Routing the openings for the 4 drawers on the table frame.

Now that you have the main frame built "the four sides" you need to cut the openings for the drawers.  Again, since I'm doing this table a little different than a regular Geek Chic table in that I'm not just making a two layered table.  I'm making a Gaming table that also has function by having a frame that has four individual drawers on the LONG SIDE of the table; two for each player.  I "might" add a middle opening that will hold long player mats or rolled up game boards but that's still a questions mark.

When cutting openings for drawers there are a number methods that can be used but for this project I'm trying to make the process as easy as possible.  To help in your build it is always nice to have a jig to make your job easier.  A jig, which is a device that holds a piece of work and guides the tools operating on it, makes your task easy as well as safer to perform.  To help cut the openings for the drawers it's much easier to route the hole using a jig instead of trying to clamp separate pieces of wood to guide the router in four different directions. Nightmare!

The jig will allows you to clamp the whole jig to the table frame and move the router around the same sized opening as what you'll be cutting out.  This is where the KREG pocket hole joiner becomes a very useful tool.  All you need to do is find a couple of 1" to 1.5" wide scrap wood that is at least 10" longer than the opening you need to cut and a couple small pieces that can be cut to exact size of the opening width and you have yourself a hole jig to cut the drawer openings.  The KREG is used to screw all the pieces together for a quick, secure hole jig.

Below is what the jig looks like when it is put together.  Since the opening we are cutting is 12" long x 3" wide, we need to cut these pieces and secure them together so they look like the jig below.

Below you can see how I attached everything by using a KREG joiner, which is simplicity in itself!  You can also see that by doing this process you can literally make any sized jig to route any sized hole using this method!

The reason why one of the pieces is really long is so you can clamp it down to the material being cut; as you will see later.  This jig needs to be very secure to the table while you are moving the router over it, you don't want this thing moving or your hole will be out of alignment and all crooked.

Now that we have our jig ready let's measure out and draw the openings for each drawer on both sides of the table frame.  The openings themselves will measure 12" x 3" and will be offset by 8-1/4" from the edge of each table corner as shown below.  Use your ruler or tape measure and mark off the first line at 8.25" from the corner.

CRITICAL:  We are cutting the openings in the LONG SIDES of the table frame.  Make sure you mark the correct side of the table because otherwise they wont fit!

Below shows the measurement of the 12" length of the opening.

Below shows the 3" width of the opening center within the 4" wide board.

Here is the second drawer opening.

 

It's kind of hard to see but here are both drawer openings mark off on the table frame ready to route. 

Now one of the methods I'm going to follow "which you don't have to do if you don't have a jigsaw" is to cut out the inner portion of the opening so you have less material to route.  A lot of woodworkers like to use this method for a number of reasons:  save time, save wear and tear on the router bits, less chance for messing up the opening, etc...  I like to use this per-cut method because if you only have a router you will need to route this opening in layers to you aren't cutting a lot of material in one pass, which is never recommended! If you were to route this opening in one pass you'd have to push the router bit down through 3/4" of material, then SLOWLY start moving the router around the opening of the jig all the while putting a lot of stress and heat on the router and the bit.  Now I know some people will say "so what, isn't that it's job?"  Yes, but routers and bits are expensive and the longer you can get them to last the better you are financially in the long run! Make sense?

So to perform this pre-cut method you first drill a hole somewhere WITHIN the opening space marked on the wood, big enough to allow you to insert the jigsaw blade.  

I use a 3/8" drill bit or bigger for this.

Then you cut along the inside of the opening no closer than 1/8" just to make sure you don't hit the line, this leaves some material within the opening for you to route off cleanly.  I'm using a DEWALT jigsaw for this task!

As you can see below, I didn't the opening that cleanly but it doesn't matter because the router will cut off all the excess and make a nice clean edged opening!  
I know, it's ugly!

Go ahead a cut out all four openings so you can route all the four openings one after the other!

Now let's set the route jig over one of the openings and clamp it into place.  Make sure you clamp it on both ends, plus you should clamp it to a solid object that will keep the whole table frame from moving "you can't see in the photo but I clamped the work piece to the planer table in the upper right corner of the photo"!

CRITICAL: Make sure you line up the jig with the marking exactly!  The jig should fit exactly over the marked off opening!

