If you don’t mind your table looking ‘rustic’, then I’d second what @bengeile said about re-purposing something and saving a lot of money. Dining tables with a solid frame underneath practically have a vault already made, it just needs a floor and cover put in, and the tabletop removed and converted to be removable. Over in the other forum I posted about my own foray into making my own table, which actually came out much better than I expected.
Pallets as an example may not be the best wood, but it’s solid and can polish or paint up quite nicely with a bit of TLC. And usually you can source the wood for free. From there it’s a case of buying or borrowing some basic tools - a sander and jigsaw or table saw are a must really (I bought a jigsaw and sander for about £60 in total) - making your own design so it’s the size you want, buying some table legs (again, quite cheap if you don’t want to spend a fortune), and putting in the hours and sweat. A vault wasn’t for me, it was unnecessary and would have collected rubbish, and as I made a low one as a coffee table, it would have ended up too low.
I bought a good 90 x 90 cm mat to play on for £30 and would absolutely recommend something like it. As others have said, picking cards up is easier, it feels lovely, dice rolls are much quieter, and it’s an added layer of protection for your table.
