bernieke's projects - boardgame table

Most friday nights we play boardgames as a family. And we had some extra room in the living room. So I decided to build us a boardgame table.

One the one hand this avoids having to clean up the dining table in a rush. And on the other it gives us a more comfortable playing environment.

Some features of the boardgame table:

• A square table with one player on each side.
• Big enough for most games, but small enough so you can still reach across.
• Covered with a playing mat to prevent pieces from moving too easily, have a nice soft dice bounce and make it easier to pick up playing cards.
• The playing area is inset. This prevents pieces from falling off, reduces glare, and makes it easier to have a nice overview.
• The armrests have an area routed out for playing pieces.
• Each side has a drawer on the left to store writing utensils and tokens.
• Below the drawer a board is stored which can be used to cover the drawer and create an extra play area.
• Below the section in front of each player an extra player board is stowed which can be mounted on the armrest to the right of the player.

I bought a bunch of oak and MDF, and started off cutting it all to size.

To route out the armrests I made a quick fixture to accurately repeat the work.

As I couldn't find 4mm thick gaming mats locally, I doubled up on 2mm thick mats. One plain black on the bottom and a nicely patterned gray to match our interior on top.

The table is constructed with a wooden frame on the bottom, followed by 18mm thick MDF for the table surface.

When not in use the player boards are stored below the table.

Routing the drawer sides.

Assembling the drawers.

The drawers in place, along with the board stops. (To prevent the wooden boards which can cover the drawers from sliding too deep.)

Some extra support for the table legs.

The table done, with the legs attached. Each leg has a 30x30cm 4mm thick metal plate welded to it to support a corner of the table.

created: 2020/07/20
last updated: 2021/11/06