ArtDeco21

2016-03-25T16:12:00.002-04:00

Just wanted to make a quick updated post of how the table is getting on several years later.

Have a lot of great memories with this table, and not much I would change. I would make it repel cats in all their shedding glory if I could.

Added a real 8 deck shuffler

New project!

2011-09-18T03:07:00.000-04:00

It's almost fall! And so it's time to get back to work on another project to pass the winter with. I'm not quite ready to reveal all the details just yet, so I'll tease you with clues instead.

All I gotta say is this thing is gonne be sweet when it's finished - but it's gonna be costly too - so I'm starting out shilling on Amazon again this year to bring in the big bucks. Once completed this project will give me something I have wanted ever since I was a young boy. Ya'll need to start buying stuff so get to clicking and make my inner child's dream come true..

So here it is... other things I wanted as a kid..

Vendor Spotlight: Casinosupply.com

2011-09-18T02:48:00.000-04:00

Casinosupply.com was the vendor who provided me with the custom printed felt and many of the accessories I have on my table. The service was absolutely top notch and friendly to boot. The sales rep I dealt with, Jay, didn't seem at all bothered to help someone who was building a table for home use as opposed to a big customer. Jay spent a lot of time listening and asking questions as to what I wanted from my layout and the final result shows his attention to detail. Jay even emailed me a sample of the artwork over the weekend, how awesome is that?!? Even when I kept wanting to change things on the layout they handled my revision requests with patience and a text book professionalism that you just don't see often.

Layout

The finished product, WOW!

Still in progress Almost finished with the table

Of all the things I bought for my table, I had the most fun and excitment shopping for and buying the felt. Rolling it out the first time and seeing the personalized design was an absolute blast and really helped to keep me energized during the build.

If you are thinking of going the build your own route then do yourself a favor and get your felt from the folks at Casinosupply.com

I did it my way!

2011-01-30T18:53:00.002-05:00

I'm thrilled to be able to post these pics of the final assembly! The only currently remaining tasks on the table are to install the shelf and spruce up the sign holder (I scratched my sign! I'm very very sad - gonna have to buy a new one now *cry*) But setting momentary disappointment aside, I gotta say this bad boy rocks. This turned out far better than I could ever have imagined. I'm so fortunate to have such talented friends and conspirators for this project - we all did good on this one!

Wanna play? Hit me up!

Table view, that race track sure is pretty!

Gonna need to spruce up that sign a bit, expect a new Sign Post when I do (HA! Sign Post)

I can't believe we pulled this off! I'm very lucky to have such talented friends.

Another view to appreaciate

Table Win

So I've run out of captions, but not pictures, so you just look and don't read okay?

Make it big and see the scratch. Now go buy something down at the bottom of the page so I can buy a new sign.

My sign is scratched and it is Amazon to the rescue, you click and buy stuff and I get a new sign, it's Austrian school econ at it's finest. If you don't buy anything then Mr. Hayek will cry, and then Mr. Von Mises will be angry, and you don't want to make Mr. Von Mises to get angry. If you don't know Hayek you can always Google him, come here for the blackjack and get an education too.

Stool Sample

2011-01-25T23:15:00.003-05:00

The stools are in! The stools are in! I'm doing a happy dance here, and you had just better be thankful you can't see it. Don't tempt me either, I have a Flip so you could be seeing my happy dance in HD.

Stool Sample. Still not tired of that joke.

The stools represent one of the single biggest outlays of expense for the table, and their importance is hard to overestimate. If the stools are uncomfortable who will want to play? Well fear not, I have sat upon each and every one and can assure you of their comfort and stooliness. I was neither stuck on top of, nor did I fall off the stool, both basic indicators to the general suitability of the stool as a place upon which to sit.

It's happy! No, it's Retro. Relax kids, it's both Happy and Retro.

