Gaming Table

[Coop]

I’ve been asked by my wife’s nephew’s son, to build him a gaming table. The little fart spends way too much time on his cell phone and computer but, I’m not his dad, just his Woodworking uncle. He sent this pic and although it would be a whole lot easier to use ply and pocket screws, just not the way I would like to do it. The pic shows a table of 6’ long but I am limited to 50” due to space available so the shelving to either side will be limited. The unit will be painted and as I have sworn to never paint another piece, the parents will be responsible for the discoloration. The only good part of the paint is that I can cheap out on the wood species. Ash for the frame and 1/2” foreign ply for the panels. The purple lighting reminds me of my teen years. 

[JohnG]

Just a quick thought- as seen in this picture, be sure to add a good bit of clearance on all sides of his PC tower dimensions. The desk will surely outlive his current machine and who knows where the trend will be in a few years. Also, it’s a huge PITA to connect/disconnect peripherals if you only give a couple inches of total clearance (don’t ask me how I know).

 

[treeslayer]

i'm in as usual Coop, looking forward to this one

[Mark J]

My guess is that you'll have to loose the shelves on the right side to hit your 50" target.  

[Jonathan McCully]

Might go without saying, but you’ll also want to make sure that there is adequate ventilation around the PC tower. Depending on the performance of his unit, gaming can have a tendency to heat up a system.

[Chet]

On 4/1/2022 at 7:53 PM, Coop said:

The little fart spends way too much time on his cell phone and computer

Hey Coop, you don't have to hold back on your feelings.  You can speak freely here, you are among friends. 

[Coop]

My grandson is also a gamer and has a tower that has several fans to cool it. I was told that this one won’t be using a tower although one is shown in the pic. I’m not sure how all of this electronic gadgetry works. 

Final dimensions will be a 16” wide cabinet, 20” wide leg space and to me, a useless 7” wide cabinet. Seems like a wasted space and it adds another panel and two more legs.

 

[curlyoak]

Just for the spirit of the fine woodwork that you make, make a molding to add and pick a species that is right and varnish it. Just to have a warm touch of natural. If not a molding then a component at eye view with a varnished wood grain. 

[JohnG]

On 4/2/2022 at 1:13 PM, Coop said:

 a useless 7” wide cabinet.

If we go with stereotypes, the 7” wide shelf will be plenty wide for his energy drinks and doritos. 

[pkinneb]

On 4/1/2022 at 9:53 PM, Coop said:

I’ve been asked by my wife’s nephew’s son, to build him a gaming table. The little fart spends way too much time on his cell phone and computer but, I’m not his dad, just his Woodworking uncle. He sent this pic and although it would be a whole lot easier to use ply and pocket screws, just not the way I would like to do it. The pic shows a table of 6’ long but I am limited to 50” due to space available so the shelving to either side will be limited. The unit will be painted and as I have sworn to never paint another piece, the parents will be responsible for the discoloration. The only good part of the paint is that I can cheap out on the wood species. Ash for the frame and 1/2” foreign ply for the panels. The purple lighting reminds me of my teen years. 

That is a sweet setup 

[Chestnut]

On 4/1/2022 at 9:53 PM, Coop said:

The little fart spends way too much time on his cell phone and computer

That was me before i had a place of my own. I eventually transitioned from games to woodworking. I have difficulty sometimes criticizing all games because they did help me learn problem solving, helped me build confidence, and sometimes taught me leadership and how to navigate social situations but that depends on the game. They also helped me develop a drive to accomplish goals, that has directly translated into woodworking.

I haven't been flowing games for the last 10 years though so i don't know if the games these days are any good.

[JohnG]

I agree with @Chestnut. Gaming gets a bad rap. While it can become a problem (like anything taken too far), it isn’t necessarily bad. I used to play a lot but now it just feels like a waste of time.

[wtnhighlander]

You guys haven't lived until you've played "Leisure Suit Larry in the Land of the Lounge Lizards" in the original CGA graphics.

