Man Cave - Extended

Plans were made over a year ago (if anyone remembers that) but after 5 days of hard work getting the girls new room ready (my new room wasn't actually the main goal of this excercise, more room for the girls was), I can finally say, it is done. Ish.

All the storage space is there, 2 fully functional desks, and the gaming/storage unit is up and running.

With the 4x4 gaming table in place it looks like this (just bare boards for now):

Plan is to add thin and slghlty raised wood trim on the sides and use latches to keep them together. Nothing out of the ordinary there.

Then Chris says to me, why don't you fit in a 6x4 table. I say that that won't fit, then look at the above picture again and start to wonder (snowball effect starts here). I had done the match 1 year ago and even with the most space possible it just could not fit. What I had failed to take into account however, is the fact that my working desks are at 75 cm's height, and the gaming table is at 97 cm's. I had somehow missed to see that the 2 can overlap. This instantly adds a potential half a metre to the space for a possible 4x6 table, leaving a full 60-80 cm's on the doorside, plenty of room top open it and get in. The space on the sides is sufficient, my 2 chairs slide underneath the table so they don't waste space either. But just slapping a third board down won't do, it needs support. But I have to keep the costs down. And it has to fit in the available space that I have.

I like a challenge!

Currently, the base cube is at 65 kilos. A 2x4 18mm MDF panel weighs about 7 kilos, so add 20 kilos to that, makes 85. The weight limit for the 4 wheels combined is rated at 100 kilos (but I know they can take more then that), so ideally I have to design a subframe that weight less then 15 kilos, is no thicker then 4 cm's, and storable. Also, I have to keep the costs down to a minumum to stay under the 300 euro budget for the entire project. I'm currently at 225 for the table and the first 2 boards, including trim, fixings and paint. I can store the rack 2 ways, on top of the cabinets, or sideways. But both options mean they can't be very deep, 50cm max. For ease of storage and extra back up support I decided it should be in 2 lenth pieces. Ladder shaped. And as thick a wood as I can afford, still fit under 4cm and have enough strength. 38mm x 89mm pine, 330 cm's is currently on sale, 3 pcs for 19 euros. 2 beams will provide me 4x 150 cm pieces, the 4rd beam and the remaining left overs will net me 16 "steps" for the ladder, each 22cm wide, for 2 strong 40x150 ladders. The length overhang for the 4x6 board will be 15cm on each end, the width overhang 20 cm, which will be more then adequate.

So, 20 for the frame, 6 euro for the extra trim, 9 euros for another 18mm 122x61 MDF sheet plus 15 for screws and latches. Cutting to size is done for free. So say 50 euros for a full frame plus another board, on top of the 225 I already spent still keeps things in budget.

I've redone the match twice now, and I will do it again tomorrowmorning to see if I have not missed anything.