I ordered the stools from IVG Stores, and I was very happy with the price and service. The stools took about two weeks to get here and they appear to be drop shipped from the manufacturer, the date stamp on the bottom of each stool indicates they were made to order. The stools were priced very reasonable at just a few dollars above $100 each delivered. I'm very lucky considering that 4 of the 7 were gifts from my Mom and Grandmother for Christmas! That's good news for you too, now you guys don't have as much to buy from my Amazon links for me to break even! I mean you still have to buy some stuff so get to clicking and add to cart, you'll be grateful you did!

Loredo Garnet

The stool's model is "Happy Retro" it's chrome base and styling fit well with my deco/50's lounge mashup. The stools are available in two sizes, 26" height for most home bars, and 30" commercial bar height. My table is about 42" so the stools themselves are needed to be true bar height at 30". The color is these picture is Laredo Garnet. All in all I got to say I couldn't be more thrilled at such sturdy, high quality stools at such a fantastic price.

Most of the time I sell you things I like or use, so this time I think I will sell you things I'm not likely to use.

Comin round the mountain charming Betsy

2011-01-23T15:13:00.003-05:00

Big news! We got bar stools! All seven of em to boot! Expect a stool post and a felt post in the next day or so too.

Nothing much to report, first coat of finish is on the betting track, pics will show you some imperfections in the finish that we will fix with a second coat. Redid the wrist rest with a solid piece of foam instead of pieces of foam and it turned out fantastic. Pics will show a much more even stracth to the vinyl and a much more finished look - this time I didn't cut the vinyl too deep! Yay me.

Chip case w00t!

The stools

That's not the same KFC bucket in the fridge that was in there two weeks ago. OK I lied, it is the same KFC bucket from two weeks ago. Someone needs to clean out the fridge.

Shot from the comic room

the rest of the room

This time with feeling!

Even the back staples look better this time

Betting track with finish, view full size to see defects

After the first coat of paint

Look what you made me do

It's shiney even if a bit flawed

More stuff to fix, but it still looks great!

No Amazon this post, unless I come in and do it later. Pressed for time and gotta jet!

Remember when I said I felt good? Now I felt better.

2011-01-11T20:06:00.005-05:00

The felt is on! More than a felting. You make me felt like dancing. You've lost that loving felting. (Now it's gone gone gone). I can go on like this for days.

So the felt is on the table and I did a happy dance. For those of you keeping score at home that doesn't leave a whole lot left for the table.

1) Affix accessories and apply finish to betting tack.
2) ???
3) Profit!!

Bar stools should be shipping out today, and hopefully the snow and Ice will have melted by the time it gets here (Atlanta is in the clutches of ~~GLOBAL WARMING~~ an ice storm). All in allI couldn't be any more thrilled with how the table is turning out. I think I will probably redo the padded wrist rest at some point, but for now I am ready to play!

Pics below

Stapling the wet felt

Bunch of excess material to trim

Folding the corner seams so they are neat

Trimming the wet felt down

Another exciting shot of the underside!

After it dried

Some of the accessories on the table

Abbey Road will find a new home, it just doesn't fit with the Vegas theme

Detail shot

Really lucked out how well the felt coordinated with the pedestal upholstery

Logo lookin' sharp

It's 80's movies on bluray! Hooray! You buy now!

When I grow up I wanna own a casino.

2011-01-03T23:20:00.004-05:00

Yeah, been busy, don't know about you guys but in my part of town it's the holidays and well they just have a way of distracting you from the important things in life, like build your own black jack table projects.

Don't worry though, we made some progress all the same and I have some pics to prove it. As you can see the pedestal and base are married (Vegas style baby! Stay togethor as long as it's fun, but when it's time to go, two bolts and BANG! it's over, except for arguing over who gets the chips on the weekends.)

