Designing an in-house table

[Nuriochi_sol]

I've been considering setting up a table for my house. Here's a quick design I put together. I want it to be as functional and multi-purpose as possible.

I'm not sure what it will rest on. But I'm more concerned with the basic designs.

Questions:

1. How do you keep 2" foam from warping when you coat it with glue? I've seen some warped boards and want to make sure I do the inserts right.

2. How do the dimensions/widths for the materials involved look? Will the thing be impossibly heavy?

3. Any concerns, pitfalls, etc I should consider...

[Justin Kase]

If you look on the foam cutter site - they sell a product that will harden up the foam and reduce the warping.

One thought (well, one chain thought) - if you are going to have a 3x3 cut out in the center of the base, coudln't you just set up your terrain in the 1/2" depression and utilize that as you boundary marker? Then lay the cutout back in the hole to level it out for the 4x4 area? If you slot the 2 bits of moulding that mark off the 4x4 borders, then you can pull them out, giving you the 4x6 area.

Then you won't have to fill all that space with foam. Just make terrain that you will place within the recessed board.

Looking forward to progress reports

[PG_and Riot!]

1. How do you keep 2" foam from warping when you coat it with glue? I've seen some warped boards and want to make sure I do the inserts right.

Buy better foam.

For real - there are two major variables on XPS (extruded polystyrene insulation) sheets. One is R-value (insulation rating). This dictates the 'density' of the foam cells. Higher = better insulation value = more dense which means more smaller cells. Therefore more resilient and less likely to dent from minor bumps.

The second is PSI (pounds per square inch). Obviously, this is how much weight it can support without deforming. The two values are generally linked, with high R value equating to higher PSI, with some give and take. Highest commercially available in the US is 100 PSI, though you won't find it at Lowes. You'll need to 'make nice' with a commercial roofer to get access to the good stuff. Generally, foam manufactured for horizontal applications (roofs) has higher PSI.

Now to bring this lecture back to your question, the warped foam you saw is an example of someone buying a low strength (cheap) foam and getting what they paid for. Higher PSI foam also cuts better and cleaner, with less snagging/tearing along the edges. The 100 PSI sheets can be run through a table saw and router-ed just like wood.

Knowing what Detroit winters are like, I'll venture to say that the "good stuff" is available in your area, you just need to find out where to get it.

[Gdufner]

A few points to input...

1. Instead of coating it with glue, I coat my pink foam with latex paint. I just buy gallons from Home Depot or Lowe's that were mis-mixed. They usually call is "Oops Paint", like $5 a gallon. Then you can spray paint it.

2. The dimenions look good, and it will ne HEAVY. I have a 4"x6" wooden framed board and it takes 2 people to move it with any kind of grace, so it usually stays set up in my WarMachine Amphitheatre. I have 2 home made folding tables (That my grandfather made...So no dating what I am about to tell you about.) that have legs with braces and hinges that were store bought. I have rebuilt the tables twice, and I just unscrew the legs from the table and reattach them to my new table tops. You may still be able to find similar legs. Especially if you want to make the table "storable"....

3. I found a few things out with my table, and if I was to do it again, my new table would be much lighter. For the sides I used 1" pine and that is perfect. For the bottom my bracing was made from 2x2 boards, I would use 1x2 boards and reduce the brace weight by 50% - TOTALLY recommended. You WILL either need to use bracing across the bottom of your table, or you'll need a better base board than mdf to prevent sagging. Also, try not to mark your table (Like a 3x3) visible section int he middle, it allows easy premeasures. (I have deployment zones marked on my table which make for easy estimates.) For your sides use 4" boards instead of 6" boards, again it will drop the weight by 33%.

I think that that is the limit of my sage-like table wisdom.

[SoulReclaimer]

2" Inch pink or blue foam should not warp. Glue a piece of MDF or hardboard to the back. THis will help preserve the board and make it durable.

[Omenbringer]

For a project like this I would recommend using 1' X 1' tiles instead of trying to make nesting/ inset boards. Aside from the benefit of not having to try to get the pieces to fit precisely inside one another, you will also be able to very the setup fairly easily as well. In essence make the board more modular. Biggest tip (and the great ease maker) is to get a box of cheap vinyl floor tiles (what ever is on sale at the DIY store) to base your foam on.

To counteract any foam warping while the glue is drying to the tile place heavy weights (books work great for this) on top until the bottom is dry (about 24 hours). Also if you use 2" foam you shouldn't have to worry about any warping as long as the boards dont get much beyond 4' X 4' (I use this example because that is the size board I made and I have only the slightest bit of warping (smaller tiles shouldn't warp at all).

Assuming you were asking about the glue for the top coat as well, also assuming you will want to glue it so you can both seal it for spray painting and texture the board. Why do it in different steps? Make yourself some textured paint and be done with it. Easy recipe (the one I used for both my miniatures boards and my old climbing wall) 1 gallon of PVA Drywall primer, 1 bag of playground sand, and 1 half gallon jug of Elmers Wood glue. Mix equal parts of each, stir well, then add either more Paint/ glue (equal parts) or more sand until you get a nice thick cream of wheat consistency. Scratch the top of the foam board a bit (to give the textured paint better bite) then glop it on heavy and spread with a roller. One coat is usally enough, but I like two. When done you will have a very durable, textured, and sealed play surface just add spray paint (or you can use MinWax polyshade sealer, makes an even more durable top surface and looks pretty realistic as well) and flock.

You can see what it looks like Here or I see you are in Detroit (and seem to recall that you are close to my neck of the woods in Chesterfield) come by and see it for yourself (PM if interested). I think that is all I was going to write (dropped my first post, so I had to recreate it from memory).