Any Advice on a DIY Lego Table?

monstblitz

Hi Everyone,
I thought there might already be a topic on this but I didn't see anything.  If there is, I apologize.  I bought a small Lego play table for the kids about a year ago but we are quickly outgrowing it. 

http://scene7.samsclub.com/is/image/samsclub/0067341906001_A?$img_size_380x380$

I'd love to do a DIY project and build a bigger one for all of us.  I'm not super handy, but if the instructions are simple enough I think I could pull it off.  Have any of you embarked on a project like this and have any advice for me?  I'd love something like this:

http://craftwhack.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/diylegotable2.jpg

but I can't seem to find any plans for it.  I'd like to make something big that we could grow into, but low enough to the ground where kids can get to it. 

bobabricks

Be careful if making a table that has baseplates attached to it. Lego's baseplates need to be a little bit separate because of how the studs line up. It's a small gap but it will make it so that you won't be able to build on them. I suggest attaching the baseplates together with bricks before attaching gluing them to the table, if that is what you are planning of course.

Jenni

That table looks like IKEA Trofast cabinets with a custom top. It will only work as a family table if the adults like kneeling. I would suggest a table with removable legs so it can grow with you and with at least one open side so that the adults can sit instead of kneeling. 

We just use club tables and, more often, the floor but my daughter's 11 now.

monstblitz

bobabricks said:

Be careful if making a table that has baseplates attached to it. Lego's baseplates need to be a little bit separate because of how the studs line up. It's a small gap but it will make it so that you won't be able to build on them. I suggest attaching the baseplates together with bricks before attaching gluing them to the table, if that is what you are planning of course.

That's a good question, I think I'd probably eventually cover it in baseplates, but maybe not right away.  

tecjam

Jenni said:

That table looks like IKEA Trofast cabinets with a custom top.

Yes it does. The way the following video puts it together is pretty staight forward though - and he also thinks of the spacing between baseplates.

If you shape & size the tabletop accordingly and put on top of something higher, maybe 2 2x4 Ikea Kallax (formerly Expedit) on its side or 4 2x2 Kallax you could make a pretty decent size table at the right height.







https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nNE2bloUiPc

MattsWhat

^if it doesn't have baseplates on the top surely it is just a regular table (or storage table) and not a lego table.  And there is plenty of regular tables available such that you wouldn't need to make one. I'm confused. 

JudgeChuck

It may be of no interest, but we got the following for my daughters a couple of years ago and, although they have outgrown the trainset that it comes with, they now use the table for their LEGO.
There's plenty of room underneath for storage containers, a double-sided play surface (one city and the other city / landscape) and an integrated drawer as well:

http://www.elc.co.uk/Big-City-Wooden-Rail-Train-Table/136727,default,pd.html

datsunrobbie

I'd check out any Goodwill stores in your area to see what they have for "train tables". Here in CT I see them at the local Goodwill stores nearly every week, usually priced around $10 for the ones that retail for over $100 - cheaper than buying materials to build one. The reversible tabletop for the one I got is simply white one one side and green on the other, others have roads, train tracks, etc. printed on them. I considered attaching some baseplates, but decided against it for flexibility, and because one big plate costs more than I paid for the whole table.

Some of these tables have built-in drawers, but I prefer a few modular storage drawers (I like the ones from Sterilite) tucked up underneath provide storage. Not nearly as fancy, or as big, as the DIY you referenced, but a lot easier to pack it up and move from the living room when required.

monstblitz

tecjam said:

Jenni said:

That table looks like IKEA Trofast cabinets with a custom top.

Yes it does. The way the following video puts it together is pretty staight forward though - and he also thinks of the spacing between baseplates.

If you shape & size the tabletop accordingly and put on top of something higher, maybe 2 2x4 Ikea Kallax (formerly Expedit) on its side or 4 2x2 Kallax you could make a pretty decent size table at the right height.







https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nNE2bloUiPc

This looks like exactly what I want.  But it grossly underestimates the cost of Lego Brand base plates.  Maybe he used generic?  And I know I'd screw up bad cutting and gluing them and end up being out 100s of dollars worth of base plates.

CCC

I wouldn't glue them down. I made my kids a small table like that and regretted it (the glue, not making it). Strong but removable double sided tape would have been much better. Mind you, I wouldn't cut them either. I'd go for a single colour baseplate and use plates on top for decoration. Otherwise you tire of the same pattern on the table.

CCC

They also seem to have a storage area in the middle. But surely the only way of getting in there is to crawl through the shelving. Or can the top be removed?

chuxtoybox

If the surface of the table was measured to fit X amount of base plates and had rails  around the whole edge, their shouldn't be any need to cut or glue them down at all and you'd be able to easily reconfigure them if you wanted to.

monstblitz

I finally followed through on the DIY Lego Table project using 4 Ikea Trofast cabinets and a couple of cheap table tops placed together.



