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username1
2019-01-28, 11:53 PM
So I知 designing a gaming table right now to build. I知 following the concept of https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=c6x0In-Lumk table. However one thing I notice is in this design the table is covered in felt. Thinking about this I知 not quite sure. If you have a character sheet on felt it would be hard to write on. Am I right on this? Or is felt fine? Thanks

BreaktheStatue
2019-01-29, 12:46 AM
If someone has issues with their character sheet on felt, they can just put their sheet on a folder or notebook or something. Pretty simple to work around.

Kaptin Keen
2019-01-29, 02:05 AM
So I知 designing a gaming table right now to build. I知 following the concept of https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=c6x0In-Lumk table. However one thing I notice is in this design the table is covered in felt. Thinking about this I知 not quite sure. If you have a character sheet on felt it would be hard to write on. Am I right on this? Or is felt fine? Thanks

Well. You cannot write on felt.

So you have three easy options open to you. Either:

1: Your entire table is dedicated to dice
2: Your entire table is dedicated to pens
Or 3: Your table has a dual purpose, with part covered in felt, and part uncovered - dare I say naked - wood for writing on.

I'd go with a naked wood table, and make a pile of neat little dice trays, with felt. Which is actually entirely a lie, because I don't build things, it's one of my primary qualities.

LordCdrMilitant
2019-01-29, 06:55 AM
I'd make little dice trays that are lined, and then make the table hardwood. That way, when not in use for gaming, it can be in use for other things.

My gaming table is just bare plywood on top, and spends most of it's life as "additional horizontal surface in the garage".

Maelynn
2019-01-29, 07:24 AM
The usefulness of felt is determined by what kind of games you want to play at that table.

Does it involve a lot of sheets that you need to write on? Not useful.
Does it involve a lot of dice? Useful.
Does it involve cards that are dealt and moves across the table a lot? Useful.
Does it involves cards or tiles that need to stay put for a longer time? Not useful.

You could go with felt and use clipboards for character sheets.

You could go with wood and use feltlined dice trays.

You could go for a large inlay with a wooden top (think 5 cm smaller than the table's surface on all sides), which you can remove to reveal a slightly indented feltlined playing area.

Spore
2019-01-29, 07:28 AM
Seconding wood table with dice trays. It is just the sensible option. Plus you wont die inside once the inevitable klutz (like me) topples a glass of water. Additionally where do you serve drinks and snacks? Because while snacks are not a huge problem with napkins, a toppled drink endangers the TV table.

Pelle
2019-01-29, 07:53 AM
How would you clean the felt table, vacuum cleaner? Wood sounds much more convenient.

hymer
2019-01-29, 08:36 AM
I'd be loath to have a felt-covered table. At the least, I'd have it in patches rather than covering the whole surface (in which case, why not go for dice mats or trays instead?).

But if I were to go to the bother and expense of making my own gaming table from scratch, I'd make it a table you can pull out, and add boards so you get the size you need that day. And then I'd have one or two boards covered in felt (with the option of turning them over in case I don't want felt at all, but want all my boards for maximum length).

LibraryOgre
2019-01-29, 11:27 AM
I have toddlers. A felt-covered table would soon become a funky-smelling, stain-covered, table.

Anonymouswizard
2019-01-29, 12:24 PM
I grew up in a house with a dedicated gaming table. However it was focused towards wargaming, so it was wood covered and designed for scenery to go on it (the original version was specifically designed for 2ft by 2ft blocks of polystyrene with hills carved into, it was later redesigned to be nicer to play board games on*). I knocked over a lot of minis when we had it, although thankfully never drinks. The main advantage of it was that it was designed to take abuse, to have dice rolled on it, minis dropped on it, to be able to survive the occasionally bad loser, to let spilt beer be mopped up (and allow people to be grateful that it hadn't ruined the terrain).

Strangely it was used for roleplaying about twice, before and afterwards we moved to the kitchen table to allow people to put the kettle on while playing.

* Read: slightly smaller so we could reach the middle easily.

Willie the Duck
2019-01-29, 02:04 PM
I have toddlers. A felt-covered table would soon become a funky-smelling, stain-covered, table.

People with toddlers should probably hold off on such purpose-dedicated furniture anyways. 'Your' game table is going to turn into 'their' game table soon enough anyways. Sorry if this is me being the bearer of bad news.

Beleriphon
2019-01-29, 06:14 PM
This a good questions. I've been pondering (Pinky, are you pondering what I'm pondering?) building my own table. I'm thinking of down a reversible surface to double as a dining room table. So you could in theory do a relatively thick table surface, route out one side and them cover with felt and a nice border to hold it all down. That entirely depends on the finishes you want to go with mind, but I'm a sucker for quality woods and high impact sealers.

And I have a giant garage (seriously its a car and a half wide, but a good 15 meters deep, we bought the place from a plumber) to build stuff in, and enough power tools to make short work of most wood construction. Skills? That's what the internet is for, and measuring twice and cutting once.

Jay R
2019-01-29, 08:36 PM
You can put the paper on a clipboard or book or notepad. Put on the felt for die-rolling (unless everybody already has a rolling tray).

adso
2019-01-30, 09:13 PM
I built a combo gaming/dining table a few years ago. It's a pretty standard 4'x6.5' table with removable slats that cover up a 3" recessed playing area with a felt-wrapped insert. This way, for things that you don't want felt for you just don't remove the slats, and it means that you can put the slats on top of an existing game to save it for later. If you do felt lining, I recommend getting a thin piece of plywood and wrapping it tightly with the felt (can be stretched and stapled in addition to glue to remove wrinkles) so that in the case of a catastrophic spill (or just after a few years of regular use), it's a simple matter to replace the insert for like $15.

Vogie
2019-01-31, 10:47 AM
I have toddlers. A felt-covered table would soon become a funky-smelling, stain-covered, table.

I actually made a felt board for my son when he was a toddler... He used it as a flannel-graph board. Got and made a bunch of felt letters, numbers, colors, flower shapes, cars, et cetera for him to move around it.

Also made a felt 2-dimensional Christmas tree I can tack to the wall for him to decorate with flannel-graph ornaments. Sure, that was to divert all that energy away from him trying to redecorate the actual Christmas tree, but still.

If you'd create a similar board for your littles, and they take care of it (or at least the second one) you'd be able to lay the felt board down on your table to "add" a felt covered portion to any gaming table.

Jophiel
2019-01-31, 10:59 AM
The place I play at is a little too crowded to get felt on the gaming table, but hope springs eternal.

Willie the Duck
2019-01-31, 02:22 PM
Show of hands, who saw that one coming down the pike a mile away?