LumberJocks

Shuffleboard table for fun

Project by GaryK posted 959 days ago 46531 views 21 times favorited 38 comments Add to Favorites Watch

Here is a 16 foot shuffleboard table, which was one of the first projects I made in my new shop.

I thought that I needed a break from making furniture so this was just the thing. If you would like to see it under construction check out the following link: http://www.arealnice.com/shuffleboard

Usually the play surface is made from 3” thick solid hard maple. Way too heavy and expensive for me so I decided on a different approach. I made the entire thing from 4-5 sheets of 4’x8’ sheets of plywood, 2 boxes of bamboo flooring and some mahogany for the trim.

For those interested I have also inculded in the link above a AutoCAD drawing that I created to work out the details, and the part layout on the plywood. This drawing is not really complete but it should give you 99% of the details for building one yourself. That along with the pictures, you should be able do it with no problems.

The bamboo flooring (Lowes) was modified out ot the box since there is a small radius where the boards meet up. I ran all of them through the table saw taking just enough material off to get rid if it. I used bamboo becuare it is a hard and light colored surface. Plus there was about 1/8” of bamboo to allow for sanding.

I mounted the bamboo flooring to a plywood frame that allowed me to level it every 15 or so inches, since the bamboo is nowhere as rigid as solid maple. Check the link for details.

Everything else is made from plywood except for the mahogany trim around the edge.

The pattern allows two kinds of scoring. The lines for the standard game, and the circles for the scoring used in curling (played on ice). The curling scoring is great. I used felt tipped pens for marking them. The finish is an oil poly for durability.

The carpet came from Lowes which worked perfectly for lining the case. It’s just a standard floor runner. No glue to hold it in, just jamming it in worked fine.

There are probably more things that I forgot to mention so if you have any questions just ask.

-- Gary - Never pass up the opportunity to make a mistake look like you planned it that way & "We are what we repeatedly do, excellence then is not an act, but a habit" -Aristotle


38 comments so far

View Bill's profile

Bill

2553 posts in 1132 days


posted 958 days ago

Great job Gary. I think this is the first shuffleboard table I have ever seen. Most unique.

-- Bill, Turlock California, http://www.brookswoodworks.com

View john's profile

john

1364 posts in 1353 days


posted 958 days ago

Beautiful job Gary

I used to watch my father build a few shuffleboard tables for the local bars years ago.
I really enjoy playing it too.

-- John in Belgrave ,(Slideshow http://cid-69bce320c6d8b119.spaces.live.com/ (Website) http://www.extremebirdhouse.com

View MsDebbieP's profile

MsDebbieP

15086 posts in 1132 days


posted 958 days ago

wow… Bravo.

-- ~ Debbie, Canada (http://www.execulink.com/~yohan)

View Napaman's profile

Napaman

3619 posts in 1048 days


posted 958 days ago

looks fun…makes me want to come over for a cold one and a match…but it would be a long drive…

-- Matt, Napa, CA...fun is beautiful...just trying to have some fun...

View RJones's profile

RJones

246 posts in 1126 days


posted 958 days ago

dude you are the man!! I was just talking to a freind about builind on e of these the other day in addition this would make a great project to put on my free plan site if you wouldn’t mind??
RJ

-- http://rjoneswoodworks.com/

View woodspar's profile

woodspar

704 posts in 1071 days


posted 958 days ago

Great job. Gary, I am sending you a PM. Please let me know if you do not get it.

-- John

View Bob Babcock's profile

Bob Babcock

1804 posts in 1057 days


posted 958 days ago

Did you make the pool table and turn the cues as well? Amazing work Gary…Amazing mahogany highboy, a unique beautiful chessboard, and now this…cool.

I just went through all the pictures and opened the Autocad drawing. Everything you need to build your own…very, very cool. And you did this to take a break?....Wow!

-- Bob, Carver Massachusetts, Sawdust Maker http://www.capecodbaychallenge.org

View TomFran's profile

TomFran

2593 posts in 965 days


posted 958 days ago

Norm Abrams look out – Gary could be giving you some stiff competition!

Gary – thanks for posting your creations and for being so nice as to even provide drawings for others to use.

You really are providing a lot of things to promote “humility” in many of your fellow woodworkers (me for sure!).

-- Tom, Surfside Beach, SC - Romans 8:28

View Don's profile

Don

2579 posts in 1148 days


posted 958 days ago

”You really are providing a lot of things to promote “humility” in many of your fellow woodworkers (me for sure!).”

May I echo these words, Tom?

-- CanuckDon "I just love small wooden boxes!" http://www.hilsbiblechurch.org/

View Karson's profile

Karson

28894 posts in 1372 days


posted 958 days ago

Great project Can you hinge the ends to fit in a 12’ room and then lay it out flat through the doorway when you want to play.

Great job and interesting choice of materials. Did you leave the original surface on the Bamboo or did you sand it off. Because you mentioned that you had 1/8” of bamboo on the planks from big blue.