In other momentous news, got 7 bar stools on the way! Several of which are gifts, so sincere thanks Mom and Grandma! The barstools rock, so expect pics of them when they arrive around the 19th of January, which seems like forever from now. I guess since each seat is wrapped in the rich Corinthian leather it must take a while to even find a '75 Chrysler Cordoba in the first place, not only do the have to find the cars, but then they have to use local trappers to keep the wild clones of the late Ricardo Montalbon away long enough to get the seats out. I've heard tell that the feral clones will shed their Mr. Roark costumes and mate with the car, unless they are dressed as Kahn in which case they stick a bug in the glove compartment and collect a paycheck and go home.

Pics or it didn't happen you say? Pish posh. Pics it is then.

Here is the the assembled piece. Tops almost ready to go on!

STFU! All the high-class folks keep KFC buckets in the beverage coolers.

The betting track is coming together.

Velvet Elvis watches over us as we play.

It's big! The dog by the way is Rupert the Wonder Dog. The cat above is Stanley Badkat - he was missing for TWO months and then showed back up for Christmas Eve! How awsome was that? Longest caption ever, ya but it's sweet.

So after writing the caption about my pets, it made me realize how much of a zoo I really have. 1 dog, 8 Year old chow mix, Rupert the Wonder Dog. 1 cat, 5 year old domestic short hair, Stanley Badkat. 1 Kitten, 9 month old piss and vinegar, Snat! 1 Cockatiel, old, named Fritz and two 8 year (Still baby's) old Double Yellow Head Parrots. Good times. Will do a pet thread soon - so there. But for now, how about links to things my pets want?

Coming into the home stretch...

2010-12-14T23:25:00.002-05:00

Got a lot done the last couple of nights, David and I have been busy squeezing in a Monday evening this week to boot! We got so much done just gonna rattle it all off in list form.

The top anchor system in place consisting of 4 carriage bolts counter sunk into the play surface with wing nuts. This way the top is removable and modular!
The top play surface cut outs have been made for the chip tray, bill collector, and no peek device.
The Volara closed cell foam is installed and cut.
Bill box and bill slot are installed
The betting track / racetrack has had it's second coat of paint and will be getting it's first layer of polyurethane soon.

So really there isn't a whole lot left for the table at this point. Still need to do the following;

Install felt play surface and secure discard box, bill collection gasket, no peek device and toke box
Install shelf in pedestal
Install lighted blackjack sign, table lighting and powerstrip
Finish betting track ornamentation and super gloss epoxy coating
Secure arm rest to betting track.
Order rules signage and display bracket
Design and install back trim (maybe - this is kind of optional)
Source over table lighting and install
Buy barstools! Getting a couple of stools for Christmas, but that leaves me needing 5 more - so cut me some slack and buy some stuff already!

And now for the pictures!

Oooh Shiney! It started off red, but then I had to paint it black.

Bill box and chip tray

From the front

You can make the picture big to see my recently rescued and restored vintage velvet Elvis.

Any ladies out there attracted to 40 year old guys who collect comic book toys? Email me, we'll hook up..

Because one picture of a black piece of wood is never enough.

I'm not satisfied with only two pictures of a black piece of wood, so here is a third. Am i satisfied yet? No... I can't get no satisfaction. Because one Rolling Stones joke is never enough.

Tonights Amazon sales pitch - Things I would like to get on Christmas morning.

The question is, does it match the drapes?

2010-12-13T01:11:00.003-05:00

Woo hoo! Looks like we can stick a fork in the carpet and call it done! It looks sweet too. Chris, who you will recall helped with the pedestal upholder, came over and lent his expertise to carpeting the base. The results are fantastic, especially considering that I didn't order quite enough carpet - but we managed to get some stretch in some of the places and we just barely got it to work. For the record the carpet is, so far at least, the only thing I haven't ordered enough of, and next time I do something like this I believe I will over order.

