Lets start at the beginning... Lumber!

To begin this journey we will want to focus on the materials we'll be using for our gaming table.  This brings us to WHERE DO I GET THE WOOD?  If you’ve done any kind of wood working you already know that you don’t buy your wood from a large discount hardware store such as HomeDepot or Lowes!  These stores are great for buying tools and woodworking equipment but way too overpriced when it comes to lumber!  Lumber should be purchased through a lumber store.  Makes sense does it?  The large discount hardware stores just don’t have the space or the expertise to stock the recommended material you'll need for this project AND you won’t get the size, thickness and quality you should expect for this type of project!  A lumber store only deals with lumber and lots of it!  They stock all kinds of material types from softwood, hardwood, plywood to exotics!   Now you won’t be building this table out of zebra wood or burled mahogany but you could if money wasn't an option… but then again if that was the case you’re better off buying a Geek Chic table instead of trying to make one, but I digress…

LUMBER

Begin by searching for the nearest lumber yard in your area and ask about the pricing for the [4] most common types of hardwood [Walnut, Red Oak, Maple and Cherry].  You'll want to use one of these four wood types to build your gaming table as they are the most popular and the most reasonably priced.  These four hardwoods are the most stocked lumber you will normally find in any lumber store around!   Next you'll need to know what to ask the salesperson regarding pricing for these wood types.  With lumber stores they rate all wood based on board foot and thickness such as 4/4, 5/4 or 8/4 which translates into four quarters or less than 1", five quarters or less than 1.25" and eight quarters or less than 2" in thickness.  Lumber stores always price their lumber based on board foot and thickness.  So when you speak with the salesperson they may say Hard Maple is $3.90 a board foot for 4/4 thickness.  If the thickness you need greater than 1" you'll need to ask about the 5/4 or even 8/4, which will be higher in price!

The thickness of hardwood lumber is expressed as a fraction. Here are the various lumber thicknesses compared to one another.

NOTE: All these wood types "soft and hard" can fluctuate in price and one day Maple can be more expensive than Oak or visa-versa.   These fluctuations in price are based on supply and demand, tariffs or changing European markets, etc… so get the pricing for the four hardwood types and buy the wood that is within your budget! 

Here are the price differences for the four hardwood types when I purchased my wood:

Cherry = $4.32

Maple = $3.92

Walnut = $7.80  "Supply and Demand due to shortage throughout the US"

Red Oak = $3.51

All of these prices can vary depending on what is going on around the world and locally.  Normally Cherry and Walnut can be pretty expensive but it really just depends on the market; sometimes you can get very lucky and find it cheap!

Here are some things you might want to know about the different types of hardwoods to help you make your decision:

CHERRY – Cherry is easy to work with, has fine textured, is strong and fairly durable. Highly rated in all working properties including wood bending and turning. Becomes darker and richer with age or if exposed to direct sunlight. It's a beautiful wood that can either be stained or sealed and produces remarkable quality.  It will darken if left in direct sunlight and sands down to a very smooth surface.   It has a darker colored grain that sands flat and leaves no grooves.

MAPLE – Maple is a light colored hardwood.  Maple contains the dark brown heartwood as well as pale white sapwood - it hasn't been manually sorted for solid white color. Known for its durability and strength. It has excellent turning properties , a fine, even texture, and a natural luster. Somewhat difficult to work due to high surface hardness. Paints and finishes work very well with Maple. It's a beautiful white colored wood that can either be stained or sealed and produces remarkable quality but you only need to sand and seal to produce a high quality heirloom finish.  It has a light colored grain that sands flat and leave no grooves.

WALNUT – Walnut is a dark colored hardwood that can be one of the most expensive woods of the group.  It is beautiful when sealed and can easily produce a remarkable heirloom quality.  It will darken if left in direct sunlight and sands to a very smooth surface.   It has minimal grain that sands flat.  It’s not a tight grained wood and can be porous so layered sanding is required! Usually steamed to match sapwood and heartwood. Fine but open grain. Moderately coarse texture. Excellent to work including turning and carving.

RED OAK – Straight grain with a coarse texture. Generally works and finishes well but timbers from the Northern growing region will be more consistent in color and have a finer texture. Large open pores produce distinctive grain. Red Oak is a light white or reddish colored hardwood that is easy to work with and normally the cheapest to buy.  It is a beautiful wood that can be stained or sealed.  It has a deep colored grain that even when sanded can leave a groove.

For my Gaming table I decided to use WHITE hardwood maple but you can use any of the four; they will all cut the same way. 

My initial material costs were as follows:

[2] - 1/2" Birch Plywood 5' x 5' boards          $25.77 each

[2] - 1" x 7" x 8' - 5/4 White Hard Maple        $4.47 / BF

[5] - 3/4" x 6" x 8' - 4/4 White Hard Maple     $3.92 / BF

So far I spent $209.61 for the plywood and Maple hardwood pieces shown in the photos above!  I will be buying more lumber as we progress.

Once you’ve decided on the type of wood you want to use for your table you’ll need to follow the material list given above to know how much wood to buy to make the main gaming table. We will be buying more wood to build the lower table frame with drawers. Throughout this blog I will put together lists of materials that shows all the necessary pieces of wood you will need to buy to build your entire table from scratch.  The material list includes hardwood pieces for the main gaming table, table base and legs, birch plywood for the gaming surfaces, and finally hardware.

The main build for this table will be out of White Maple hardwood with birch plywood being used for the main gaming surface as well as the inner velvet gaming board.  The other hardwood pieces will be used for the table frame and legs, plus other birch plywood will be used to build the drawers.  Hardware consists of drawer slides, knobs and screws.