Building a beer pong table - United Bimmer Community

**RealBmw 02** · 03-06-2006, 08:05 PM

So I am building a second beirut/beer pong table. I got some OSB (oriented strand board) for free so I used that instead of something with a smooth finish.

It's all painted up and looking good, but here is my question: I want to seal the top and create a smooth finish. Does anyone know what type of clearcoat or lacquer I could use to make a thick smooth finish? My roommate is taking a picture now so I will load one up in a few min.

Here are some pics (Sorry, I'm too lazy to resize):

[imghttp://files.unitedbimmer.com/ub.c/RealBmw 02/S5300012.JPG[/img]

**brien4787** · 03-06-2006, 08:16 PM

sick...
i kinda have one, but its too small...and the spot its in is too small... so its now just used a table.. boo

**RealBmw 02** · 03-06-2006, 08:25 PM

we have one in our garage, but it's frigid down there this time of year. So we wanted to build one for indoor use. This way during the week when we just want to play a few games we can watch TV at the same time. The garage one will be for party situations.

**komodo** · 03-06-2006, 08:55 PM

Nice, we're having our pledges make us one this semister.

**jms** · 03-06-2006, 08:58 PM

in order to make it smooth you either need to sand it until it, or fill it until it is smooth. After you fill it and sand it then you can prime it with at least 3 coats. then finish paint it and then a polyuerethane with a light sanding between coats and you will have a finish like glass. instead of poly you can also wax it, but poly lasts longer.

for filling look for any paintable wood putty. http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?actio...052&lpage=none

**jms** · 03-06-2006, 09:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by komodo

Nice, we're having our pledges make us one this semister.

make sure they start with a decent grade of plywood. something cabinet grade. If you have to go with 1/2" mdf and add a 1/4" or lighter finish grade and glue them together with a good glue, or cement. it will give you the best result.

nick_318is · 03-06-2006, 09:03 PM

Sweet table my roommate and I made one last year, we did the same thing, but we put down a few coats to start and it was sort ofglossy paint and came out pretty good, when I'm back at school I will take a pic if this thread is still active.

**Rooz** · 03-06-2006, 09:07 PM

PArty at your house

witeshark · 03-06-2006, 09:12 PM

Very creative!

**RealBmw 02** · 03-06-2006, 09:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jms

in order to make it smooth you either need to sand it until it, or fill it until it is smooth. After you fill it and sand it then you can prime it with at least 3 coats. then finish paint it and then a polyuerethane with a light sanding between coats and you will have a finish like glass. instead of poly you can also wax it, but poly lasts longer.

for filling look for any paintable wood putty. http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?actio...052&lpage=none

Well I'm lazy and don't want to sand the whole thing down until it's smoth. I would then have to repaint and it would take hours to sand it. I'm just looking for something that I can just pour on and let harden.

I will probably just tape around the edges, leaving about 1/2" about the table to serve as a "barrier" and pour whatever coating I use on the table. I will allow the coat to completely cover the whole thing and then theoretically I will have a flat, smooth surface when it is dry.

The thing is, I don't know what material to use as a coating. I want something that will dry clear and hard and will have a coefficient or restitution (elasticity or ability to reflect an object) similar to that of wood. I need it to be bouncy so that you can bounce the ping pong ball off the table as you would with a natural wood finish. Bouncing is a key entity when it comes to beer pong.

**RealBmw 02** · 03-06-2006, 10:01 PM

Here are some pics of our original table (again, sorry about the size):

and some of our kegerator, just cause I was down there:

Just cause I'm bored

**///M Power** · 03-06-2006, 10:36 PM

Now I really wish I had some of our kegerator. Ours is gorgeous. A real kegerator. Got it off ebay for $300 from a grad student int he area. Ill get some pics this week.

I cant answer your question but weve built 6 different beer pogn tables. From decent to make shift. My recomendation is dont put on a top layer because the table comes in handy when creatign tourneys. People love writing all over it and its not hard to create a new table...besides someone always ends up being body slammed onto the table!

**Hoppy** · 03-06-2006, 11:45 PM

just get a shit load of epoxy. build a fram around the edges of the table and fill it with epoxy. you can even stick bottle caps and shit under the epox. just make sure its all the wya under

**nightdevils** · 03-06-2006, 11:54 PM

Bah! Be a man, use a door!

witeshark · 03-06-2006, 11:58 PM

As a boater, I know you can use varnish to coat the wood