We used speaker cabinet carpet, the kind with the thick backing. The collective wisdom of the internet say's the backed kind can be more difficult to work with, but it is more durable. Since this was essentially a foot rest I figured durability was the way to go. The carpet is pretty stiff but we were able to bend it around some very tight turns without any problems, so I think anyone else following along here could use the same. I ordered mine from parts express - the carpet arrived folded instead of rolled so I let it sit out on the ground to get some of the creases out. The edge of the carpet looks like it was cut from the roll by hand and was kind of crappy looking, but I wasn't planning on using right up until the edge anyhow.

The carpet we fixed down with the 3M #77 Spray adhesive and staples. I got some great tips on hiding the seams from this you tube video and I gotta say their advice contributed heavily to the high quality finish on my base.

Cutting the rug as they say

Measure twice cut one, we needed to measure three times maybe :)

Like a black fuzzy toilet seat

Lookin good

Needs cleaned, but still sharp

Can you spot the seams? There are two in this picture

From the inside

Again

Seam on this side - on the left front

Two seams here - 1 on the top, the other on the side

Can't see the seam here either.

Lest I be accused of being misogynistic with my headline puns and Amazon selling, I'm including mens grooming products here too. So the ladies can calm down and crack window dressing jokes too. Yup something for everyone! Even have some wax for those who don't want any carpet on their floor - Is there a tag for a <crash cymbal> ? There should be. Anyhoo - Try the veal, I'm here till Tuesday.

Vendor Spotlight: Spinettis Gaming

2010-12-01T23:43:00.003-05:00

This is a new feature where I will post about my experiences with the many businesses out there who willingly accept my money in trade for the things I need for my project. There is a complex economical term to describe this type of exchange of money for goods, but since this is a light blog and not an academic journal I will not bore you with a bunch of jargon just to show how book smart I am. Oh okay, I'll get technical if you insist. It's a little something I like to call commerce. Feel free to use the term in conversation if you want, I don't mind as long as I get some credit when you do.

First up is Spinettis Gaming, located in beautiful sunny ~~Mecca~~ Las Vegas, this family owned store rightfully calls itself "A Candy Store For Real Gamblers". I'll be the first to admit that I don't know a lot about 'real gambling' because I have never once won a casino, but let me tell you I know a thing or two about candy. (I'm big boned) Their products for the most part taste terrible, which candy most defiantly does not. Putting matters of flavor aside they have a ginormous selection of accessories and things that I want to own.

My first purchase from Spinettis was a set of the sweet Dunes commemorative chips that had that perfect retro vibe I wanted. I shopped around many retailers and eBay and for building out your own set Spinetti's had the most reasonable price per piece with shipping of anywhere I had looked. I also ordered a dealers toke box (think tip jar with a lock). Both items came well packaged, as described and shipped very quickly making it to my home in Atlanta in about three days.

They see me rollin', they hatin'

Luck be a lady tonight!

Today I ordered cards for the table, which is more troublesome than you might imagine, since I need cards with 'No Peek Faces'. 'No Peek Faces' are different from the more familiar 'No Peek Index' cards which are much easier to come by. For those not familiar with the term the index is the value declaration in the corner of the card. Most playing cards feature a 'Regular Index' or in some case and enlarged or 'Jumbo Index' which sits 1/4 to 1/2 inch from the corner of the card. A 'No Peek Index' moves the index further into the corner, this style is popular with poker players as you may keep your cards face down on the table and just barely lift the edge of your cards to see your whole hand.

Toke box! Obligatory 4:20 joke is absent.

My blackjack table will have a mirror style no peek device to allow the dealer to check the hole card for blackjack. The dealer only needs to know if there is an ace or a face card in the hole, so aces and faces are the only indexes that should be visible to the mirror so they have a 'No Peek' style index, cards 2-9 are in the 'Regular Index' position so the dealer can not see the exact card in the hole, instead they can only tell if they have a blackjack or not. Thus 'No Peek Faces'.

