Flower Love
Many people enjoy playing tennis but are discouraged from enjoying the sport because table tennis is expensive to buy.
Fortunately, building a ping pong table from scratch is not only more cost effective than buying a new one, but it also provides the player with satisfaction.
Given that most of the materials you would need are available from a local store, there would be no reason not to build a folding ping pong table.
Why should you build a custom ping pong table?
- You can add the features you want. How to improve your table tennis playing experience
- You will experience the satisfaction of a job well done, be interested in details and take the time to do a good job
- You save money in buying the materials and making the table compared to buying a finished one. When buying a new, How much does this cost? Usually costs a few dollars more.
- You get boastful rights among your friends
The whole process of creating the table is interesting. As with any other DIY project, your safety should come first. Here are the steps you need to take for a successful project.
1. Get everything you need
Here are the materials needed to make a foldable table tennis table. You should note that requirements may change depending on the size and type of table you want.
- Two 2 × 2 pieces of wood 9 feet in size
- plywood
- Four 2 × 2 pieces of wood five feet in size
- circular saw
- Four pieces of door hinges
- Screws
- Masking tape
- Screwdriver (or drill)
- Wood glue
- Two solidly pressed pieces of wood 4 1/2 by 5 feet thick and one-half inch thick.
- Clamps
- Six inch net (with a mounting kit)
- Paint roller
- colour
- Detail brush
2. Put down the base
Divide two pieces of wood 9 feet tall in half and lay the two pieces from one end to the other. You should form the sides of the rectangle, which should both be 4.5 feet long. Cut the five foot long pieces of wood in the same way to form a complete rectangle. The rectangle serves as the basis for your table tennis table.
3. Make the legs and attach them
Each leg of the ping pong table should be 29 and a half inches tall. Therefore, you can cut the two by two pieces of wood into four pieces, each measuring 291/2 inches.
If you have a great knowledge of woodwork, you can carve some intricate designs on the wood to enhance the beauty of the piece. If you are not good at woodworking, you can add simple pieces to the base you have created.
Attach the four legs to each corner of the base with screws or nails. The choice is largely a matter of preference. Although many people prefer to use nails, screws tend to hold onto for a long time.
4. Add the hinges
The essence of this ping pong table is to have a foldable one that you can put away when not in use. So the next step is to add the hinges as these are responsible for allowing you to collapse the table.
Make sure the hinges on the bottom are evenly spaced. Use them to join the pressed pieces of wood that are 41/2 feet long. Carefully screw the hinges to the bottom of the pieces, then attach them to the rectangular base you made earlier.
5. Add plywood
The plywood is added to the wood surface to improve buoyancy and to coat the nails that may appear when attaching the hinges and legs. Remember that the essence of the table tennis game is bouncing the ball, which means that the plywood plays a crucial role.
The international table tennis regulations require a bounce of 8 3/4 inches. To do this, take enough glue and add it to the two pieces of wood. Next, lay the plywood sheets on the surface and attach the clamps to hold the pieces together to allow the glue time to dry.
6. Finishing touches – paint the table and add a mesh
The normal table tennis tables are painted green. However, since this is custom, you can use whatever color you want. A paint roller is better than a paintbrush because it gives a solid color and ensures a smooth surface.
Use white paint for the lines. However, you can also use a different color. Clean the lines with tape. Let the paint dry a little. After that, you can add a 6 inch mesh to complete the look.
Finally, you can buy a ball and some paddles and then play ping pong with your custom made ping pong table. Hope you enjoyed following this guide.