{Custom} Beer Pong Table Build - Plexiglass LED

OK, well my 21st birthday is in a little less then 4 weeks (May 26th). I have always been into woodworking and building things, so I figured what would be better then a sweet ass beer pong table. I admit, I have never attempted to build one before, but I have most of the know-how, so I figure what the hell.

I haven't gotten everything figured out yet, so I will probably be changing and adding things along the way. Tips, comments and suggestions are appreciated as it will motivate me to keep posting lol. Please no harsh criticism. I know everyone is going to have a different opinion on whether you like it or not.. but it's mine so

I started out doing lots and lots of research online so I know how large to make it, what it make it out of, and just to get idea's from other custom built ones. I found out that an actual tournament table is 8'x2', and holds 10 cups. I wanted to stick close to the actual sizes and rules, but 2' wide didn't leave me much room. That is when I decided that 8'x3' would be an appropriate size for what I wanted.

Next comes the design. This took a few days to finally decide on something. I originally wanted to go with some kind of design made out of bottle caps, with a thick layer of bar top epoxy sealing in everything. For one, I am not 21 yet.. so actually getting enough caps (without buying them off eBay) would be near impossible. After much thought, I ended up deciding on a "Monster Energy" theme. Honestly, Monster isn't even my favorite energy drink, but the logo looks sweet, and green and black look awesome together.

 

Getting a list of supplies wasn't too bad. I knew I needed a sheet of plywood, some legs for the table and another thinner piece of wood for the design to be cut into. I found a nice clean piece of 1/2" plywood and figured that would be a good base. The best part is Home Depot will rip the 4'x8' board to whatever size you need. Since I was going with 3' wide, that is what I had it cut to.

I also found a piece of 1/8" Hardboard, which I thought would be perfect for a nice smooth top, and I could cut designs in it without the edges chipping like a thin piece of plywood would do. I didn't have this cut to size because I thought maybe their blade, designed for cutting plywood, would mess up the hardboard.

Next I grabbed a few real straight 2x4's that I will just be using for reinforcement underneath the table.

Lastly, I found these great banquet table legs that I think will work awesome. This way, I can fold it up if need be for a LOT easier storage. They were only $16.99 a pair, and came with all the hardware to install them.

 

I am keeping all receipts, so if anyone is honestly interested in prices and where I got everything, just let me know. The final cost will probably be more then I wanted to spend, but this is whats left of my tax refund money, so I'm not out anything lol. So far with supplies, I think it is around $35, but I really haven't bought that much yet.

 

I got the piece of hardboard cut last night as well, but was way too tired to post the pictures. All I did for this was laid out my 2x4's on a couple of saw horses for support, sat the hardboard on top of that, and then laid the already cut piece of plywood on the hardboard. I carefully lined my edges up and clamped the two pieces together.

The piece of hardboard is actually real flexible, so make sure there is something supporting it within a couple of inches on each side of your cut. The blade on my saw is just like Home Depots, so I didn't want to use that and screw something up. I do a lot of body work on cars as well, so I used this 3" high speed cutter I got from Harbor Freight. It burnt the edge of the wood a little, but left a nice clean cut. I could also just run it right along the edge of the plywood.

I also forgot a couple pictures for my last post just showing the thickness of the plywood and hardboard, so I added them here.

 

I didn't get a whole lot accomplished today is it was my girlfriends' little brothers Birthday and I had to go bowling with their family. Since I got the table part cut to the final size I will be using, I wanted to start taking some measurements to figure out how big to make the logo's and where exactly to place them.

As of right now, I plan on doing a large "M" in the center, then on each end doing the "Monster" part of the logo. I didn't want to go too big as I know when lit with the LED's it will be somewhat bright and don't want the light to be too much.

I decided to go with about 20" high with the center emblem. The width comes out to 14 point something.. I don't remember exactly. I used a freeware program I found online to print the logo on multiple sheets of paper, which made it a piece of cake. The program is called ProPoster and can be downloaded here.