As luck would have it Spinettis had uncanceled 'No Peek Faces' decks in stock - so I ordered 8 in red and 8 in blue. The website had some difficulty calculating the shipping on my order so it displayed a message to call the store. I spoke with Josh I believe and he looked up my online order and had me taken care of in a matter of minutes.

I joke a lot about selling stuff on here through amazon and all - but this is no joke, two orders in and I am very pleased with the price, service and selection Spinettis offers. If you are going to try your own table build please consider shopping with them.

/Brian.

Somebody set up us the bomb baby!

2010-11-30T22:47:00.004-05:00

Thats right! The base is completed and you know what that means? If you said all your base jokes then not only are you correct but all your base do indeed belong to us. David, my chief collaborator in all this, has returned from a 7 day cruise of the western carribean, lucky dog. But he was excited to be back and with his help we completed construction of the base, got it's feet painted and put on, and the Luon wrapped around the front piece. Stick a fork in it! All we need to do now is install the carpet on the base, said carpet is on order and will merit it's own post when it gets here. Getting to the the table top soon!

Words are boring you see. Well main screen turn on for some pix

The bottom of the base, look at the stylin feet!

The last of my Luon wasn't quite tall enough to go all the way up under the foot rest. I'm just gonna carpet over that gap and hope that no one notices. Shhhh it'll be our secret okay?

From the top. Sturdy as an ox, an ox with a rockin footrest.

Because you wanted to see the unfinished part

So ya, this is the base again. Pretty sweet huh?

Know how many screws it took? OVER 9000 - oh never mind wrong meme

Japan is our theme for the nights Amazon sales section. Our first stop, Pocky cause it's good, you should buy some (Srsly - Almond Crush rocks). Now hows about a hug pillow, if you bought the condoms from a post or two back you probably aren't in the market for a hug pillow, but for everyone else? They should buy one or two. (You haven't lived if you haven't watched some one marry one of these things.) Back on a serious note, with a quick bow to O Sensei, brush up on your budo with a book by or about Morihei Ueshiba. I'll finish out my list with some music, and as tempting as it was to put some J-Pop in there, I decided to go with something a little more approachable - so Hi-Standard it is, their cover of California Dreaming is one of the most awesome covers ever.

I feel good. (I Knew that I would tho)

2010-11-21T05:08:00.001-05:00

Ahhhaii! Hoooo ha whoa. I feel nice, like sugar and spice. We can practically call the barrel portion of the base complete. It is batted, upholstered and lined to completion. We will need to do some cuts where we are joining to the table top and do the plunges for the bill counter and chip tray - but for the time being I am declaring the pedestal done! Talk about looking fantastic! For the upholstering I got my Mom to come over and give me hand and I think you'll agree she did a fantastic job! Then later my friend Chris was kind enough to help me finish the bottom and hang the inner lining. I'll let the pics do most of the talking!

Batting glued down and trimmed.

Battered

What swings and misses, for $100 please Alex

White plastic panel installed

In a white room, with black curtains...

50's lounge! Whomp there it is.

100% Awesome

Looks like someone could stand to clean the garage instead of working on the table eh?

100% less Hippo than the last picture. Bet you won't get that reference.

Here is another shot that has nothing much new in it. It's the 10% more free picture.

Tonight I am selling things suitable for the godfather of soul! First up have your own Celebrity Hot Tub party, then cool off and shoot your car! Tool around Augusta and play a round at the masters and then take it easy

I don't know, what do YOU do with a drunken sailor?

2010-11-16T22:23:00.002-05:00

Nope it's not a boat or a ship despite being curved like one. The half barrel is all but completed and should be ready to be upholstered over the Thanksgiving holidays. w00000t!

Nothing else much to report, David came over, we cut the luon to length and glued and screwed it down. Awesome stuff - let the pics speak for themselves, well with the help of the captions I give them.

Inside the barrel, there is a joke there but I'm too lazy to work it in.

Profile Left

Ohh Curves, (The gentleman's club!)

