Gaming Table Trials: Taking Shape

Work continued on my portable gaming table. With all the pieces cut and dry-fitted it was time to start assembly.

This is where yesterday's unknown missteps begin to show themselves. Yesterday I cut wood for my table along with my daughter's Lego table. At some point I apparently grabbed two of my 48" support pieces and used it on her table, leaving me short two pieces. As luck would have it I purchased an extra 8' board just in case I made a bad cut, so I chopped that in half this morning and was good to go.

Then I remembered that the reason I hadn't used this particular board is because it was slightly different than the others. The coloring was off, it had some stamps on it, and it had a slight bend to it that I hadn't really noticed at the store. Not a huge deal, I thought, since I was staining the wood anyway.

As it turns out, this piece was also about 1/16" thinner than the others, meaning that the 19" pieces I'd cut left a 1/8" gap. Nothing I was willing to drive all the way to the store to fix, but it was still an annoyance. The warping also meant I had to secure the board on each end and then bruise my palm trying to shove the middle in to place so it would at least feign sitting straight on the board. I also cut the side walls a smidge too short because I tried my hand at using fractions in my measurement, leaving the corners looking a bit funky and my brain a bit fried.

But hey, the prototypes were assembled and the kids weren't even awake yet.

Next it was time to stain. I had a fairly flawless staining session with my daughter last night, so I was feeling pretty confident on this one. Much like those who do the NY Times crossword puzzle in pen, I didn't even bother changing in to clothes that my wife wouldn't shoot me for ruining. That's right, Page 5 is a way of life for me!

And while we're on the subject, being married with children gives me access to an excellent labor pool. I popped my head inside and let my wife know how aghast I was that she wasn't even dressed to help me stain (I had never talked to her about it, that's just how I flirt - don't judge me). She gave me the usual look of "I have no idea what you're talking about," but I headed back outside and a few minutes later she emerged ready to make my boards look pretty.

I must say I'm surprised at how far a can of stain goes. I got a medium can, certain I'd have to go back for more later, but that stuff is super thin, and I think one of the cheap $4 cans would have done both projects, and maybe my son's upcoming train table to boot (yes, I have a woodworking bug right now).

Staining the first side went amazingly well, with me only getting it on my hands, and since that seems to happen any time I have a paintbrush I'm calling that a success. After letting the halves bake in the sun for awhile I flipped them over and stained the other side.

Pro tip from a staining idiot: wood stain is apparently thinner than water. I didn't realize until later than when I was staining the underside of the walls it was dripping down the already-stained sides and giving them a set of dark stalactites. I tried to smooth it out, but who knows if it did any good.

Pro tip from a woodworking idiot: don't use a freaking chop saw near wood that was recently stained. I started cutting wood so my son can help me build his table tomorrow, and I didn't realize until I was cleaning up that I had lightly dusted the boards. Now I was fortunate that I messed up the side that will have foam glued to it because that could have been an ugly disaster, even for a prototype.

And that's where I'm at right now. As I'm typing this I realized that I didn't attach blocks where the hinges are going to go, so that's going to seriously limit my productivity tomorrow. How disappointing! Oh well, I'll file that one under "learning experience" along with all the rest.


See you tomorrow!

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