The Aquinos

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Poker Table Day 3-More rail work, snow breaks, and starting the playing surface

The third day was a lot like the 2nd, but I had a lot more time thanks to the snow. That’s a snow drift up to our window. We got 18 inches but it was 4 feet in some places. It was my first “snow day” from work in about 4 years.

Since the rail was designed to be basically the same cut repeated, I just had to do the repetition.

Here, I have most of the cuts completed, and am ready to start gluing and screwing. But first, I drilled several holes and used long nails to align everything. Gluing and screwing is done one layer at a time, and I didn’t want to gradually get myself off track.

Here, I’m about to screw in the last layer. Note the nail and the piloted screw hole. I found that I got a tighter fit if I clamped next to the screw I was putting in.

Snow is also a good excuses for letting glue dry. We thought we’d be stuck in our neighborhood for weeks, but a plow came by about an hour after this picture. So, I was able to use gas powered tools today too.

Here’s the glued rail on top of the base with the playing surface (yet to be cut) on top of the base.

T-nuts being installed to the rail to allow it to later be installed to the base. t-nuts are used because after the rail is upholstered, I won’t have access to the nut.

Now it’s time to cut the playing surface and racetrack. These are cut out of the same piece of wood. There is a lot of writing on the wood here because I was trying to figure out how far apart the cup holders should go so they’re equally spaced. I had to break out some geometry to figure it all out. In this picture, you can also see the t-bolts in the playing surface area.

Sunday, January 30, 2011

Poker Table Day 2–Cutting the Rail

Now that I have purchased everything, it’s time to start.

The first thing I want to do is cut out the pieces of the rail. The rail is going to be made up of 4 sheets of 3/4'” MDF and 1 sheet of 1/2”. I initially only wanted it to be 3 sheets of 3/4, but later realized I needed a 4th. I made the 4th layer out of scrap, but it turned out well.

First I made a “Trammel” to guide my jig saw around the curves.

Then I realized that the blade I was using was too dull, and that allowed the blade to angle a bit as I went around the curve. I went to a rougher blade and that made it better. In hindsight, it would have probably been better to use a router for this part, but for a first table it turned out OK.

Here’s the outer cut of the base. Next I did the first layer of the rail, which required a similar outer cut followed by an inner cut. This required my saw guide.

Below, you can see the groove left by the cut from the circular saw (and all of the dust). Here, I’m about to cut the inner curved part of the rail.

As you can see, it’s not a perfect science (at least not for me), but I’m expecting the upholstery to cover up any flaws.

Watch where you’re cutting dummy…

Here’s the progress at the end of day 1. Can you see where this is going?

Saturday, January 29, 2011

Poker Table Day 1–Buying stuff

I’ve been wanting to start and host a neighborhood poker game for a while now, so I started looking at buying a poker table online. I found a few that looked good enough for around $200, but I wasn’t happy with the $100 shipping charges. So, I started to look into building one myself for that price.

I was pretty sure that I could just take one of those long folding party tables, put a sheet of plywood on it, upholster it with foam and felt, and call it a day. Then I decided I wanted the padded rail, so I started looking for tips on how to do that. I eventually found a site apply named “buildyourownpokertables.com”. It had all sorts of free plans in it and a gallery of what people have done. I’m glad I’ve learned from others. I was also inspired by some. This table inspired the theme of my table. I’m a fan of teams (guess which I pick), I could do something like that. I found that one early in January, and thought about it for a couple of weeks.

I liked the “racetrack” with the cup holders, I wasn’t sure about my ability to do woodwork that would be exposed. I wanted something that was completely covered, so I set out looking for examples of people that had done upholstered racetracks. I ended up being truly inspired by this one.

Now that I have my theme and the basic look, it’s time to strart buying. Let’s see if I can stay on budget. [spoiler: no!]

Here’s what is required for the project.

Sheets of MDF “wood”. I’m not sure it’s really technically wood, but it’s flat and pretty strong. It’s going to take 3 3/4 sheets and 1 1/2 sheet. Look at the build your own poker table for why. I had to have Home depot cut them down so they would fit in the car. They ended up being 46” wide by 7’ long. Still a decent size of a table. It also made it possible for me to get them downstairs, which is a problem given the 180 degree turn in our basement stairs.

