About five years ago I began making tabletops for my games as a means to easily lift and store games that couldn’t be finished in one sitting. My first one was nothing more than a piece of plywood that I would lay some Plexiglas on top of.
The first real improvements I made were little round trays to hold informational counters. I started to cover my tabletops with micro-suede as this helped protect the maps without having any little fuzz balls that are common with felt. Lastly, I added edges to the plywood both for style and to help stop counters from falling off.
PzKtable IIF – This table was given to Jeremy. Notice the visible brads and unstained/unfinished wood. Also upon close inspection you will see two small studs coming through the Plexiglas at opposite corners. This was a system I used to keep the plastic from sliding.
Photo courtesy or Jeremy Maciejewski.
PzKtable IIIJ – This table top has sections for removable trays so players can put their dice towers and informational counters on the side of their choosing.
PzKtable VIE – I moved away from Plexiglas in favor of 1/4″ tempered recessed glass to avoid the scratching and fogging of the plastic. There were some complaints that the height of the glass made LOS hard to read but I found using the shadow of the thread was a perfect solution. This was the heaviest of all the tabletops I made.
PzKtable VG – My next project included dedicated compartments for dice towers and Raaco trays. This is perhaps my favorite tabletop to date but a little heavy so I switched back Plexiglas using Lexan per Doug Sheppard’s suggestion. It still tends to scratch but not as much as cheaper plastic. It is large enough to fit 3 standard ASL geomorphic maps in any direction
PzKtable IIIL – My last project was slightly smaller and much lighter. The section for Raaco trays were removable and slide in to the table using dove tails. This tabletop fits 2 ASL geomorphic maps side by side.
Tools:
At first all I needed was a $100 table saw as I wasn’t doing anything but cutting rectangular pieces of plywood. As the projects got more complicated and I wanted the form and fit to be as close to perfect as possible, I invested in some quality tools including:
- 1/2″ drive top lift Router table with Incra Fence
- Delta Table saw with Incra Fence
- Miter Saw
- Band Saw
- Delta Planer
- Craftsman Table saw for Dados
- IR Belt Sander
By far my favorite tool is the Incra Router fence.
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