Christmastime project

[LCHIEN]

designed a play table for the grandson.
Ones commercially for sale cost about 100-200 but this one has a reversible top one with felt for wooden trains and cars and stuff and the other side with 20" x 20" Lego/Duplo bases permanently attached so that he can build stuff.

He's into Duplo right now but Lego is half the scale (1/8th the volume) and compatible in that they fit each other can can be mixed and stack. So I got Lego bases so when he gets older he can use the Lego his uncle and mother played with.

I still have to varnish the bases but its been too cold and busy so that is still to be done.

One's for here and the other is for his home so he can play either place. Still have a lot of Brio wooden train stuff I dug up. I figured once started, building two tables was not a lot more work than building one.

There's room to slide a couple of 12-Gal plastic flip-top crates below for toy storage.

This is my second round of building things for the kid so I learned about making rounded corners and stuff so its more kid-friendly.

[Ken Massingale]

That will give him many hours of enjoyment and fond memories of what Gran Pop made for him.

[capncarl]

NIce. The grandson will enjoy this. Do you put your name brand on a thin wood plate and attach it or is it an optical illusion?
capncarl

[Stytooner]

Great job on these, Loring. Now I can relate the project to some of the questions you asked in the past few days.

I'm sure he will get some good use out of both sides of that.
Quite a creative idea and project that will allow him to do the same.

[LCHIEN]

NIce. The grandson will enjoy this. Do you put your name brand on a thin wood plate and attach it or is it an optical illusion?
capncarl

yes, I did.
The brand needs about 15 mins to heat up enough, and its a bit tricky to use depending on the wood type - some burn easier than others (sounds like a too-slow cut with table saw or router, but its probably related). The technique is tricky too. So you have to hold it for the right amount of time, apply it in the exactly right place, straight and horizontal, and rock it a bit n the shorter dimension so it contacts across the entire face. Sometimes its even more awkward if the piece is big. If you mess it up (too light, too dark, crooked, not contacting the entire brad face leaving a void spot, etc) its hard to fix, especially on a completed major piece. Sanding can help reduce an overly dark branding job or remove a very light brand. The amount of time you apply the brand can probably vary from about 2 seconds to 10 seconds depending upon how hot you let the brand get (no regulator or limiter) and the wood type. So its usually trial and error on similar wood scraps.

And then you have to let it cool off for 15 minutes so you can put it away.

So a lazy thing to do is to cut a thin strip of wood and heat the iron up get the timing right, and make a dozen or more impressions, mark and cut them so they are perfectly centered. Toss out the imperfect ones. Then you can use a level or a T-square to position the thing. Use a couple of brass tacks (or screws) or hot melt or both to put them on. Then its raised and a little more prominent, to boot, with the brass tacks giving it a richer feel. I guess i could even pre-mark and the drill the tack/screw locations.

So among other things it takes a 30-minute nerve-wracking process and makes it a 2 minute stressless process. And the results may look better.

[Ian57]

good job

Really nice play tables. I am sure they will get plenty of use.

[Bill in Buena Park]

Those look great Loring, and well designed from the versatility aspect. Rounded corners are a must for the toddlers. Did you create plans to build from, or were these "general design in mind and plan as you build"?

[LCHIEN]

I pretty much planned it from scratch.
Got the general height from the dimensions given for similar tables. The top dimensions are all over the place for commercial units, I decided a generous and easy top size would be to use 2x4 precut Birch veneer 1/2" ply from the box stores. These were actually about a 1/16th under probably because they are cut down 48" x 96" panels.

Made the ends from 1x6 and the side stretchers from 1x4s. Roundovers if 1/4" Radius and rounded corners of the ends 1" radius. Allowed 1//4" reveal on the sides to the ends so that the roundovers would be hidden correctly.
2x4 legs with 1/2" roundovers on all visible sides and bottom; stopped the roundovers at the bottom of the end panels.

Sides were held on with #9 x 3" screws 2 at each end, legs held on with 1/4-20 carriage bolts, 2 each, to the ends. No fasteners on the side. I really wanted to keep this simple and quick. Theoretically it can be knocked down pretty easy to move, if you wanted.

After assembling the sides and legs, laid a 2' and 4' levels across the tops of the legs and used that the set the tops of the 1x2 supports level with the tops of the legs. and the top would be 1/2" below the sides and 3/4" below the ends. Use glue and 1" brads to hold the supports. Don't use more than 1" or they will telegraph! I checked this before building and 1.25" brads will ocassionally push a dimple of wood out the opposite side.


Had to practice with the felt a bit. Used wide crown stapler and wood glue to fasten the felt to the edges, trimmed the excess of even with the other side of the table.

Attached is the end view. I made hand sketches for the individual pieces with dimensions, I actually did not finish dimensioning this Visio drawing.

[chopnhack]

Very nice Loring, I did the same for my kids last christmas and it was a blast. The youngest still uses it, the older child is more interested in the hockey table... I was going to convert the old table into a hockey table as I used melamine with this thought in mind, but the grandparents needed something to buy!

Greatest thing about building these tables is the customizability. Make it what you want and the ability to convert it later. Did you include storage below the table tops?

[LCHIEN]

this probably won't happen for a while after the table is delivered so I tried putting two tables together for an expanded Brio wood railway layout...

[LCHIEN]

This has withstood the test of time
The 10-mo old year old uses it to cruise... and the four year old uses it for brio trains, legos/duplos, contruction toys and now Rokenboks.
Then the 10-mo old starts knocking down the projects and all **** breaks loose.

[ArtworksIII]

Nice play station!!!!