I have been playing around with different configurations for a custom table and wanted to note some things I’ve landed on that I really like. A main one thing is having the map mounted so that it can slide around as needed on top of a bigger playing area. My table is 65” x 95” in total with a 5.5” arm rest around the outside and the middle is a recessed neoprene surface. I have the OOB Global map mounted on 1/2” rigid foam with a 1/2” aluminum frame around it. This allows the map to slide up close to whoever’s turn it is, but then be in the middle so both players can roll dice In front of them without disturbing the map and in easy view of the other player. (Plus we like lots of room to roll the bones). This ability to adjust the surface along with a standing height, makes it comfortable for long uses because you can move around more and don’t feel as tied down.
Things I’ve learned and changed from original design - I originally used too big of a frame for the map and mounted it on too high of a foam block (you can see these pictures at the bottom) - it made it hard to see the other player’s dice and the big frame took up too much real estate. My global map is mounted on much thinner foam (the framing is bad, you can see if you look closely) but I also used much thinner aluminum angle for the frame. This gives just enough grip when needing to move the map around (I use furniture slides on the bottom, which glide very nicely on the neoprene) but doesn’t make the whole thing too bulky. Having it an inch or so off the surface keeps the dice off, but isn’t so heigh that you can’t see the other player’s dice rolls. When playing other versions (such as Zombies) the board is much smaller, but it can easily swap in and out on the same table since it can move around where ever it is needed or be pushed aside.
I originally made it normal table height, but found long reaches while sitting were harder and it just felt cramped. Standing height with a bar stool is a great way to have the best of both worlds.
The 5.5” rim around the table itself gives you a nice arm rest that doesn’t interfere with the gaming surface. I’m playing with how to best add some cushion to this part - open to suggestions. Sometimes I just lay a piece of leftover neoprene on it.
Dice bounce nice on the neoprene and stay off the floor. It also feels nice and has enough give to allow things to slide but be picked up easily. Wouldn’t definitely go with neoprene again as a surface covering.
I made the drawers open to the inside of the table so you can stay hunched over the action while accessing and stowing stuff away. 50/50 on whether I would keep this if I were to do it again. If I were doing it again, I might try to build customer drawers form scratch using actual drawer glides, but that was beyond my ability when I first did this, so I just used clear plexiglass boxes with aluminum pulls mounted on them. It’s nice having them clear, and I was happy with how the pulls came out, but without glides they can be a little fussy sliding in and out of their slots.
I originally designed the table so that I could put a cover surface back on top when not in use, but find I don’t really ever do that, so if I were to do it again, I might not mess with that part (I never even finished staining those as you can see in the pictures).
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Custom Global Table
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Much like a lot of others, this site has inspired me to create my own table. I have zero woodworking skills so I knew this would be a challenge. I’m going to go through the step-by-step of what I did if anyone is interested in doing the same thing. I will however, need someone to post the pictures for me as I can not do that yet.
My first step was to go online and find a printing retailer. I used the file that Young Grasshopper sent me (he is using the same one I believe) and it ran me about $30 with shipping to have it printed on piece of vinyl. I then went online and found some containers at, imagine this thecontainerstore.com that I wanted to use for holding the units etc… I wanted to have both of these items in my possession before I got started so that I could base my measurements around them.
Once those things arrived in the mail it was off to the hardware store to pick up some wood. I got 2 - 4x8 sheets of plywood. One sheet was 1/4inch thick, the other was 3/4. I also picked up about 8 2x4’s
I cut the 1/4 thick piece to the exact size of my game board. I then centered it on the 3/4 piece, glued and nailed it down. The idea of this was to give me sort of a “lip” when I enclosed the game board itself. it also helped me frame the table without having to worry about fitment of the board.
Next I took the 2x4’s to a friends house and had him “rip” them down to 1x2 pieces. I found out the hard way that if you buy a 1x2 piece of wood from the store, that it’s actually NOT 1x2… I guess I didn’t get the memo. I now had my wood that I was going to use to frame out the board and put my separators in between the different compartments.
Since I already had the 1/4 piece of plywood centered and mounted at the center of the 4x8 sheet, it was easy to frame the whole table out. I laid the 1x2’s on their side (meaning that I had a 2 inch tall “wall” going around the whole table) glued them down, and screwed them in from underneath . This left me with a bunch of room on the ends, I ended up using that as my dice rolling area.
