Entries Tagged as 'craps table'

So you want to build a craps table – pt 5

I had to wait a few days to borrow a belt sander, so in the meantime, i started building the base of the table. Turned out rock solid. I think you could put an elephant on there. Got the sides and back covered with 1/4″ ply so it is ready for painting. Haven’t figured out what to do about doors yet, but I’ll think of something.

base frame craps table base craps table on base craps table on base

Finally got a hold of a belt sander, so I could start smoothing down some of the exposed edges. Since I decided on upholstering the outside, I figured i didn’t need to get the corners incredibly smooth. Just enough to let the batting hide the inconsistancies.

Got some suede type fabric from JoAnn’s on sale and started my first upholstering job ever. Turned out to be not nearly as hard as I thought it was going to be. I used 2 layers of batting underneath the fabric.

upholstering layers swanky finished upholstering craps table side upholstered

The diamond rubber, which should be here by this thursday if UPS doesn’t get lost or something, comes up 11 1/2″ on the inside so I left the extra fabric hang over the inside to be stapled in behind the diamond rubber and cover that extra inch or so that will be exposed above the rubber.

After I got all the fabric on, I set the top back on to see what it would look like and, gosh darn it, it is actually starting to look like a craps table.

top back on craps table end view
So much so, that I had a friend come over and we had to roll dem bones and try our luck. As you can see, the drink rail works quite nicely.

i like beer

continue to part 6

So you want to build a craps table – pt 4

A wise man once said “I love it when a plan comes together.”, of course this man sat next to a man that constantly said “I pity the fool who [insert witty quip here]“.Why am I talking about the A-Team? I have no idea.
Anyways, this plan seems to be coming together and this mass of scrapwood and sawdust is finally starting to look like a craps table.

table base craps layout craps layout with corners craps layout one end

I finally got the base of the table and the last long side cut out. I got out my layout and threw it on there just to make sure that it fits inside the table base like it should, and by golly, it fits just right.

At that point, I just couldn’t help myself but to try to assemble this beast and see if these pieces really will fit together.

So I took off the layout and started putting all the pieces together like some big puzzle. There’s obviously going to be some trimming and sanding needed to be done to get everything to fit together all snug, but for a trial run, it seems like it is going to work out fine.

craps table sides partially finished craps table assembled assembled craps table with layout

After I got it put together and laid the layout in, I just had to get out the dice and see how it worked.
First roll, established the point of 9, threw 5 more times and covered all the numbers and then sevened out. Kinda reminds me of the last time I played at the Golden Nugget.

Continued in part 5

So you want to build a craps table – pt 3

Holy crap, cutting these things out can be tedious.

cornersBut, I am getting pretty darn good with this jigsaw. Maybe I will find some sort of quarter round corner 3/4″ plywood cutting contest to enter after this is all done.

135-3528_IMG.jpgAnyways, got a bunch more of these pieces done. 54 to be exact. By my calculation I should only need a total of 60, 15 per corner, so I am pretty close to done.

Then all that will be left to cut out will be one long side, and the main table base that the layout goes on. Then on to the ever so exciting assembly stage. Have to get myself some wood glue.

I still am thinking about how to do the legs/base of this beast. The plans call for the legs to be attatched to the base of the table but I want the legs to come off fairly easily so this thing can be transported if needed. Last suggestion I got was to use a big TV stand. Not a bad idea, since then there will be shelves and doors already built in, it is about the right size, and this table won’t weigh any more than a 36″ tube tv (I hope). Still considering options, but I do like the idea of some sort of shelving/cabinet unit to be used as a base. Would look more solid and provide some storage instead of just wasted space under there.

continue to part 4

So you want to build a craps table – pt 2

Let me just start out by saying this: Jigsaws are Fun. Especially Bosch Jigsaws. And until another tool company sends me a jigsaw to sample (hint hint), I’ll continue to say that Bosch Jigsaws are the best. Go ahead, I dare any tool company to send me something to try for free and challenge my claim that Bosch makes the highest quality power tools in the world.

craps table plans As mentioned in my last post, I’ve got the plans all cut out into full size paper templates.