Miscellaneous hardware from the hardware store. Some are from ace, some from home depot.

Starting from the lower left, we have:

T-nuts, to attach the upholstered parts to other parts of the table
Various bolts and washers
A cutting guide for the jig saw (already purchased) and circular saw (already purchased)
Angle bars to go on the bottom of the table to avoid it eventually sagging
Spray on glue, fabric paint, and a brush (from JoAnn Fabrics)
Folding table legs
Staples for the upholstery
A drill bit to allow washers to sit flush
Handles for carrying
A hole saw
8' x 4' sheet of hardboard
Plexiglas, cutter, rope light, and drywall corner protector (none are pictured)

I also needed, but already had:

Drill
Clamps
Saw horses
Shop vac

Total cost at hardware stores: $392. Budget blown already, and I don’t even have fabric.

Foam. This ended up being one of the most expensive parts of the project. I bought 2 sheets of 2” high density foam and 2 sheets of 1/2” from JoAnn fabrics. $212. Ouch. Should have waited for a coupon.

Fabric for the playing surface (navy moleskin), for the racetrack (yellow vinyl), and for the rail (navy micro suede). Guess the theme yet?

$110 more at Joann Fabrics.

10 cup holders from a local boating store. $64.

Total cost: $777.13. Jen, I love you.

I was exhausted after day one of shopping and carrying everything downstairs.

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Ben's Joke

Ben got me last night during his bath, and he found it really funny.

Friday, January 21, 2011

Talking

Ben is starting to build up his vocabulary. As of now, he can say: mama, dada, mommy, daddy, baby, uh oh, on, off, *state sucks, crash, splash, ball, more, icky, and his latest:

*He says it with his eyes.

Saturday, December 25, 2010

Christmas 2010

Last night, we had Christmas with Grandpa’s side of the family. Everyone was so generous to us and especially Ben. He really loved his Thomas train and Batmobile.

We got home so late that Ben couldn’t help us put out milk and cookies for Santa. Santa appreciated the ones that mommy and daddy put out though.

Ben had quite a sight to see when he woke up this morning.

He went straight for the cozy coupe that mommy and daddy gave him...

…until he found the basketball hoop that Grandpa Dean gave him the night before

Santa gave him this nice bowling set that wasn’t the hit that he thought it would be.

The Legos from Paige, Breckin, and Kate were a hit.

Towel == Socks

He loved this steering wheel mommy and daddy got him. It makes crazy sounds, as advertised. Some of the sounds might be old Three Stooges tracks. It will keep him occupied on the way to Mississippi until daddy needs to have it turned off.

Ben got a lot of “Little People” today. He has basically the whole town: a farm, a fire house, this zoo train, an airport, a car wash, and a school bus.

Santa got him this awesome wagon that he enjoyed riding.

Ben got daddy this nice picture frame for his office.

Ben got mommy a nice jewelry travel case, this bracelet, and a new keychain.

Here’s the aftermath.

Oh, but that’s not all. After a nap and church, we went to grandma’s house.

She got him this sled that they’ll enjoy this winter, though it was nap time again and didn’t go over very well today. He did really like the Little People bus she got him though.

Uncle Dave got him a monkey ball.

And this cool frog that was handled mainly by the eyes because they looked like balls.

We took a break for a nap and some turkey fun. Apparently turkeys cook better right side up. That was discovered after we were all called to the kitchen to see the turkey without any breast meat.

We opened presents again after dinner. The Johanns got him the airport mentioned above. Nana got him this fun wagon full of legos.

Ben was really grateful for all of his gifts. He went to bed while everyone finished their desserts and presents. Mommy and daddy woke him up from a peaceful sleep to drive home. Daddy was soaked after scraping 8 inches of snow off the car. Ben was none the wiser, and is undoubtedly dreaming of the fun he’ll have with all of his toys tomorrow.

Merry Christmas everyone!