-- I've been blessed with a father who liked to tinker in wood, and a wife who lets me tinker in wood. Southern Delaware karson_morrison@bigfoot.com †

View mot's profile

mot

4900 posts in 1008 days


posted 958 days ago

That’s a great project, Gary! I used to love shuffle board. I can’t remember playing it since I was a little kid, but I think the neighbor had a table. That brought back some nice memories. Thanks!

-- You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation. (Plato)

View GaryK's profile

GaryK

9820 posts in 959 days


posted 958 days ago

Thanks for all the comments!

Karson – If you build it, you can do whatever you like. Make it 12’, 10’ or whatever you need to do. Yes, I did sand off the factory finish there is no way to glue up the flooring to be perfectly level and flat. The outside frame is two pieces joined in the middle with splines. I didn’t do that to the playing surface though. If I ever need to I will cut that in half also and use a router to cut slots for splines. As is stands it weighs only about 100 pounds. It’s not that big a project. It took about 1 week to finish.

-- Gary - Never pass up the opportunity to make a mistake look like you planned it that way & "We are what we repeatedly do, excellence then is not an act, but a habit" -Aristotle

View Karson's profile

Karson

28894 posts in 1372 days


posted 958 days ago

Thanks for the additional info.

-- I've been blessed with a father who liked to tinker in wood, and a wife who lets me tinker in wood. Southern Delaware karson_morrison@bigfoot.com †

View scottb's profile

scottb

3409 posts in 1298 days


posted 958 days ago

Woodworking (fun) meets fun for the whole family. Nice. I’d get a little intimidated by how perfect the playing surface has to be, and caught up in all those little details. Someday perhaps,...

Great job!

-- I am always doing what I cannot do yet, in order to learn how to do it. - Pablo Picasso -- http://blanchardcreative.etsy.com -- http://snbcreative.wordpress.com/

View jockmike2's profile

jockmike2

7903 posts in 1218 days


posted 958 days ago

That sure does’nt look like a workshop to me. So where did you build it.? dNice gaming table. jockmike

-- Mike from Michigan - mwurm13@yahoo.com

View oscorner's profile

oscorner

4566 posts in 1282 days


posted 958 days ago

Very nice!

I’d hate to think how heavy it is with the 4-5 sheets of 4’x8’ sheets of plywood, 2 boxes of bamboo flooring and some mahogany for the trim.

-- Jesus is Lord!

View BlueStingrayBoots's profile

BlueStingrayBoots

488 posts in 973 days


posted 957 days ago

I’ll tade you for some Ebony? Yea, the whole shuffleboard! I like that game.

View BlueStingrayBoots's profile

BlueStingrayBoots

488 posts in 973 days


posted 956 days ago

Gary, after seeing the construction pictures, I think I want to build one out og mesquite. I would certainly have a problem with it being flat/level though. Could you shed a little light on how to try and make it flat to perfection. I think I would run it through a planer, just need to find one big enough. I’m defenatly gonna check into making one. Thanks for sharing Gary.

View GaryK's profile

GaryK

9820 posts in 959 days


posted 956 days ago

It’s not that hard of a project. To flatten the top I just ran it through my drum sander. If you can find someplace with a wide belt sander you have it made. I don’t think I would risk chipout on a planer. Not after all that work. Transporting it in one piece might be a problem. I would make it in two pieces with a spline across the entire end and put then it together dry for running through the sander. That way you would have a seamless joint.

Good luck, and I expect to see it finished here.

-- Gary - Never pass up the opportunity to make a mistake look like you planned it that way & "We are what we repeatedly do, excellence then is not an act, but a habit" -Aristotle

View BlueStingrayBoots's profile

BlueStingrayBoots

488 posts in 973 days


posted 954 days ago

Drum sander?, I’m going to try and get one in July at a auction. I will look for plans for a smaller size table. The full scale is the real deal but I have limited space. I have a 15” planer. I dont get chip-out when blades are sharp,$21 to sharpen here, But thats a worthy investment for this project. If I win the sander, I will most definatly post a finished mesquite product. Gary, you just made this project so easy for me. Thanks

View GaryK's profile

GaryK

9820 posts in 959 days


posted 954 days ago

Actually this is a smaller table than the regulation one. That’s 22 feet. At 16 feet mine is a medium large one.

You could scale down the plans I posted. Just cut out the middle section and make it narrower to fit your planer if you go that route.

Plans will cost you about $30 on Ebay or about $50 for a book with plans.

Good luck and don’t forget to post it when it’s done.

-- Gary - Never pass up the opportunity to make a mistake look like you planned it that way & "We are what we repeatedly do, excellence then is not an act, but a habit" -Aristotle

View Ryan Corrigan's profile

Ryan Corrigan

59 posts in 1055 days


posted 728 days ago

Gary,
Nice job! They are fun to build. Check out mine. http://lumberjocks.com/projects/858

-- Ryan Corrigan Sadieville, KY http://www.CelticCrossWood.com

View mikesols's profile

mikesols

1 post in 494 days


posted 494 days ago

is the auto cad link the one that says shuffleboard.dwg ? when i click that all i get are a page full of weird symbols?

