Table WIP: Home Stretch

All the staining is done. I also put two coats of clear polyurethane on the tabletop and panels. At this point, once the basement is clear, I can take the pieces down and start final assembly.

Table WIP: Part something. Staining

The table legs got stained about a week ago, but weather and schedules made more work impractical for the last several days.

This afternoon after work was gorgeous, so I took the top and the panels out to work on. The base was too heavy to move on my own and I lacked my normal beautiful assistant (my wife).

I'm using a Minwax chestnut that is stain + polyurethane in one.  

The little finger hole in the corner of the display cover is to let me lift it out of the opening more easily. The smaller panel (top) will cover the Chromebox section.

There is some work unrelated to the table that has to happen in the basement before final assembly occurs. But I am getting closer!

Table WIP: Getting There

The top of the table has been cut and sanded. I also cut and assembled the table legs yesterday.

The large circular holes will be dice-rolling trays. The medium holes are for the cup holders. The center holes is for the TV screen. The two small round holes are for the speakers. The big corner cut out is for the "access panel" to reach the ChromeBox inside the table. It runs the TV display. 

There is also a tiny hole on the far side of the TV from the speakers. It will hold a small USB mic for sound pickup that will hopefully allow anyone playing remotely via Roll20 to hear the other players. There is another small mic attached to my laptop that will be at the "DM side" of the table (corner across from the Chromebox). Hopefully the mics will be far enough from each other the speakers to avoid feedback (The TV sound will be muted).

I meant to glue the table leg pieces together as well as using the wood screws, but I forgot. Each leg is held together by three screws, so they are pretty secure. I still need to drill the holes for the securing lag bolts into the frame and the legs. There will be two per leg. 

If the weather holds, I will stain the table this weekend. Then I will be able to run the wires for the outlets, etc. and attach the tabletop to the frame. The legs won't get attached until I can bring it inside and down to the basement.

Some progress

I managed to complete the framing of the 2x4s this weekend and cut the holes for the cables. I also marked out where I need to cut through the top piece of wood for the TV screen. etc. I bought the stain and I had to get some more 2x4 for the table legs. If I can get 2-3 more sunny days, I can finish this thing off. At least the parts that need to be done outside.

Curse of the weather gods

Have I mentioned how all this rain is getting seriously annoying?

Table WIP, Part 2: Layout

Another sunny day. A little more work done. The short pieces around the edge are not attached yet. The cross beams by the TV frame are screwed in. I also cut holes for attaching the table legs, but I later realized they'll need to be a little bigger.

The stuff lying about the table is me trying to make sure things will fit where I want the. The cookie tin is standing in as the template for cut-in dice rolling trays. You can also see the cup holders, speakers, and the power outlets.

The Chromebox will run the player-view Roll20 interface on the TV screen. You can't see very well in this shot, but I drilled several "vents" into the board underneath for airflow purposes.

Table WIP pics, part the first

The sun finally came out, and my wife & I had a chance o do a bit of work on the table.

The frame is to hold the TV screen. The particle board will be the bottom layer of the table itself. I wanted the screen slightly offset from center to give the "DM's end" a little more room. We then traced where to cut an opening for the frame.

Once the hole was cut, we put he frame inside. It was a pretty tight fit, but that's good! The, because particle board doesn't have a lot of structural strength, we glued and screwed two 2x4's on either side. these will also be part of the frame that holds the top layer up and divides up the 'cubbies' that the players can use for books, etc. 

At this point in the afternoon, we need to let the wood glue dry and there was food to cook and children to ferry to activities. The next steps should go fairly quickly, as we'll just be cutting and attaching lengths of 2x4's to complete the framing. After that, we'll work on the top of the horizontal surface. I also need to cut out the corners of the particle board to make room for the table legs.