"Cheap Gaming/Work Table(s), Besides the Kitchen Table" Topic

I'm sure this has been discussed before, but I couldn't find a suitable thread, although I've read a few dozen ideas.

I have an area in the house that we have yet to fully utilize, since it never became the second office space or spare studio bedroom. It's a six-foot by six-foot area with one side having a longer wall (maybe 9 feet). I already know where my I think my build/paint area will be.

I can use the kitchen table for actual gaming, since it's around 3 feet square and perfect for a nice sit-down game of FoF/TW. But I'd like some tables to be able to quickly clear away the terrain, and restore the kitchen table to its intended purpose.

I've been thinking about trying to find a couple-three cheap-ish school lab tables to line the three walls of my new gaming nook. One with north light for working. One under the window for display. And a third one for piling stuff on top. I guess I'll need a bookshelf, too… And some lights… And a new chair…

Anyway, HELP! There must be some cheap ways out of suddenly needing all of these horizontal surfaces.

Folding tables?

Folding tables sound like a good idea.

Some folding tables also fold in half, for even more compactness, e.g. a standard 6' x 2.5' table, that is really only 3' long, when folded up.

For desks/wall lining have a look at second hand office suppliers, they often have desks/conferance tables/canteen tables cheap, especially if you don't mind the odd dink in them.

Otherwise Ikea can be good source, I got 3 excellent square tables of 750mm each for £15.00 GBP each, (wish I had got the 4th one but…)

For 3 tables buy 6 inexpensive 3-drawer file cabinets to use as bases. Then buy 3 cheap luan door blanks at your diy store and place them on top. You'll get 3 nice size work areas and storage spaces in one. All you need to add is an adjustable height chair.

Do you have Ikea near by?

Check the local goodwill store, they often have furniture with dings and such but otherwise perfectly functional.

It's a six-foot by six-foot area with one side having a longer wall (maybe 9 feet). I already know where my I think my build/paint area will be.

That really is a tiny area. I'm visualizing it the size of one of our bathrooms in our house. A folding table is 2.5'x6'. A door is about the same. Then add people moving/squeezing about and not much room to do much of anything.

Have you considered the benefits of 6mm gaming?

I'm confused. You are really asking 2 questions if I understand you.

1) Where can I get cheap tables and such for my painting room, a 6x6 area with a 9' wall (huh? how does that work?). Ikea works. Here's another idea. Buy plastic storage cubes at Target or Wal-Mart. Use them as supports for boards which become shelves. Cheap, customizable, portable and can be easil torn down and relocated.

2) A way to make gaming on the kitchen table easier/speedier in set up between gaming and eating. Not sure what to suggest there….

Hollow core doors are great, and if you have a surplus building supply store in your area (e.g. we have Habitat for Humanity ReStores in my area) they can usually be had used VERY cheap. Since you probably need storage for minis and accessories, the filing cabinet bases are a great idea, too. That's what I used to build my painting workbench. If you want to be able to stow the lot away, though, it will be hard to be the folding plastic banquet tables (e.g. Cosco brand). They're cheap, durable, stowable, portable, and useful for other things as well.

Doug

Doors are great! Go to Lowe's/Home Depot and look at theie damaged doors(usually a hole or crack on one side). Cheap and you put the damaged side facing down and you have the good side for your surface. Plus you can usually get them for $3.00 USD to $5.00 USD each. Also, check their "surplus or discount" stock. These are usually special orders that were never claimed or were returned. For a home re-modeling project I got a fully framed 36" solid door for $10.00 USD, it was a special order that was returned.

Cheap is all around us, you just have to look for it.

Dave

Sounds like your primary need is to be able to set up and take down swiftly on the kitchen table. For this make a set of rigid modular boards that can be picked up and moved like trays with the terrain on top.

Search "modular terrain boards" (not tiles because tiles may not be rigid enough) on Google, TMP, and Terragenesis to get an idea what others have done.

With a 3x3' playing surface, I would suggest 12" square or 18" square (smaller are more storeable, larger are faster to set up and take down). You might test out 12x24" or 24x24" tiles as these stick out 6" around top of the table giving you a 4x4' play surface. The danger is if the board material is not large and heavy (1" plywood or similar) then someone might lean on an edge and flip the tile off.

Once you've figured out this system, adopt one of the ideas above to create a work/storage area in your office nook with shelving sized to store the game boards with terrain on top.

