Landchark

UPS brought the pyramid rubber and i set it in place. Looks nice. Haven’t decided if I’m going to just use finish nails to hold it in or if i’ll have to use staples. Cross that bridge when I come to it. For now, it is just sitting in there, since I can’t install it until the layout goes in. I also splurged and got a rattan dice stick and a nice on/off puck. I now have a new appreciation for the dealers that can, in one smooth motion, scoop up the dice from one end of the table, push them all the way to the other side and while doing so, flip the dice to have whatever desired number you want showing up when you get them.

Still debating the best way to put the layout in. Leaning to the method of using the OSB that I cut out and gluing the layout onto it and then dropping it into the table and pulling it down with some T nuts. My only worry is that you will see the cut edge of the layout after it is in there.

One thing I have learned is that the basic construction is the easy part, it’s the finishing so you like how it looks that takes forever. I started painting the base and underside and any other exposed wood a high-gloss black. Got about 3 coats on everything and now am starting the clear lacquer spray to give it a nice glossy look.

While the paint was drying, I started putting in the tiles for the drink rail. Used black vinyl self-stick tiles and just cut them to fit. Was a pretty simple process. Only wasted one tile with bad cuts, but at 66 cents a tile, I’m not feeling too bad about it.

You may notice that in the photos, you can clearly see the seams between tiles as a white line. I think that’s just an effect of my flash because in normal light, the seam is not noticable at all. Just looks like one smooth surface.

Ended up this evening by stepping on a nail, so that was fun. Luckily, just a finishing nail, and it only went in a half inch or so. Just got my tetanus shot, so no worries there, but it did signal an end to the construction this evening.

I think the next step is to tackle the playing surface itself and get that into place.

Continue to Part 7

Tags: , casino fun, craps, craps table, dice by chadd
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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.

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.

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.

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.

continue to part 6

Tags: , casino fun, craps, craps table, high life by chadd
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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.

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.

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

Tags: , A-team, casino fun, craps, craps table by chadd
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Holy crap, cutting these things out can be tedious.

But, 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.

Anyways, 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

Tags: , casino fun, craps table by chadd
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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.

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.

Now, 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.

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.

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

Tags: , casino fun, craps, craps table by chadd
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