Right Profile

Side view

Artistic top shot.

Artisticier Top Shot with a Jaunty Angle.

Fundraising time! I said w00t in my post and I admit to being a big fan of woot.com. Well woot doesn't help me earn chairs - so here are things that woot sells. Kind of like props to them, only they don't make anything either. *sigh* Oh yeah woot is now part of Amazon! Hooray! Everyone wins when you buy from me!!!

That's what she said.

2010-11-11T21:07:00.006-05:00

Ooooh ribs! For her pleasure. I know, obvious joke is obvious eh? I am stoked though - the table is beginning to look like a table. Tonight we, as in myself and my buddy David, got the barrel assembled, so it is ready to be wrapped in luon and upholstered. The base and footrest can be seen below, although they have not been fully assembled and are only resting in place in the pictures. We threw the play surface on top for good measure and wow you really begin to get a feel for how it is going to look when it is finished!

Taking Shape - the base is not fully assembled, and the barrel is just set on top.

Side view

Another profile

From the front

Other side from the front.

The back

WTF is this?

This was supposed to show corner detail, but the pic doesn't really show the clever way we did the corners

Cardboard just stuck on the inside just to see how the real interior might be finished.

More of the cardboard

So what am I gonna sell tonight? I'm thinking that I'm not quite done with the ribbed jokes yet so here comes some more. Top 10 answers are on the board, we asked 100 people surveyed to name something that is ribbed.

Survey says!

Remember Vinyl is Expensive

2010-11-01T00:20:00.003-04:00

The padded rail is a wrap! Took it over to my Mom's house to make use of her huge table to work on. Thanks Mom! All in all pretty happy with how it came out - it came out great for a first attempt, but I'm certain I could do an even better job it the next go round. Read all the stuff on rails floating around the internet, and got some good advice from a coworker who's father does upholstery (Thanks Mr. A!)

Here are the pics of it coming togethor, started at the outside and worked my way around in small sections. I pulled the vinyl tight and my mom stapled it down - electric stapler from stanley for sale down below :) It was a life saver!

Here the foam is being glued to the top of the rail, there is sufficient overlap to wrap around to the base. Oh and Mom said to ignore the laundry room in the pic.

More of the gluing. That there us the 3M #77 Spray adhesive.

You can see how I jointed the foam

I put down newspaper so the arm rest wouldn't pee all over the table.

More foam and glue

Before warping the vinyl around

Wrapped and needing a trim

Like a car wash eh?

Why in the hell did I take three pictures of this needing a trim?

Scratch that... 4 Pictures. HA HA HA I love counting pictures.

Here it is finished.

Finished pic from the back

Look it's that electric staple gun that saved me so much time! I bet you'd like to have one too! Click the buy link and get your own, it's great for stapling things like vinyl to the padded arm rest or notes to your self so you wont forget the milk.

What good is a staple gun without staples? I got the 3/8" ones cause that was the right depth for me, and they are short enough that unless I staple something to my hand I don't have to worry about hitting bone. (Cm'on it's halloween!)

There lived a strange race of people... the Druids

2010-10-28T23:59:00.002-04:00

Good evening Intertube land! Of course you might not be reading this in the evening, so I trust you can adjust the salutation to suit your specific circumstances.

So this evening I got the supports for the footrest glued down. Tomorrow I should be able to screw them down to the plywood. As promised here are some of the pics of the base with the supports in various stages of being clamped and glued. Clamped!

Clamp On!

Clamp Off!

Teh Clamper!!!!1!

The horizontal board and clamp apply downward surface pressure to several vertical supports. You know, cuase sometimes gravity alone isn't enough. CLAMP!

Here are the back supports

The back supports are not glued down That will wait until I have the foot rest itself cut out.