The wife isn't thrilled about how much real estate it's taking up in the playroom but the kids love it.  They are most thrilled about having a "fort" at the center of the table.  If you look closely in the last pic you can see my son in there. 

Eventually I'll probably put a single table top on it, but this works for now. 

MattsWhat

it's nice when people actually revisit there thread with what they did, I think this looks nice!  Too large for my current house but part of the dream!
As you have no edges you might want to attach baseplates and I have been putting up pictures today with those velcro hanging things and thought, hey that might work!  They aren't cheap, but you could just use generic velcro stickers.  Getting some of them and putting down a pattern would mean you could swap in and out baseplates as you pleased - apparently the fancy ones are easy to remove at the end too.  Might have to work on supporting the small gap between tabletop and baseplate they create though...

monstblitz

Yes, it's definitely a work in progress.  The 2 table tops on there now slide around too much so I'll need to get one solid square surface and maybe put an edge around it.  My daughter just sent her Friends Jeep across it on a death ride off the other side!  But the Trofast cabinets make the perfect foundation.  They were very easy to assemble except for the 4th which had one piece that didn't have the holes drilled properly.  I was furious as at that point it's either half ass drill the holes myself or go through a ton of grief to repackage and return it.  I went with the half ass drilling option.  It held up fine. 

Yesterday was a good first step, and the rest is just fine tuning.  The payoff is seeing how much fun the kids are having with it.  And I'll have plenty of fun with it too. 

Edit: I'd love to see pictures of your velcro project if you do it or any other pictures of DIY projects to give me some more ideas on this. 

ryjay

@monstblitz ...Does Ikea sell the totes, too or did you have to search for the proper width?

Nice job on the table

SumoLego

That is a gigantic surface!  Unfortunately, my alligator arms wouldn't do so well.

Looks like you are in the need of some road plates.  (And a Grand Emporium?)

Excellent work!

madforLEGO

monstblitz said:

......This looks like exactly what I want.  But it grossly underestimates the cost of Lego Brand base plates.  Maybe he used generic?  And I know I'd screw up bad cutting and gluing them and end up being out 100s of dollars worth of base plates.

I would say this. There are always old base plates that folks sell that are 'damaged, maybe a broken stud here or there, or writing on it, or maybe stress or tire (ie plastic melt) marks, etc. ie not 'perfect'. My friends asked if I had any such basic base plates because they wanted to cut them up to use on shelves for their daughters CMF display. Since I had a bunch of such plates at the time I handed them over. I knew that it is a bit of  'sacrilege' for such things, but my point is look for 'damaged' plates from those who sell on eBay or other places, they should be a bit cheaper and then you do not have to worry about damaging pristine plates (I'm guessing that is why people even buy damaged plates). Also to reduce cutting any plates Id say try to make or find a table in the dimensions of x LEGO base plates so you do not have any cutting or overlapping. Also to ensure no platers falling off the end of the tables, maybe for kind of trim or use of plastic hooks are something can be used on the edges to stop sliding of the plates instead of trying to stick the plates themselves down?

monstblitz

ryjay said:

@monstblitz ...Does Ikea sell the totes, too or did you have to search for the proper width?

Nice job on the table

Ikea sells them.  Biggest are $4, medium are $3 and the little ones were $1.50 I think.  Total cost for the 4 cabinets ($39.99 each) 2 table tops ($29.99 each) and the 12 containers was about $270.  I don't recommend the table tops though, it's just a temporary measure.  Eventually I'll get a solid 1 piece surface to put over the cabinets.  I also could have got by with much less of the containers but didn't want to have to go back to Ikea anytime soon.

@SumoLego , No need for a grand Emporium, a nice guy in Western New York hooked me up!  Lol.  But yes on the road plates.  I've got my eyes open.  It's a tough reach for me too, just requires a little moving around.  But my play area is strictly what I can reach from that couch!

CCC

Concerning the top, if you have one large or two half tables, then you can stop them sliding by making them slightly smaller than required, with a wooden border round the edge which is fixed. The top or tops can then be dropped in. The advantage is that you can have a double sided top. I made my kids one like this (but much smaller!) green one side, grey / road pattern the other.

madforLEGO

Actually I was tempted to go ape and use a 2xX brick grid as my 'foundation' for my MOC city (and tile on top of the grid to set the regular baseplates on) to build up my 'ground level' and raise everything up 4-5 studs in order to be able to make buildings with a basement level or a ramp down to 'ground level' for delivery docks and the like.
 I figure it would finally give me something to use the massive amount of 2xX brick I have.

monkeyhanger

Costco (UK branches) have some very handy square kids fold-down tables right now and do them in larger sizes for adult sized applications too. Would expect US Costco branches to have them. The table is about 2 inches thick stain resistant plastic and the locking legs fold into the table's underside. They were about £12 each.

