Walnut Game Table

I made this for a friend who found a similar table on the internet. (Google “geekchick”) He and his wife and mom did most of the hand-sanding. I designed this from available photos and, I believe, made a few design improvements. It is designed to serve as a game table with a depressed vault area for the games. In one configuration, you can install a single leaf on each side to form a bar area on each side. Two-piece closures for these two bars prevent dice or game pieces from rolling under the bar leaves. Six cup holders attach to the rim along the bottom so their location is variable. There is a center support for the leaves to prevent sagging of the leaves. Leaves are all made from 5/4 stock so I’m not sure the center support was really necessary. The table’s functions, with leaves in, as a regular dinner table. Both end drawers are equipped with the flip-up privacy cover for the “game master”, flip-out side leaves and a drop-in center table. This makes for a large work surface on each end of the table. The four side drawers are covered with a table surface with storage under the table. There is no privacy cover on the side drawers. All of the drawers have a locking function that holds the drawers out in the extended position to prevent accidental closing while in use. Legs are removable for easier transport. The vault area has a drop-in panel that is covered with felt and there is an acrylic cover that can be placed over this felt-covered panel. The acrylic cover can be used to protect the felt during use as a dinner table and it can be used to cover game maps thus allowing the use of dry-erase markers. I am not a “gamer” so I really don’t know all the details of how the games are played. Apparently, some games go on for days or weeks and the table allows the game to stay setup in the vault while allowing the “dinner table” function with the installed leaves. All loose parts store in the vault area. One of the design improvements was to make the sidebar closures to be two-part so they fit inside the vault. The cupholder design was another improvment over the original. It was made entirely of walnut bought from a local saw mill here in St. Joseph, MO. The drawer fronts were cut directly from the side panels to give a matching grain pattern on all sides of the table. It was a fun project and the owner is quite pleased with the result.

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