measured or they might not line up. But I think this would be the simplest option.
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Re: A table made for war!

Postby timewizard » Mon Mar 17, 2014 5:22 pm

If you want dowel holes to line up, you can either use a dowel marking pin;

http://www.rockler.com/woodworking/Dowel-Marking-Pins

but it's an investment for maybe one project.

The other option (and one that I've used) is to drill the dowel holes in the edge of one of the boards, insert dowels into the holes. Then mark the ends of the dowels with either a crayon, a grease pencil or a lipstick, line up the two boards and then rap them together a few times. The position of the dowels will be marked on the second board.

Another option to hold the two boards together would be to use velcro strips. These can be purchased in long rolls and some have an adhesive backing, though they should be stapled in place as well just to be sure.

And Spack is spot on about the boards having a tendency to warp. Attaching the batten boards to the MDF is about the only sure fire way to prevent this. Unless you want to go really crazy and build a table top like I did here;

painting-modelling/new-game-table-top-t4523.html?hilit=table

It has held up very well, and you could do it in two sections and join them together for a full 6X4 game table.
"I have found again and again that in encounter actions, the day goes to the side that is the first to plaster its opponent with fire." - Erwin Rommel
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