Commissioning a Board Game Table, What Should I Look Out For?


It’s my first time commissioning something like this. The guy I’ll be doing this with wouldn’t know what a board game table is so I’ll have to design it myself. (I have some drafting/cad experience so I’m up to the task).

What stuff should I look out for when designing this table? I made a partial list of things I think I ought to keep in mind.

  1. Add a gasket for each wood topper to avoid leakage.

  2. Use multiple wood topper instead of single wood topper

  3. Look for pre-made plans in the internet

  4. Find basic table design to get leg clearance height, and table height.

  5. Which wood would be best value? (I know this would be dependent on my area, Philippines)

I plan to keep it simple and probably wouldn’t need extra features like led lights, cup holders, etc. As long as I can have my board game in the table while using it as a dining table when not playing I’ll be okay.

  • @glimse
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    4011 months ago

    You should probably ask on a boardgame community, this is way too specific of a question for this one (and it’s not what anyone might think of as a “stupid” question)

    • @themusicman
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      411 months ago

      So you’re saying it’s a stupid question to ask in “no stupid questions”?

    • @[email protected]
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      411 months ago

      Making a suggestion for a better place to ask might actually be a great answer for OP. Using this comm to ask as a “see what sticks” and then use more directed suggestions seems like a good reason to post here.

      I think both OP and you are on the right track.

      • @glimse
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        311 months ago

        I feel like this community is just asklemmy2 most of the time. The spirit of the subreddit it’s “based” on was “questions that make you feel stupid for having to ask” but most of what gets posted here are just… questions.

        Sorry I feel like I’m doing a really bad job expression my thoughts on this but hopefully the jist gets across

        • @[email protected]
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          411 months ago

          Oh definitely, I get you. And I agree sometimes.
          I was just thinking of it in a positive way. Idk maybe OP felt dumb for not knowing where to ask?

        • Rhynoplaz
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          311 months ago

          Hate to break it to you, but, if you think the stupid questions are just regular questions…

          I’m just kidding. I thought it was funny

        • SanguinePar
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          211 months ago

          While that’s true, I do think that you get a decent number of questions on here that people might not be confident enough to ask on AskLemmy, so it still serves its purpose in that sense.

        • @[email protected]
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          111 months ago

          I definitely agree- this isn’t ‘nostupidquestions’ it’s just ‘random questions’. Maybe the mods should be a bit more strict and redirect people to an asklemmy community? idk if that exists, though, which is possibly part of the problem.

          • @glimse
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            011 months ago

            It does exist because every major subreddit got a cheap lemmy copy

  • 𝕱𝖎𝖗𝖊𝖜𝖎𝖙𝖈𝖍
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    711 months ago

    I made my own using a coffee table as a base. Look for mahjong mats as a topper, they’re the same material as mouse pads but giant. Moving game pieces around on one is an absolute delight.

  • Coskii
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    11 months ago

    While not exactly what you’re looking for, I thought the idea might inspire you somewhat.

    I present to you Simone Giertz retractable puzzle table.

    Edit: as to what to look out for… As long as you’re specific about wants and needs for the table, there shouldn’t be any issues. Shopping around for materials both wood and otherwise are going to be something you’ll want to source yourself. Provide some decent plans and be abundantly clear on the usage and intention of the table.

    And if you’re going to have the dining top be a monolithic slab of material, make sure one person can reasonably lift it. Don’t go grabbing some dense hardwood and making that thing a beast to remove.

  • @[email protected]
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    211 months ago

    On ours, the toppers on each end have 2 rubber stoppers on the bottom so that the top won’t just slide off the table. I believe they’re also magnetized.

    Make sure you have enough clearance for any items you want to store in the table, and that they won’t intersect with the stoppers if you add those.