I used a Square edge router bit with a guide bearing.  This is the type of router bit you will need because the bearing is what follows the edge of the jig and maintains the same size as the jigs opening.  As you move the router around the opening, you trim off material till the bearing rests against the jig edge and them moves around the opening, keeping the same opening measurement!

NOTE:  Try to always use new or freshly sharpened bits because this will help keep the cut edge nice and clean, plus it helps avoid burns and splits.  Also, you don't have to move the router around the edge fast, take your time and move the router around the jig opening slow and smooth so you get the best cut possible.

Here is the router setup in the opening ready to route along the edge and trim off the excess material.

Below is the opening after all the material has been removed!

Below is after both openings have been cut.

Once I finished routing out all four openings I took the time to use my DEWALT orbital sander to sand the table frame sides with 80 grit sand paper to clean up the edges and take off all the deeper scratches on the wood.  This is prep-work sanding and we will still need to run through the 100, 150 and 220 grip sand paper to finish each side.  

CRITICAL: While using 80 grit sand paper try not to press TOO hard or you can change the shape of the wood or the edge when you are actually just trying to clean up the wood!

Now that we have the openings done we can move onto the middle frame support that will be used to secure the side piece for the drawer slides.  Each drawer will have two drawer slides and these slides need a piece of wood to secure them.  The two middle support pieces we are cutting and securing will hold the end of each of these two side pieces that surround each opening.

Cut two pieces to a length of just over 44-1/2" and follow the normal process of cutting one edge at 90 degree for a clean edge and the other end just over the 44.5".  These two boards will be the same 4" wide as the table frame.  See below.

Since these two boards will be secured inside the table frame, we will be using the KREG again to drill [3] pocket holes for a strong secure point to each edge on each board. I really do love my KREG joiner!

Make [3] marks at 1" apart where you will drill using the KREG pocket hole jig.  Do this on each end of the two support boards.

 Make sure you drill the holes on the same side of the board.

Here is a better look at the finished drill holes!

To secure the support piece in the middle of the frame make a mark 16" from the corner edge of the table frame as shown below!  The support piece should be secured by the INNER edge of the board; not the middle or the far edge.

CRITICAL:  Make sure you secure the board as shown with the inner edge lined up with the pencil mark. Otherwise the drawer sliders may not fit within the gap!!

Clamp the support piece in place using your pipe clamps and a couple of 90 degree squares to keep the correct 90 degree angle of the board to the side board.

Below you can see the 90 degree square that holds the board in place and keeps it at a true 90 degree angle or perpendicular to the side board.

Follow the same process as above for the second support board.  Remember that it's 16" from the corner edge of the table and should be perpendicular to the side boards.

 Here are both support boards attached to the table frame and ready for the side pieces to be secured to them.  As you can see we are coming along with the table frame and will need to cut and secure the side pieces, cut all four drawers from the extra birch plywood, and secure all the drawer sliders.  Last will be attaching the four drawer face plates to each of the drawers.

See you in the next post where we will continue by cutting and attaching each of the four drawer side pieces.  We will again be using the KREG pocket hole jig to drill all of the holes; it really does a great job of securing the frame pieces and you don't even have to glue anything!  

NOTE:  I haven't glued any pieces of the table frame so far because this allows for complete removal if you ever have to take the table apart for any reason!

Building a strong base! Let's build the table frame!

This POST will show how we build the main table support frame, which will have 5 drawers and stand around 35 inches high.  There will be two drawers on each of the long sides of the table and 1 drawer on one of the short side ends.  This long drawer can be used to hold play mats or game mats since it will be about 30 inch long.

This table frame is going to have to be strong because it will be "supporting" the main gaming table instead of being apart of the main gaming table.  There is big difference in my design in that, if the table legs were connected to the main table, they would be taking all of the load and weight of the table whereas this design incorporates a table frame that has drawers and must support the weight of the gaming table.  To help support the weight and distribute the weight evenly, we will have the table frame sit under the beams connected to the table and resting under the main plywood of the game table.

First let's concentrate on cutting all the pieces of the table frame at 4 inches in height.  I purchased more Maple Hardwood stock from the lumber yard.

[4] - 8 foot long x 5+ inches wide White Maple Hardwood material stock at 4/4 board thickness "which equals just over 3/4" thick".