With that all done, my next step was to buy some plywood. So off to Menard’s I went. Without a doubt, Menard’s is my favorite store ever. The only problem is that I get too many half-baked ideas when there. I hate shopping in general, more of a “get in, get out, get on with your life” type of guy. As far as I know, I think I hold the speed record for Christmas shopping. 43 minutes from locking my door in the mall parking lot to loading the trunk with a metric shit ton of gifts. But, for some reason I can wander the aisles of Menard’s for hours. I just don’t get it. They must pump something into the ventilation that tricks your brain into thinking “you really need new handles for all the kitchen cabinets”. I wonder what kind of street value a drug like that would have.

Anyways, I loaded up 3 sheets of 3/4″ CDX and headed home. The plans call for 4 sheets, but I have a half sheet left at home from a different project and I’m also thinking of changing the plans a bit to not include the planned legs. So that would save me over a half sheet right there. The reason I’m thinking of not including the legs is because the plans call for attaching them in such a way that you would never be able to remove them without taking off the craps felt layout. And that would be bad. Thinking of buying a couple table bases from a local restauraunt supply store, so they would be easy to screw on and off, but I’ll ponder that more later.

laying out templatesmysterious footprintNow, I am knee deep in templates that I have to lay out on the plywood and trace. If you look closely, you can see footprint evidence of a tiny creature that for some reason thought it was quite fun to run back and forth on the plywood as I traced out templates. Refer to part 1 for an idea of what I think this mysterious creature may be.

craps table template pieces craps table template layout craps table template pieces heck of a lot of sawdust

I spent most of the rest of the day tracing and cutting, and although it seemed like I was really just making a lot of scrapwood and a heck of a lot of sawdust, I got all of the major pieces cut out.

53 left to go When I got to the corner pieces, I made a stunning realization: Tracing and cutting out the same piece over and over can be a tad tedious. By my calculations I’ll have to cut out about 60 of these quarter round pieces to stack up and form the rounded corners of the table.

That’s a lot.

As you can see from the size of the stack in the photo, I have about 7 cut out. That’s a lot yet to go.

This is when I remembered that Family Guy would be starting any minute.

continue to part 3

So you want to build a craps table – pt 1

I don’t know about you, but I like to play craps. But being stuck here in the midwest, I’m not that close to the bright lights of Sin City and a good craps game.

So I have started building a craps table to put in my basement. As my wife will chime in, I don’t really know where I’m going to fit a full size craps table down there, but I’m sure I can find room somewhere between my poker table (just an old dining room table) [update: new custom poker table built], my popeye cocktail arcade machine, and my pinball machine (original pinbot, sweet). It’s just a matter of creative furniture arrangement. [update: basement bar and casino is now set up and (mostly) finished]

Photo of what it looks like so far:

cardboard tube of craps table plans

Pretty exciting, eh? I picked up the craps table plans from recroomplans.com for a steal on ebay a while back. I also picked up a nice 6′ casino quality layout from Kardwell. Then right when I was going to start construction a small delay came my way.

We had a daughter.

Now, as awesome as that is, and believe me, I was excited, it does put a bit of a time crunch on any plans to build things around the house. Even high priority necessities like craps tables.

So, the plans and the layout sat around collecting dust for a while. But, here I am, now ready to resume (start) this project.

  1. I took the plans out of the tube and carefully unrolled them.
  2. Figuring this to be a very high “attention to detail” type night, I went in and got myself a Red Dog. Now I don’t normally drink beer as “high quality” as Red Dog, but it was leftover from my brother’s bachelor party the weekend before (a whole nother story). I’m actually an Old Style man, myself.
  3. I started cutting out the paper templates with a box cutter.
  4. Two more Red Dogs, one band-aid, and 3 razor blades later, I had myslef a full set of templates ready to be traced onto some plywood.

Next Step: get myself some plywood and start tracing templates.

continue to part 2