With the passing of my Nan in law, we’ve inherited some of her things. One of which, with sentimental and awesomeness value is her kitchen table. Those drawers go all the way through and can be opened both sides!
We’ve sold our comically large dining table (which we also inherited from her) and think this fits really well (it’s only now that my wife and in laws have told me they didn’t like the other table!).
Lovely table, but… do you think you need the crossbars at the ends? I can see those being a nuisance…
They are a bit, but more you can’t push a chair in. I put my feet up when sat at the end
The top is really heavy so I think it needs the stability.
Baize cloth on my dining table, with Squatter set for scale.
Rather than building a table with a well in it, how about building a rectangular frame that you could bolt together on top of the normal table you already have? (Plus overhangs to stop it sliding about.)
Have I missed something really obvious?
My main reason for wanting a gaming table is being able to stop a game, put the topper on, and use it as a standard table. Need to stop playing because it’s dinner time? Just mark which player’s turn it is and cover it up for dinner!
Even just being able to set up something like Spirit Island the night before so the next evening after the kids go to bed I can just jump right in and start playing without needing the 15 minutes to setup would be huge for me. That and not needing to clean the game up when I’m done if it’s getting late.
I actually think this sounds like an amazing idea. Game Toppers are ostensibly made for that purpose, but they’re effectively complete tabletops! When I first heard about those I looked into them right away and quickly realized what kind of a burden I’d be taking on.
Some kind of collapsible frame would be a great compromise. Just roll out the neoprene of choice and slap it down.
My only caveat with that is that if the original table is of normal height, you might end up with a surface that is too tall to play comfortably on, specially for shorter people. Plus you need a good solution for fastening the over-structure to the table (the last thing you want on most games is to shake the surface they are on by somebody leaning and shuffling all the components accidentally).
What would be the purpose of doing this? Unless you plan to also make a second table-top which could go on top?
The recessed surface is a detrimental thing that people nevertheless accept for the greater benefit of having two tables in one, yes?
I was imagining something much thinner than the typical inches-deep game table walls. Basically a glorified “picture frame” for neoprene, just enough to present a nicely contained play space. Laying out a big neoprene mat onto the dining room table (which is what I do) leaves an awful lot to be desired from an aesthetic standpoint.
Some people want the well to prevent dice or other components from falling off the table. But otherwise, I agree with you.
For me, the vault is strictly for the “out of sight, out of mind” effect on small children.
I have lost at least one game piece to knocking it off the table with my elbow then having the dog snatch it, run off, and chew it up before I could grab it / her. My husband and I are currently moving to a bigger house and looking into a vaulted table for our new game room.
Yes, sorry, I was thinking of wooden walls (which would stay upright when bolted together from structural rigidity) and then slats over the top, the point being that I already have a table and don’t want to get rid of it.
I have been considering this idea myself recently with the main purpose of having a game set up within the concealed space.
My SO and I got about 20 missions deep into Gloomhaven before the panini, but we are yet to get it back to the table for a variety of reasons. Fingers crossed we’ll be in a position to get back to it early next year and thought this would help.
I would assume this is the cheapest and most flexible way to go about having a recessed table. You could even make one that sat on top of a plywood topper.
I imagine the simplest thing to secure it to the table would be to have a crossbar on the underside of the table at each end that bolted to the edge of the frame.
Out of interest for those that have seen purpose build gaming tables in the flesh, which level of the table would you say is the “normal” table height? I’m assuming the recessed level, otherwise it would be eating into leg room.
Most tables are built with an apron rail that occupies space between the top of one’s legs and the table top. Apron rails are used, primarily, as extra rigidity beyond what you would get with simply 4 legs attached to a table top.
Most vault designs I’ve seen use other methods to obtain rigidity and stability in order to use the otherwise unused space within the apron rail.
I’m neither a tableologist nor a tableonomer, but I think you’ll find most vaulted tables probably have a table surface at around 30" (28"-30" is the traditional “table height” figure), and the vault’s surface is lower than that.
I love this typo! Or is there a story behind yhe panini?
Compound typos.
“Yhe panini!” is my new all-purpose exclamation.
Stupid cell phone keyboard…
