Obviously, a dedicated gaming table is something most people dream of building/buying, and using. The biggest hurdle, of course, is the space issue. For those who have enough space, keep reading. Otherwise, find another thread to enjoy…
I worked with a carpenter to design custom gaming tables made from solid Hickory wood. He built a few such tables, selling them to gamers who could afford them. We worked in tandem to design these tables. As time went on, I realized the limitations of popular table designs on the market then (2013-2018), and today still, what worked best, and what were gimmicks in gaming table designs. I won't wast precious time writing about those elements, as they truly do not matter for this topic.
Cutting to the chase, the most affordable, most flexible, most useful (IMO) gaming table that is within reach of the super-majority of tabletop gamers, is the classic Ping Pong Table. Out of the box, they are functional, but with serious limitations. Here are some ways to minimize their instability, and ways to make them more user-friendly.
The Undercarriage from the 9th level of Hell…
The OEM undercarriage is designed for playing Ping Pong -- it is not really suitable for making the tabletop surface stable enough for playing TTRPG's or miniatures games, with 6-8 people sitting around it, with their arms resting on it. The under-carriage needs to go. Buy yourself four (yes, 4) sets of folding table leg assemblies: two assemblies per half of the Ping Pong Table. Each half of the Ping Pong Table is 4.5 feet long by 5 feet wide. One set of folding table legs in the center, is not stable enough.
Using construction adhesive glue, apply a 3/4" thick piece of ODB, or plywood, to the bottom of the table halves. These need to be carefully located, as these are what you will be attaching the folding table leg assemblies to. The particle board table surface is not thick enough to put sink screws into, without them poking through the tabletop surface; they also will not have enough strength, over time, leading to a total failure, requiring a new Ping Pong Table purchase…
Repeat the process of using construction glue to adhere plywood squares to each table half, creating two tables, each with two folding table leg assembles each. Note that the building depicted in the photograph is a scale model of the classic AD&D RPG module G1: Steading of the Hill Giants fort, where 1" = 5 feet; the Steading's fort was wider than 5 feet, so a larger board was built to support it, with this larger particle board surface laid atop the Ping Pong Table, and the ground mats were laid on top of that surface. You can clearly see the folding table leg assemblies on the two halves of the whole of the table. Here is another view of the folding table leg assemblies, from the end of the table. The table is covered with Geo-Hex terrain tiles, atop a single piece of green felt used as a grassy prairie covering as a base surface for a 25mm miniatures fantasy BattleSystem game. Also note how many folding chairs are at each side 0f the table -- 10 people can comfortably sit around a Ping Pong Table: four per side, with only one person seated at each end; if you need more space, you could seat two people on each end, to accommodate 12 people around it!
Next, we need to be able to secure the two halves of the entire Ping Pong Table together, for stability, and to create one large, cohesive tabletop surface which won't easily separate in the middle. This is accomplished by using steamer trunk latching hasps, one on each side of the table halves. Butt the two tables together, aligned properly, then screw into place the halves of each hasp, such that when attached, you can loop each hasp together, locking the two table halves together. The whole of the table will still move, when bumped, but his makes it move as one table, not two, minimizing the movement when it is bumped.
At this point, you are done. You now have a 5-foot by 9-foot, smooth tabletop which will easily allow eight people to sit around it, with ample room for their books and papers, dice, drinks, etc.
If you are into TT RPG games, such as D&D, you will have plenty of room in the middle for a Chessex style gaming mat, or better yet, you can cover most of the tabletop with a single Mondomat by Chessex: wet erase vinyl mat with 1" squares on one side, and 1" hexes on the other side. The Mondomat by Chessex is 4.5 feet wide by 8.5 feet long! It was literally designed for use on a Ping Pong Table. I suggest using a yard stick to draw out your dungeons onto your Mondomat as the crisp, straight lines, look sooo much better than squiggly, hand drawn lines. If you adopt a scale of 1" = 5 feet, you can easily create properly scaled dungeon layouts for use with 25mm-30mm figures for better combat scenarios where everyone can see where everyone else is located, avoiding the incessant arguments about who was where, when the Fireball spell went off…
If you do not like the table surface (typically blue or green in color), you can easily cover it with vinyl faux leather from your local fabric store. This vinyl is not available in a width to cover your table (4.5 feet!), but you can easily apply carpet tape down the middle of the table halves: it is double-sided, so apply it carefully down the middle of the tabletop, then apply two pieces of your vinyl, aligning their seams carefully, so as to hide the seams. Wrap the vinyl around/over the edges of your tabletop, and staple them into place, gently pulling it snug, to flatten it, on all four sides. Note the visible seam between the two halves of the vinyl pieced together. I used this vinyl covering for TTRPG games, and for numerous miniatures games, over a 5+ year period, and the carpet tape never failed. The whole of the vinyl surface looked as good on the day I retired/replaced this table, as it did when I finished applying the vinyl. The castle towers and walls, are scaled at 25mm, or 1" = 5 feet. This gives you an idea just how big the surface area of a Ping Pong Table is, compared to the typical 25mm-30mm miniatures most TTRPG players employ in their games! You can also see my Wife's quilting materials and pieces stacked atop the cutting mat. She used my Ping Pong Table for quilting, and sewing projects, so it was a multi-purpose table used by more than just me, and my Players!
Such a vinyl cover can be used to cover up a hashed, damaged tabletop surface. The vinyl covering is chemical resistant, easy to clean up and maintain. It also wears like iron under normal gaming usage! Pick a color and a texture which suits your desires. I went with a burgundy red color, but there are many colors and patterns to choose from. Whichever color and texture you choose, it will look stunning, and far more expensive than what you actually paid for it.
What does such a setup cost, you ask? Here is a price breakdown with current sources:
Ping Pong Tabletop (sans undercarriage) -- $218.43 USD + S/H
Folding Table Leg Assy's -- $65.99 USD per assembly, set of four for $263.96 USD + S/H
Set of 2 Trunk Hasps -- $7.99 USD + S/H
3/4" 4 x 8 sheet of plywood -- $36 USD
Caulk Gun -- $4 USD
Construction Adhesive -- $6.50 USD per tube, may need two tubes, so $13 USD
Total price (minus S/H) = $543.38USD for a 5-foot by 9-foot gaming table that can be taken down and stowed away.
If you decide to cover your Ping Pong Tabletop with faux leather vinyl, add another $60 USD-$80 to cover the cost of the vinyl, and possibly a Heavy Duty Stapler ($26.99 + S/H) if you don't already have one.
Compare that to this solid Hickory table design, with eight pull-out drawer Player stations, a 5-foot by 9-foot game well, with a solid Hickory topper in six sections, which carried a price tag of around $6000USD ($8,000 with the electronic lift system installed). The Ping Pong Table can be broken down and stowed away; the Hickory table requires 4-6 strong men to move it… Cheers!
takes another stab at building a more perfect flight stand.