Bought one for my nephew to build Lego,do arty stuff on them etc. I'll get a picture sorted tomorrow. If you wanted to step up the size you could put 4 together.

monstblitz

Lego Table Update: The dual table tops are actually working out really well.  The setup of the 4 Trofast cabinets leaves a small kid sized space in between them which is fun for kids.  Not so much fun for adults when they decide to dump out a whole container of Lego in there.  The dual tables made it easier to get in there and clean it out.  I was debating getting a one piece table top and fastening it to the cabinets with bolts, but not after this.  Instead, I'm keeping the 2 tables and leaving them unattached.  To solve the slipping and sliding problem I bought these and they work like a charm:

http://i01.i.aliimg.com/img/pb/777/882/371/371882777_043.jpg

zacharyswift934

First, get a sturdy table. The best type is one that has legs on all four corners so it does not wobble when you knock or move something. Next, cover the table completely with Lego plates or Lego bricks (you need at least one plate's worth- which is about 1/2 inch of LEGO plates per square foot). You then have to seal down the edges with some kind of gooey substance and then you need to paint them so your son can't scrape his chair against them. And if you want any other fabrics involved from the desk chairs for napkins or rug underneath, make sure they are waterproof too because otherwise they will dissolve in droplets of water like magic fairy dust if anything spills on it.

If your kids are still going strong on the playtime, they'll get to keep using it in new creative ways as their skills develop. You can also get some other good source here

Yellowcastle

We had great success in converting a wooden train table.  In fact, we’re looking to double up now via one of the following choices:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B08H78Z81R/ref=ox_sc_saved_image_1?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&psc=1

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B07HJW2PYY/ref=ox_sc_saved_image_2?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&psc=1

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B000IMQ40U/ref=ox_sc_saved_image_3?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&psc=1

ingsama

That's a nice one.
I used to make you a little table.
He didn't use it when he got older.
Now I'm just making a simple car or robot at my desk and taking it apart repeatedly. A 6-year-old boy.

panchox1

what are most people using for tables while making a city? I'm getting closer to making this a reality so thought I would ask.

CCC

zacharyswift934 said:

If your kids are still going strong on the playtime, they'll get to keep using it in new creative ways as their skills develop. You can also get some other good source here

That "article" is just a load of amazon affiliate links and obviously written by someone that doesn't know much about LEGO. 

"If you have a little one who is moving on from classic LEGO bricks, they might not be too keen when their favorite toy doesn’t fit into the table that used to work just fine. When it comes time for your kids to move onto DUPLO blocks and beyond, make sure any new table will support them as well!"

How many kids move from using classic LEGO bricks to using DUPLO!

Yellowcastle

panchox1 said:

what are most people using for tables while making a city? I'm getting closer to making this a reality so thought I would ask.

Lifetime tables.

panchox1

Yellowcastle said:

Lifetime tables.

What's a Lifetime table?

Chris87

We have used an Ikea TROFAST as a combined LEGO table and storage. I took to using some glue to stick down grey baseplates on the table so the kids can build on it and we have the tray inserts full so everything is in one place.

https://www.ikea.com/gb/en/p/trofast-storage-combination-with-boxes-white-white-s69228473/

Yellowcastle

panchox1 said:

Yellowcastle said:

Lifetime tables.

What's a Lifetime table?

I’m not sure how available these are beyond Tatooine but we bought ours at the Alderaan Costco, before it went away.

https://www.lifetime.com/folding-tables

gmonkey76

Yellowcastle said:

panchox1 said:

Yellowcastle said:

Lifetime tables.

What's a Lifetime table?

I’m not sure how available these are beyond Tatooine but we bought ours at the Alderaan Costco, before it went away.

https://www.lifetime.com/folding-tables

they have a similar table at Target made by the Plastic Development Group

Astrobricks

gmonkey76 said:

Yellowcastle said:

panchox1 said:

Yellowcastle said:

Lifetime tables.

What's a Lifetime table?

I’m not sure how available these are beyond Tatooine but we bought ours at the Alderaan Costco, before it went away.

https://www.lifetime.com/folding-tables

they have a similar table at Target made by the Plastic Development Group

These days that is a fairly ubiquitous item made by several companies. Just search “folding tables”. Of course the old particle board and metal version is also still available, but I’ve noticed some of those tend to warp over time.

Russell844

This came up in my newsfeed just recently.
https://ikeahackers.net/2021/08/diy-lego-table.html