Making a Tabletop, Need Advice

An-D

An-D was warned for this.

So, my friends and I have a board game night we try to do just about every week, but we keep running into the issue of space. We all live in kinda smaller apartments and we don't really have huge tables. My solution is to make a tabletop that we can put on top of whatever we have in order to increase our space, than at the end of the night, we can put it away and not have some huge monster of a table in our homes.

I have a VW Jetta, so this can't really be one piece. My thought is to get a big piece of wood and have it cut into three panels. Easy to store panels, than when its game time, we can assemble them together and get going.

What I need advice on is how to get these panels to connect to one another without ruining the flatness of tabletop (minimize wibbly-wobbly) or making it a pain to store. Ideas?

DevoutlyApathetic

About what size are you really talking about here?

Just getting sheets of anything is going to be problematic. They need to be thick and strong enough they won't bend over the distances you're talking about or else you need to have some sort of support ribbing underneath them which complicates the whole easily disassemble bit.

mts

cant you just get a folding bridge table

iRevert

mts wrote: »

cant you just get a folding bridge table

A card table would be quick and painless for this.

Rankenphile

If you have access to tools, get a sheet of 4x8 mdf, cut it into halves or thirds if you must. Spray it evenly with spray adhesive and wrap in batting and felt. It should lay plenty flat, depending on the surface you set it on. Pretty painless.

There are a ton of tutorials on the process, such as this one: http://boardgamegeek.com/thread/938054/building-an-inexpensive-gaming-table-top-for-your

TehSloth

We used to have a similar thing at my apartment, although we left it in one piece. We used "Showerboard" from the local hardware store, which is fantastic because it's quite cheap and you can write and erase on it with Dry-Erase markers! It's not the best surface for it, and sometimes it doesn't clean super well, but is definitely a great option if you're interested in having something you can write/erase on without dropping $Texas on the better white board paint.

They should be able to cut it for you for free also, although you'll need to decide how you want to cut it. It'll come in a 4x8 sheet (probably around $10-$15) If you want to have a table top that large you'll need to see how large of something you can transport, if you can move a 4x4 piece I'd reccommend getting it cut in half, and getting a pair of hinges or a continuous hinge, and some 2x2 boards. Get the showerboard cut in half, run 2x2 boards along the connecting side of each new piece and attach the hinge through that, then two more 2x2 boards perpendicular to that one on each board for support, the distance between these two less than the width of any of the tables you're playing on so they support your new table top on top of the other table. Pop down some felt squares or cover the bottoms completely so you don't accidentally scratch whatever you're putting the table top onto.

You can do something similar if you need it cut into 3 sections but you'd need to put the hinges on the underside of one of the pieces for it to fold up easily. It also definitely won't be as sturdy as mdf but shouldn't be too flimsy unless the edges are much wider than the support rails underneath.

Hawkstone

If I am getting the cut of your gib you want it to break down really small, so this may not work but I will offer it anyway because its really easy to make. My process for this was pretty similar to good Mr. Sloth above. We took 2 pieces of plywood and felted one side and connected them with hinges so that it closes felt sides together. You then glue on approx. 4 cross members to firm up the whole thing and keep the center hinges from maring the table you set it on. we put two near the hinge and two on the ends and glues a light padding to them. It fit in the back of most cars pretty easy if you put the seats down. This is admitedly a very simple approach but it worked pretty well. But your car is a bit small so it might be a nonstarter.

SanderJK

Eraser marks can often be removed with either rubbing alcohol or nailpolish remover (Acetone).
I am wondering if such a construction would slide though, especially if a large part is floating over the seats, it'd be real easy to have it get nudged and have pieces everywhere.