1y ago

Coffee table that folds out to a game table.

imgur.com Coffee table that folds out to game table.

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Other than some shelves that I made for my office. This is the first piece of furniture I've ever made. Lots and lots of mistakes and do-overs. Still, I think it turned out pretty good.

Coffee table. 2 36"x36" sheets of birch ply, with 1/8" Poplar hobby boards glued/nailed to it in the design. The ply was stained with homemade Iron Acetate stain. Then epoxy was poured onto the recessed parts and in all the cracks. Then the whole thing was sanded again and covered in many coats of Lacquer... lost count.

The table uses a mechanism ordered from AliExpress that folds out to a table. It pops up, and to the left, then the top of the coffee table is rotated over the other "legs" of the mechanism, and it becomes this table. Just high enough to comfortably game from the sofa. (The plywood surface was stained with Minwax Golden Oak and coated in about ten coats of lacquer.)

32 comments

My goodness. No video?
- Seriously I can't figure out how the table gets that "wide" when its popped up. I figure its just the underside of the "down" coffee table but my brain still no compute.
  
  If I'm understanding the design correctly, the coffee table is two boards folded on each other with a support mechanism hidden inside. When you lift up the table, the mechanism unfolds but the top of the table part goes entirely to one side. You then unfold the top onto the second side of the mechanism. It's not an automatic unfold.
- I'll see what I can do.
- http://tamarau.com/images/table_movement.mp4
  
  That's wicked cool. Id suggest putting some thin pads on platform where the top rests so you dont ding up the beautiful top
- I'll see what I can do.

That’s really beautiful. I’ve been promising to build my wife something like this for over a decade 😅. Hadn’t thought to look on Ali for the mechanical bit!
- https://m.aliexpress.us/item/2251832592788301.html?gatewayAdapt=gloPc2usaMsite4itemAdapt
  
  Stop enabling me! (Thank you)

Looks great

Great job!! You do wonderful work.

This is sick.
I might look into doing something like this for my apartment. It would actually be small enough ti fit lol

I've been eyeballing those folding table brackets on Ali. How does it seem so far for durability, stability, and pinch points/finger choppage?
- Durability seems fine. It's very stable when up and down. The transition is a bit dodgy, but I have a lot of weight on it. The table top has about a 4" overhang from the base so you're fingers aren't really anywhere near the contraption. I'll try to get a video tomorrow.
  
  Cool I'll be sure to check it out. I've been wanting to make something with one of those brackets but I can't even trust the adults in my family not to do dumb shit like get stuck in the recliner and somehow simultaneously collapsing the mechanism into itself, seizing it up and snapping off the lever.

Very cool. Big fan of multifunctional furniture. Well done

I totally dig this! Solid idea and it looks amazing. One modification I made to my lift-top coffee table was boxing in a dedicated spot for storage to prevent anything from straying into the mechanism.

😱

I tried to do something similar, but with touchscreen TV that tilts up (on gas pistons) for arcade mode. My table-top just drops over top to hide it though, so I'm looking your style more (plus the top looks much nicer when folded).
Do you happen to have a video showing how it folds and/or a link to the mechanism? I might end up scrapping mine if yours works better (mines kinda jerry-rigged)
- https://m.aliexpress.us/item/2251832592788301.html?gatewayAdapt=gloPc2usaMsite4itemAdapt
  
  Thanks for that! Looks like it's OOS - or maybe just not available to my area - but there are similar models from other vendors. Not sure it'll work for my TV table but one of the variations might do it
- http://tamarau.com/images/table_movement.mp4

Really impressive, great job!

Great job, looks beautiful!

This is a game changer!

so cool!

32 comments