Where the dew drops cry and the cats meow

Do you want nifty clamps like those I have pictured here? I bet you do, and guess what it just happens that Amazon carries them! I requested they carry them so I could sell them on my blog, and Jeff Bezos wrote me to say that was a "grand idea"! He offered to let me run the company, but I said that I had too much going on with building this table to run the biggest store on the whole internet.

You don't have your own copy of Spinal Tap on Blue Ray!?!? Let's fix that, and then you can make stone henge puns in your blog too!

Holding my spot

2010-10-27T18:17:00.006-04:00

Went playin for real over the weekend, we wen't over to Tunica stayed at the Horseshoe and split our time between there and The Roadhouse. Had a great time and brought back some of my own money, so that's all good!

Last night got the supports cut for the foot rest. Not too exciting, so no pics of those just yet. Will have some pics Thrusday night when we cut the footrest and begin to assemble the base.

This is the part where I try and sell you stuff, so I can buy my bar stools. Since I don't have a table related things to sell today I decided to sell stuff I like.

So WMS Gaming makes an excellent slot, Dean Martin's Wild Party - it plays Ain't That a Kick in the Head, Sway, and Go Go Go. If Dino doesn't make put you in the Vegas mood what will? Kick start your Essential Dean Martin collection, in the head, with this collection aptly called The Essential Dean Martin Collection - I ordered this for me too!

This trip I took an old fashioned paper book with me, been doing most of my reading on my tablet these days, but I saw this on the shelf and picked it up as I am knee deep in replaying Halo 1-3 and ODST prior to starting on Reach. Great anthology series, very entertaining.

Next update tomorrow or Friday! Hopefully get the arm rest upholsterery completed this weekend! w00t!

Lay down your burden and rest your weary arms.

2010-10-20T01:35:00.007-04:00

Construction of the Arm Rest has begun. The upper and lower arm rest arcs have been cut out. Currently they are glued and clamped. Tomorrow night I will screw them together and possibly start gluing the foam down, if I am feeling industrious I might do some of the vinyl wrapping on Thursday - but I kind of doubt it. Wont get to do anything this weekend as I will be visiting the casino's in Tunica MS to get my gamble on :) So aside from small updates nothing much will happen again until next week!

Cut out pieces

Clamping the bottom arc to the top

I bought a bag of clamps and boy am I glad!

I'm building a boat!

Wood. Cut. In the shape of a table.

Oh hey- look what I found some more stuff on Amazon to ~~pimp~~ err um recommend to you. If you are reading this you should buy something!

Hey it's Gorilla Glue! It's made from real Gorilla's too, they grind them up when they get to old too race. Seriously I do love Regular Gorilla Glue, used it to repair a chair and it did an awesome job. This is my first time using their wood glue, and well my first time working a woodshop type project but I bought their wood glue cause their normal glue rocks!

Hey it's 3M #77 Spray Adhesive! It's made from real 77's too, they grind them up when they get too old to race. Okay so it's not as funny the second time around, but this is what I am using to secure the batting and the foam to the table. Now in all honesty I haven't used it yet - but after I have you can bet I will use the unused portion as hairspray to keep my Elvis doo rocking cause Aquanet is for fools.

And so it begins

2010-10-13T20:13:00.004-04:00

Got antsy waiting on my Roatpe to come in from Amazon - so I got my buddy David to help with drawing and cutting out the first of the curved sections. Didn't expect it to be, it was a bit of a challenge considering the center points for the circles existed well of the plywood pieces, but we managed with some wire and another sawhorse. Still have a couple more sheets to do prior to beginning construction - so I'm looking forward to putting the beam compass to good work.

Also - gotta say even with a t-square and rulers and the like, drawing the shapes is harder than I expected, trying hard not to skew the sides and trying to get everything to line up and such. Being a computer guy and a software developer by trade I'm used to things being very precise and accurate, and I wasn't expecting the real world to put up much a fight when it came down to drawing it all out. Thankfully I had help and extra hand to help,

Not much to see picture wise this first go round. This following is the board that will make the base and the top of the armrest.