Once it was all framed out, I sanded down all the wood then I stained EVERYTHING. I actually tried to use a stain color that was close to the color of the compartments I bought but that was a complete fail - It’s WAY darker. Oh well, at least it still looked OK :roll: you can even see the difference in color between the boxes I got and the color of the table.
On the sides I glued some felt that I got from the craft store directly to the base. I then added a kind of rim around them using some smaller pieces of wood to hide the cutting imperfections. You can see the spot here, before I put the felt down:
All that was left to do now was glue the print out of the board down. (in the pictures the board seems to come and go randomly, that’s just because I couldn’t help but mock it up in place while I was building)
I added all my pieces to the compartments, put the compartments in their respective places and then BOOM I was done! I had laid out where I was going to put them specifically ahead of time based on where that country is on the board, and how big of a power they are(how many game pieces they actually had).
There is a little bit of staining that still needs to be done in the dice area, but for the most part it’s complete.
all-in-all this took me about a week to complete. And I’m a perfectionist. Thanks for looking!
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If anyone can post a link to my pictures, that would be much appreciated!
If you email the link to me (send me a personal message addressed to CWO Marc using the My Messages function at the top of the board), I’ll be glad to post it for you.
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I’ll be adding the pics to the original post when I get a chance. Stay tuned!
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You know, you complain about the stain not matching with the boxes that you had purchased but, dangit, I think it looks BETTER with the lighter colored boxes inside the compartment areas! It adds contrast and looks fantastic.
Very nice job! And a very simple way to do it as well.
PS : for anyones future reference, building lumber is always 1/2" smaller on both dimensions than it is labelled (ie: 2x4 are actually 1.5x3.5 inch, etc). Long ago they used to be exactly as labeled but with milling and changes in production (and the quality/quantity of wood used) that has changed over the years to what we have now. For building purposes, not a big deal, but if you’re doing furniture, you always want to check first. In these cases, sometimes it pays to buy better-than-construction-grade woods (usually found in the trim aisles) if you need an exact size.
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Thanks!
I too am starting to warm up to the different colors on the table. Makes them stand out. The best part is; they come out so that I can transport the table. Bonus!
And I probably could have used your wood knowledge 10 days ago! hahah. But that’s good info for sure.
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Excellent work Aaronimpulse!
You took on a huge task and came out Aces! I’m proud of you bro, you have something that is unique and all your friends will appreciate you for it. I agree with IWNGU, the two tone brown looks perfect and your containers are great. Congrats on completing the project, I know how much work it takes, and trust me, you will get tons of entertainment out of it.
PS: You must not be married if you’re building a game table in the kitchen… LOL.
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Awesome game table!
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Last Jack - Thanks!
YG - I couldn’t have done it without your help, thanks a ton! But you are totally right, I am not married haha!!
Again, if anyone wants help building one, just let me know
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This table is excellent. I am envious.
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It is a fantastic table.
what I particularly like is the fact that the early shots are in your kitchen… leading me to believe you are either single or soon to be divorced. :-D Because I know that if I came home and dropped a 4’ x 8’ sheet of plywood in the Kitchen I’d better be building something to sleep in. Cause I’d be needing it when I was outside later that night. LOL
Great work!
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Hahah yea, I definitely live alone. And if I didn’t, I would be now!
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Sweet board. Got to participate in the breaking in phase, so much better than trying to play on a coffee table.
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Great job on the table.
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Beautiful.
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I then went online and found some containers at, imagine this thecontainerstore.com that I wanted to use for holding the units etc…
Hey Aaron, great table!!!
Can I ask what the measurements were on these containers? Or better yet, a link to the exact containers you ended up purchasing?
They look great, good size and appear stackable too for when the game/table is all packed up yeah?
Cheers
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Thanks Speed_Adict!
They are completely stackable, which I will completely admit, was an accident that ended up working out in my favor! I purchased the containers before building the actual table and used the containers as a guide for my measurements. I tried to get the boxes as geographically close to their corresponding countries as possible… but anyway… here you go!
http://www.containerstore.com/shop/bath/drawerOrganizers?productId=10023938&N=80937
enjoy!
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Cheers ;)
Yeah that’s what I also plan on doing, building a table around the map and containers…
Going to wait though and see what layout best suits out group (i.e. Where do we usually roll the dive (left? Right?), where do we place out cards etc).
Thanks again :)
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No problem,
Post the pics when you are done!
happy gaming!
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You guys are right to build around the map and containers first, things like dice trays, card decks, and money stacks can all be worked in later.
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