Hey guys,

There's a more detailed explanation below, but the short story is that I'm looking for (ideally local) help with building a table.

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In our house we play a lot of board games that need a lot of space. For example Arkham Horror is this big, easily straddling two normal tables (FYI not my picture), so I decided to look into a Gaming/Dining table.

There are a few tables on the market designed for this sort of thing, mostly based around drawers and dropped surfaces (so you can leave the game going and fold up the table until you continue it). The idea is it replaces a dining table, being able to expand to play games, but fold up and look reasonable for meals and general purpose use. Sounds perfect for my requirements.

The American tables are quite nice and over-the-top respectively, but they don't ship to Australia. The local Adelaide guys are a little bit plain and are only made from veneered material. Fortunately, I found a design that's a decent middle ground (also shown in three youtube videos). I think it could use some improvement, but it's already mostly there. The main change I'm making is to incorporate vertical removable panels to cover the exposed drawer fold-outs. There's also a requirement to remove the legs in order to move it (renting). In terms of material I'm thinking river redgum, but I'm pretty flexible. The CAD model is made on the assumption of standard lengths (mostly 190x19). The bottom surface is MDF as it's hidden from view, the drop-in top will probably be planked.

I've CADed up some basic plans for the tabletop in SolidEdge. This 3D PDF should let you have a look at what I'm thinking (no tolerances yet). Table v1.pdf

Anyway coming to the point, I was planning on producing DXFs for a local cabinetmaker to C&C mill the parts for me and then assemble it myself. However, I'm coming around to the conclusion that it might be better to get some help because I don't have much experience working with wood. This probably means at least one of the following will happen:


  1. The plans will probably contain flaws and I'll have nobody to blame but myself.
  2. There'll be a better joinery method that I've missed (stronger, neater, better finish, etc).
  3. My tolerances will be off, leading to splitting in the future.
  4. Fourth thing that I haven't even considered.


In short, if I'm going this far I may as well get some help and do it right.

Which begs the question, anybody (ideally in Adelaide) looking to do some commission work? It can be as little as finessing the design in consultation (C&C is still an option for construction) or as much as constructing the whole thing if you're local. If that sounds interesting to you, PM me and we can discuss.

Cheers,
Tristan