Base Piece

Using the base to trace the next piece

Wire to measure the arcs with. Twine had too much stretch to it.

More tracing

Even more tracing

Ooooh look - Here's a link to a Rotape! You should buy one! Proceeds go to me buying chairs for my table!

The best laid plans

2010-10-05T23:59:00.002-04:00

First off let me open by saying Google Sketchup is mind blowingly awesome tool. Seriously. I can't imagine having begun to plan anything like this table without a tool like this.

The following pics are preliminary plans and a sample render. Once the project is complete I will post the final sketchup plans to share.

Front View

Rear View

Cut Diagrams

Vertical Section

Horizontal Rib Detail

Horizontal Base Rib Detail

Splitting Aces

2010-10-04T12:26:00.001-04:00

With so many differing table designs and so many different approaches to building I have spent more than a little bit of time thinking about what exactly I want from my table. Most of my house has a craftsman or mission vibe to it, but my rec room where the table will live is a bit more eclectic. Picture tan and leather colored walls, contemporary sectional seating, a framed scene from the original War of the Worlds, a restored vintage velvet Elvis (rescued from the side of the road), a print of The Beatles at Abbey road, and photos of Frank, Sammy and Dean at the Sands. Add to that a collection of video game toys and you have my shrine to cool from the 40's to today. I guess you could call it eclectic meets man cave with a dash or two of never grow up thrown in for good measure.

So first and foremost on top of just having a blackjack table, which is cool by itself, I want my table to reflect a visual sense of cool too. I'm thinking Art Deco overtones like black lacquer trim with some geometric wood panels overlaying moleskin upholstery.

Attribute wise many of the table plans out there utilize folding legs, or leg solutions that make portability a snap. Since my table is going to stay where it is at, at least for the foreseeable future so I think I want a more furniture like base. I also want to shoot for the highest degree of accuracy I can with all of the appropriate accessories like a toke box, a no peek device, locking chip tray, etc.

I'm still waffelling a bit on the height and I have yet to settle on table, counter, or bar height - but right now bar height seems like the winner.

On the shoulders of giants

2010-10-01T00:51:00.001-04:00

For those of you who don't know me - my name is Brian and I love blackjack. So one day I am minding my own business surfing around the old interwebs and I happened across Landchark's build your own Blackjack Table posts on his blog. WOW! A Blackjack table of my very own? WANT! So I start to get excited at the possibilities, I could actually build one of these things. Next thing you know I'm online and ordering everything I need to make a super authentic table, I'm sketching out plans to build by, I'm buying tools from Home Depot, and to document the process I am starting this blog.

Now I've never built a thing out of wood before, which is odd that somehow I never once had to make a birdhouse as part of my childhood. I'm hoping that even with no experience that I can rely on my friends and that with their help I can produce something slightly better than Charlie Brown's Christmas tree. So I've scoured the old tubes here to turn up some of the better resources for building my own blackjack table.

Inspiration!
Now to get the ball rolling, I'd like to recognize and thank the folks who have inspired me to try this.

First and foremost are Landchark and his awesome Blackjack Table - it was his post and his too cool for words basement, the K2 Lounge that started this craze for me. Make sure and check out his Craps table and the rest of his sweet basement.

Next up is Assistant Professor of Economics P.J. Healy who posted a guild and links to his own Blackjack Table. P.J. provides tons of great information, especially on making padded rails, plus he links to many other peoples projects as well. P.J.'s resources made me believe I could do it too.

Some other tables and plans I've benefited from are Game Of 21's build, and the aptly named buildyourownblackjacktables.com, as well as BlackJack Table Supplies plans.

In my next post I will preview my design and explain what I hope to achieve with my build. I'll also discuss what I have bought so far and take the opportunity to recognize some of the fantastic people and vendors I have been purchasing from. I can't tell you how excited I am at beginning to do the build itself next week.

Hit me!
\Brian