Sunday, April 17, 2016

Steve's Gaming Table: Part 7 - Accessory Trays

Five accessory trays were assembled yesterday: 2 large troop trays (12x14 inches), 2 cup holders and in the center an I-Pad / Rule book holder.  Overall I'm very happy because they fit together and are very study when clamped to the table side.  I dressed all the corners of the trays with 1/2 inch square stock so they mirror the style of the table's corners.

The cup holders have a slot and center depression to accommodate a long stem wine glass so it's more stable.  I've got one more tray to make (a dice tray) and we'll be done with these (for now).

I'm not happy with two aspects of the larger troop trays.  First there's a little bit of wave (curve in the wood) because I used 1/4 birch plywood for the bottoms to reduce weight.  I'll fix that today with some bracing.

The second issue comes from a classic Homer Simpson "Doohhh" moment.  Take a closer look at the two trays - the one on the far left has a lip around its sides while the one on the right seems to be the opposite - why is that?


It seems I initially affixed the mounting plate to the right sided tray backwards - see the lower mounting groove is facing out rather than facing in to the side of the table.  By the time I had noticed this the glue had set so I had to run the piece through my table saw to cut off the top piece, flip it over and attach a new mounting plate.

So we'll now be able to test is Steve prefers either troop trays with walls around the edges or ones with without.  We'll call the second type of tray "free-range" troop trays.

The construction phase of this project is coming to an end - I think I've got about a days worth of work to do.  The remaining tasks include:

- cutting down the 1/2 inch 8x4 ft plywood into 6 2x4 ft panels to serve as the temporary top and bottom.  (I need some input from Steve and his wife on what they want for a permanent top)

- installing the "L" bracket hardware for the top and bottom aprons

- putting in cross-sectional supports for the table top and bottom shelf - no one likes a saggy table top

After that it's all sanding, sanding and, yes, even more sanding.  Hmmm, I wonder where Steve might come in handy?

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