I didn't get many 'action' shots doing this, but basically all I did after printing my logo the size I wanted was tape the sheets together with packing tape and cutting it out carefully with an exacto knife. I then measured out my center on my piece of hardboard as well as my stencil. Since the hardboard is actually going to be my final surface, I didn't want to mark it up with pencil or pen.. that is why you see the masking tape. Once everything was centered out, all I had to do was line up some marks and tape it down. I will be finishing the other stencils and hopefully have it cut out by Monday.

The logo doesn't really look center in the pictures, but I will assure you, it is within a 1/16" from being dead on lol.

(Sorry for the wait on the pictures. After all that, one of the pictures was .1 MB too big and it never told me that LOL)

 

I like the table Griffin, and I am eventually going to make something like that out of beer caps. Just give me a little while to save up LOL. I'll start asking friends to keep theirs too.

 

Alright guys, huge update tonight. I've been working on and off pretty much all day. I didn't get as much as I wanted to done, but it's going along nicely. I've almost got an actual table! I am making this this damn near indestructible lol. And I've got a decent chunk of money into it now, so I am taking things slow and doing it right.

It was kind of cold this morning, so I had a hard time getting my ass out of bed to go out and work. I figured I would get on the computer and print up my other logo and get a stencil made. That took about an hour to print, tape and cut. I use packing tape to kind of "laminate" the paper. This will be helpful when it's time to trace. I also noticed a little problem that I never thought of. The word Monster has an "o" and an "r" that would have a part cut out that I needed. I Just left a little extra and will cut it out in the hardboard and just glue to center piece in. You'll see near the end of the project..

 

I next mocked up where my logo was going. I can't decide between 2 locations. I taped everything down in the one that I think looks better, but do you think it would make the game easier with them being closer?

I need your guys opinion here. I know in a tournament beer pong table, the triangle 'cup rack' is right on the end of the table. Well, with how I want my logo, I can't decide where to put it. Pictures are worth 1000 words....

 

Since I'm not sure where the logo is going, I sat the hardboard aside and started on the structural portion. I went with plain old 2x4x8's. Found real clean straight ones, and their only 1.82 a piece. You can honestly make some nice stuff with them if you cut them down and sand them yourself instead of buying $4-6 boards.

I am doing a border along the outside and then 4 more boards going across in the center. The center boards will be for support for the table legs that will later get installed. I cut all 4 outside boards with a 45 degree angle, then sanded with a belt sander so they will fit together a lot nicer.

I then cut a 1"x1.5" piece out of each of the 2x4s on the outside. I did this for multiple reasons. The main reason is when it's all finished and ready to paint or whatever else, I am going to put a trim board around the whole thing. I've got some idea's on trying something, so that will get explained a little later. The other reason is for reducing a little weight. This is already getting heavy, and I would like to carry it by myself if possible.

 

The last thing I did tonight was glue half the boards on. I wanted to get to the point where the legs are installed, but that will have to wait till tomorrow morning. Plus, letting the glue dry overnight with the clamps still on will make sure that little bit of a warp is out of the plywood.

I started with the longer outside boards, one at a time. I scuffed both surfaces of the wood with sandpaper, then applied quite a bit of glue. I am using regular Gorilla wood glue as I've always had good results with it. After gluing, I line everything up and clamp it every foot or so. Then I flipped the whole thing over and marked out my pilot holes. I put a screw 6" from the ends, then one every foot. I may put more, but with the glue and everything, I doubt anything will happen.

I had to switch to a different screw half way through because the wood screws I bought are junk. Almost everyone of them stripped out.

The ends were a little trickier. I had to sand a tiny bit off to get them to fit right. Overall I think it's turning out pretty good. When morning comes I am going to get the legs installed, and then it's back to the hardboard and cutting. Thanks for the tip Predator, I definitely understand what you mean!