Time is running out to get the game table finished. The new campaign starts on Wednesday, and until this afternoon, I only had a few of the component pieces cut. I'd been sanding the rough reclaimed plywood, but that was all the progress I'd made. Mr S-P and T recognized that I was going to need help to get it all done in time. After they worked on T's new dedicated beer brewing station in his garage, getting plumbing set up for that, they came back here and gave me several hours of skilled labor. I couldn't have gotten as far as I did today without them.
The table has to be built in two sections. There's no way we could get it into the basement room otherwise, and it needs to be able to be taken apart and stacked out of the way when we don't want it set up. I'm still not sure when that would be yet, but I'm sure there will be a time when it's dismantled and set against the wall. We have one side completely cut now, and half assembled. The table skirt is in place, and the raised rails are almost ready to be glued on and screwed down. There will be cup holders and dice trays, enough for ten people (although there are currently nine who need to sit around this table), and it took all of us to get the cut-outs completed.
I bought a four-inch hole saw for the cup holders, knowing how hard it would be to get good circles with the jigsaw. The amount of time and effort saved made the investment worth it ten times over. The dice trays had to be done with the jigsaw, and it proved so difficult to get right, it made me even more glad for the hole saw. We used a spade bit to round the corners, and sawed along the lines to cut out the five by nine inch rectangles. Or rather, we tried to follow the lines. All three of us took stabs at it, and not one of us made perfectly straight lines where they were supposed to be. The plywood was thick and the saw blade pulled hard to the left, no matter who was steering it. I was left with no choice but to make a late-night run to Lowe's for a collection of large metal files. I sat in front of the TV for hours, through to the end of SNL, trying to perfect the cutouts. I did my best, but eventually I had to stop. I'll try a little more in the morning, and then it will be gluing time.
The hard brain work was done today. When next we can work on the other half of the table, it should go fairly quickly. It's just a matter of copying it all for the other side. Then my job will be to prime and paint and set it up downstairs. This is one of the biggest things I've designed, and I'm excited to have it finished and in use.
No comments:
Post a Comment