[Coop]

DThis project seems to be going fairly well so far. Again, as it will be painted, I didn’t bother with 8/4 lumber for the legs, just milled some 4/4” to about 7/8”, then ripped that down to 7/8” and glued them together. When the glue dried, I planed each leg to 1 1/2” and tapered the ends that get tapered, to 1”.

For simplicity’s sake, all rails, aprons and stretchers will be called rails. More milling and cutting to length produced the rails to house the panels. Then to the ts to cut the 1/4” grooves in the rails,

for the panels to rest in.

Next, I took the legs to the router table and cut 3/8” wide by 1/2” deep grooves for the panels. I’m not sure if it was justified, but as the legs are much thicker than the rails, I’m allowing the panels to be thicker at the legs. This required the panel sides to be rabbeted to 3/8” and the tops and bottoms to be 1/4” thick.

A dry fit of the sides gave me a chance to measure for the panels. Most if not all joinery will be done using the Domino.

 

Changing blades to the dado stack, made the rabbiting much easier.

The 1/2” ply isn’t HD stuff but it sure isn’t BB either. 

After cutting for both sections, it’s time for another dry fit. Still a ways to go.

In almost all rail intersections with the legs, there is another rail at 90*. Maybe another overkill but I haunched my tenons to get the most from them.

I rest my case for the night. 

 

 

 

The last pic just kinda snuck in there and I’m unable to delete it.

[wtnhighlander]

Interesting approach, using 1/2" ply and rabbeting the edges for a 1/4" groove. Are the panels large enough that 1/4" ply seemed to flimsy? Or just using up some 'paint grade' material that was cluttering your shop?

[Coop]

No, not really too large for 1/4” ply but he wanted adjustable height shelves, like they will ever be changed. Due to weight and cost, I would have used 3/4” ply. The sad part is, that the shelf pins recess into the sides, 1/2”. And no, the 1/2” ply was purchased just for this project, unfortunately. Luckily I find that the panels are set back from the legs on the inside exactly 1/2” so a strip of 1/2” ply at each shelf level, will accommodate the pins, I hope! I think I am into this too far to do otherwise. Pics to follow. Maybe I can learn from you guys on how to do this differently in the future. 

[treeslayer]

Really ripping thru this one Coop, nice progress and looks great 

[Coop]

I guess I’m not much of a journalist as I forgot to take a whole lot of pics. But this is not much more than a cabinet on legs, there wasn’t a whole lot to document but Ido have pics of my mistakes.

I wanted removable and not adjustable shelves so after breaking down the dry fit, I made arrangements for shelf pins. The side panels are 1/2” ply and the shelf pins go 1/2” deep into the wood, so I added a 1/2” strip of ply to accommodate them which, I thought at the time was a good idea.

With everything out of the clamps, this is what she looks like topless.

Several years ago, I disassembled an old desk at my office. The top was attached with some heavy duty figure eights and I kept them. As I didn’t have quiet enough, I added a couple of new ones.

Top in clamps being banded with oak strips.

To lighten the load and as I still had plenty of 1/2” ply left, I cut the shelves from it. To give the front shelf edges a little more mass and perhaps a little more strength, I rabbeted a strip of oak for it to rest in.

with the shelves in place, I realized that shelf pins, in this case, weren’t the best idea, at least the way I constructed things.

To resolve the issue, I banded the other 3 sides and notched out to allow for the legs. Now, the 1/2” strips that were to house the pins, now become ledgers to support the shelves. As everything will be painted by the owner, the sanding thru the veneer in spots, didn’t bother me.

With the top in place, this is the finished product.

[treeslayer]

Looks great Coop ! I’m sure he’s going to love it, and one again I wish I could rip thru a project in as little time as you do, great work sir!

[wtnhighlander]

Nice work, Coop! 

[pkinneb]

Very nice!!

 

[Mark J]

Was that a mistake on the shelves or an improved design?  

Good work!

[Coop]

Definitely both! 

Thanks all!