-- mike, massachusetts

View GaryK's profile

GaryK

9820 posts in 959 days


posted 494 days ago

It’s an AutoCAD file. You need something to read it.

Here is the offical AutoCAD version for free.

http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/index?id=6703438%26siteID=123112

I just tried it and something is wrong. I had to right click and do a save target as. Then before I click save I had to change the file extension to DWG from HTM.

I just switched servers so I’ll have to look into it.

-- Gary - Never pass up the opportunity to make a mistake look like you planned it that way & "We are what we repeatedly do, excellence then is not an act, but a habit" -Aristotle

View GaryK's profile

GaryK

9820 posts in 959 days


posted 424 days ago

Just to let everyone know, I have fixes the drawing file problem.

It’s now in a zipped file in the link above.

-- Gary - Never pass up the opportunity to make a mistake look like you planned it that way & "We are what we repeatedly do, excellence then is not an act, but a habit" -Aristotle

View Maseman's profile

Maseman

1 post in 393 days


posted 393 days ago

Now that football season is wrapping up, my buddy and I have decided to build a shuffleboard table to occupy that void left from football. Can’t wait to get started, thanks for posting instructions. Hopefully we can make ours look somewhat close to what you have made. Nice work, and thanks again for the post.

View BlueStingrayBoots's profile

BlueStingrayBoots

488 posts in 973 days


posted 346 days ago

Not as easy as 123 for me Gary.

View laurasautographs's profile

laurasautographs

4 posts in 337 days


posted 337 days ago

This is really cool! Where did you find some cheap pucks, and is that surface pretty slippery? Maybe you could make some pucks , but how would you make them slide? Shuffleboard pucks are about $10 a piece that I have found. Or could you use regular hockey pucks, but again, I don’t know how to make them slide. Any help would be appreciated.

View GaryK's profile

GaryK

9820 posts in 959 days


posted 337 days ago

I bought mine at http://www.zieglerworld.com

$10 each sounds about right. The size you get is determined by the size of table you have.
I wouldn’t try to make them. They are steel and weighted very heavy.

They also sell a powdered wax that you sprinkle in the table to make things slide VERY easily.

Hope this helps.

-- Gary - Never pass up the opportunity to make a mistake look like you planned it that way & "We are what we repeatedly do, excellence then is not an act, but a habit" -Aristotle

View bluchz's profile

bluchz

165 posts in 345 days


posted 305 days ago

Pool Table? Shuffle board? how do you find time for woodworking. I would spend all my time goofing off…..of course this is what my wife tells me i’m doing while i’m woodworking. Nice table.

View waylon's profile

waylon

2 posts in 68 days


posted 64 days ago

Hey great table Gary. I’m seriously considering giving this one a try. I’m having trouble opening the link you’ve provided for the blueprints above. Any advice on trying to open this? Thank you so much. Again nice table.

View GaryK's profile

GaryK

9820 posts in 959 days


posted 64 days ago

waylon – how about this http://www.arealnice.com/shuffleboard/Shuffleboard_Table.zip

-- Gary - Never pass up the opportunity to make a mistake look like you planned it that way & "We are what we repeatedly do, excellence then is not an act, but a habit" -Aristotle

View waylon's profile

waylon

2 posts in 68 days


posted 64 days ago

Gary I hate to bother again but my mac cannot open this link either. Any more advice?? Thanks.

View GaryK's profile

GaryK

9820 posts in 959 days


posted 64 days ago

Other than get a PC all I can say is to type the link at the top of the page in manually to display the directory contents.

I don’t understand why it won’t work on a MAC. A link is a link.

-- Gary - Never pass up the opportunity to make a mistake look like you planned it that way & "We are what we repeatedly do, excellence then is not an act, but a habit" -Aristotle

View MatthiasBerquet's profile

MatthiasBerquet

3 posts in 29 days


posted 29 days ago

Hey Gary, unfortunaly i can not open the autocad file. Is it possibel to that you send me a pdf convertet version ?
Kind regards
Matthias

View ShannonC's profile

ShannonC

2 posts in 27 days


posted 27 days ago

That is awesome! Shuffleboard is the greatest bar game. I know they’re very expensive to buy. I think 12’ boards go for anywhere from 1,000 to 3,000 dollars. Very cool! Congrats on a job well done!!!

View Jei'son's profile

Jei'son

623 posts in 79 days


posted 27 days ago

Thats cool!

-- - Jei, Rockford IL - When in doubt, spray it with WD-40 and wrap it with duct tape. The details will attend to themselves.

View WEASEL's profile

WEASEL

7 posts in 37 days


posted 15 days ago

I love that game.

-- WEASEL, Anthem AZ

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