You could alternately just go with a roll up terrain mat and separate terrain pieces kept in storage bins with handles. Before takedown, snap a picture or two of the setup with your cell phone camera. Next time you set up, refer to the picture.

I'm having a hard time picturing your hobby space, too. Unless you mean to say that it's roughly 6x9, but one of the 9foot walls has a door on one end taking up ~3feet of space.

I second the idea of filing cabinets (check out the used office furniture stores).

But I'd start with a kitchen-table topper, so that you can pick up the entire gaming setup in one or two trips.

Following on from the file cabinet idea – have a look at some of the rolling tool chests/work benches. If you get them in pairs you can fit up a re-cycled door or sheet of plywood as a temporary table top. But if its cleared off & stood against the wall, the roll around cabinets can then be rolled out the door to the gaming site, troops and terrain taken out of the drawers & straight onto the gaming surface, and the rolling cabinets then become side tables for extra troops or snacks (just don't mix them up!)

Bobs discount furniture stores often have a "pit"…with dinged furniture in them for dirt cheap and u haul it used…I bought two dining tables for 19$ each both for gaming…I went to home depot and bought a 6×9 particle board and put on top of one which ill paint etc…im going to experiment withthe other ttable. …my wife got me a storage system…for paints and I bought a "husky" shelving sytem… so my room is finally getting its due

Sorry, I wasn't very clear about that, was I?

The space is what should be the sleeping area in a "mother-in-law" apartment over our garage. We use the studio apartment as a library/office/TV room/man cave/romper room. It has its own kitchen and a full bath.

The sleeping area is about 6' X 9' but 3' of one wall is taken up by a very full bookshelf I don't plan on moving.

The six-foot wall is the window wall. One of the nine-foot walls is an interior wall. The other nine-foot wall is an exterior wall. The nine-foot exterior wall has the bookcase stealing a goodly portion of the wall space. There is no fourth wall or door, it's just a nook.

My plan was to line the walls with 2' X 4' school science lab tables, to make a U-shape. Then I could slide my chair into the two-foot wide slot down the center, and reach any table by rolling and swiveling.

Those tables go for around $60 USD to $200 USD, so that might be a bit pricey, and I'd still need shelves and storage.

Force on Force can be played on areas as small as two-by-two or two-by-three, so I could set up a small game on one table and still have room at the end for beer, snacks, reserves, dice box, rule books, counters, etc.

Initially, I'll be playing by myself, so I won't need room for an opponent on the other side of the table, because I don't know any 15mm sci fi guys in my town yet.

I could always move a table out into the more open area of the apartment, when and if gaming with someone else.

Eventually, I'll probably move it all to the basement, but for now I thought I'd start in the studio area.

Lots of great ideas and suggestions here. You've given me a lot to consider.

Here is a link to the type of table I was considering.

auction

And a picture.

link

They're not cheap, but from the many suggestions offered, I believe I can come up with something.

Thanks again for the replies. Cheers.

They sell a plastic top that size got mine for 19 at staples a few years back.

They do have a crossed leg design though.

Some from staples 27 and 60
link

link

These are 20 on sale, do not know merchant.
link

Good luck

You may want to consider a folding game board. Warzone Terrain make a 4x4 that folds in half into a 2x5 that can be tucked into a closets. I have their 4x6 that is a three way fold. Had it for years now too.

8)

www.war-zone.com/shop/tabletops.html‎

Well, my first "toe-in-the-water" foray into game/work tables was to buy a 2' X 4' piece of MDF. For now, I can use it to paint or game on one of our two "eating" tables. It will protect the table(s) from paint and glue, and I can always sandwich it into a 2' X 4' table, when I get more into it, or turn it into part of a terrain setup made in two-foot-by-four-foot chunks.

It was only six bucks, so no great investment yet. My spouse already wants to buy a school activity table, so we may get one after all. If I can find legs cheap enough, I wonder if I can build three 2' X 4' tables fairly easily, since Home Depot has plywood, birch ply, MDF and a few other kinds of sheet goods in precut pieces. A few leg sets, some white glue, a countersink and some wood screws and voila. Laminate, router and edging to follow at a later date. Modular four-foot-by-six-foot gaming table begins life as three work tables.

I finally took the plunge and bought some tables, as well as some more material to build a couple of tables.

Posts to follow.

2' (ish) by 4' Utility/Banquet Table

TMP link

I follow up on things, really. Eventually. Sometimes.