The actual terminology used by the lumber company is:

[15] BM "Board Material" 25/32" S2S1E WHITE HARD MAPLE 4/4 25/32 S&B S2S1E 9106517

total price after taxes $64.38

This amount of material will cover everything I need to build the table frame "minus the legs"!  The legs are going to come from either pre-cut legs OR from Maple stock that is 8/4 thickness or about 1-3/4" thick material.  I haven't decided yet what to go with because I'm still checking prices!

We can still build the table frame without having the legs since the legs are added after the table frame is built!

So, take all of your material and cut it down to the 4 inch height you will need for each table frame section.  

NOTE:  All the pieces of the table frame will be exactly the same height 4"!

The reason behind this height is because it allows me to cut a hole in the wood that is 3" in height but leave 1/2" of material above and below this gap!  This leaves enough material for the piece to still be strong enough as a support piece on the table frame and yet still support a drawer within.  This also gives me drawers that will be about 2-3/4" deep for whatever gaming components I want to put in it!

Will all the pieces cut to 4 inches in height, we can now cut each piece to the correct length.  In total there are 16 pieces that make up the frame of the table.  You will also be cutting 5 drawer faces to be used to fit in the gaps and attach to each drawer.

Below is the view of the table frame looking from the ground up!

NOTE:  You'll notice that the table frame is not the same width as the main table and the reason for this is I want to give a little room for the players legs as they sit next to the table.  It also gives a nice illusion of the table floating and being the main focal point! You'll also note that the game table is being support on the beams you secured underneath the main table and not the table sides!

Take the remaining lumber you have and cut out all the pieces for the table frame so they will be a consistent 4" in height.  You have the following boards:

2 - LONG side pieces
2 - SHORT side pieces
2 - INNER support pieces "LONG"
8 - INNER side pieces for drawer sliders
4 - drawer plates face covers "these should be planed down to 1/2" thickness but not absolutely necessary"
4 - LEG supports

Below are all the boards pieces ripped to 4" width but not to the final length!  Most of the boards will still need to be cross cut to size.  As you can see there are a number of pieces that make up the table frame.  Also, this does not include the table legs.

First let's cut the LONG SIDE pieces of the table frame.  These are going to be 46" long exactly.

Next come the SHORT SIDE pieces which will be exactly 35" long!

Here are all four boards ready to be drilled with the KREG pocket hole jig!

Mark each edge with three pencil marks that is 1" apart for [3] marks altogether as shown below.  I felt two drill holes was not enough for a strong secure hold so that's why I went with [3]!

Secure the wood piece in the KREG pocket hole jig and drill out each hole from one edge to the other.

Do this on both ends of the boards and make sure you drill all the holes on the same side of the board!

Below shows all three holes drilled and ready to secure each corner.

Go ahead and use your table saw or a flat strong table to secure each board together. Make sure you have a 90 degree square to lock the two boards in place and help keep them at a 90 degree angle to each other.

CRITICAL:  When securing these two boards together "as well as all the table frame side boards" you must be sure that they are 90 degree to each other or the table will be out of alignment and nothing will fit exactly as it should!  A table that is out of wack will not sit right, will wobble, will tilt and will never sit flat on the floor!  This step if very important and you need to get it right on each of the four corners! Also, make sure you line up each flat edge so they are smooth to the touch and there is not overhang; you can use a clamp to get these edges flat.  A mallet also works to lightly tap the wood and get it to move ever so slightly to line them up!  NEVER USE A HAMMER OR YOU MIGHT DENT THE WOOD!

I used some long flat clamps to secure the two pieces together before drilling them.  You can also use your pipe clamps or smaller metal clamps for this same purpose.  

Once the one corner is secure go ahead and add the second side piece.  Follow the same steps to make sure the boards are at a true 90 degree angle and each side is flat and edge are smooth to the touch.

Below shows all four boards secured together and checked for true 90 degree accuracy. To check angle you can also use the 3 x 4 x 5 Triangle method where you take a corner and make a mark at a distance of any multiple of three's such as 3x3 inches, 3x4 inches, 3x8 inches, etc..  Then on the other board make a mark that is of the same multiplier but using a 4 instead of a 3.  So, if you used 3x4 to get 12 inches you would use 4x4 and get 16 inches.  

Now to verify the two boards are at a true 90 degrees you take the next measurement which in this case is a multiplier of 5, so you would use 5x4 and get 20 inches.  This 20 inch length is the exact distance you should have from the first mark to the second mark, which will make a 90 degree triangle!

Below is the table frame secured with all corner screws attached ready for the inner support pieces.

See you in the next post!