Foosball is a very sportive and fun game. If you have a well-balanced and durable table, you know how enjoying it is to play!! You may play foosball at any bar or club. But your zeal for the game will be full-blown when you will own a table. Some people don’t think to invest a lot of money for a quality table at the first place.
You will get many inexpensive foosball tables in the market which in most cases can’t meet the expectations in terms of quality and performance. Under such circumstances, one very outstanding option to own a quality foosball table without much investment is building your own one. Although building a foosball table could be bit challenging, our comprehensive guide will make the job easy if you have a moderate level of carpenter skill.
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Dilemma: Building vs Buying a New Table
Money and Time:
One of the biggest advantages of building your own foosball table is that it is a less costly solution. Whereas, if you want to buy a first-hand table, a significant amount of money you will need to invest.
However, there is an opportunity cost of building a table by your own efforts. It will take a considerable amount of time to complete the task. Moreover, if you don’t love woodworks, building the table is not your cup of tea. If you are a skilled carpenter, it will take shorter time to make your own table.
Application of Creativity:
Depending on your level of passion for woodworks, you will enjoy making your own table which is actually a creative work. You can exercise your freedom while doing the job and can make revolutionary foosball table if you have that level of skill. You know imagination is the limit for creating your table.
When you are a highly skilled carpenter, the result would be a truly unique table. Whatsoever, if you lack confidence and abilities with woodworks, you better buy a new table.
Complete Package vs Complete Ownership:
Although a DIY foosball table will not give you the full package of amenities that is available with a newly bought one, building own table will always be a matter of pride. You will find it advantageous when playing with friends and colleagues since you know the ins and outs of your table and thus have a complete control on it.
Things to Keep in Mind When Building a Foosball Table:
- When you plan for creating your own table, make it sure that you have the necessary skill with relevant exercise and saw & other necessary tools.
- The final output will depend on your ability to mix the skill, imagination, and experience with the available materials.
- At the beginning, you should make small table that can accommodate two players.
- Over the years of successful building of foosball tables, you can start making the regulation-sized ones by adding more variations to make the game more exciting!!
Things You Will Need to Build the Table
|
Materials |
Tools |
|
Wood |
Saw |
|
Felt |
Drill |
|
Players and Ball |
—- |
|
Poles |
—- |
Wood:
The most important required material for making a foosball table is wood that should be suitable for a durable final product. Keep in mind that the amount and quality of wood will determine the class of your table. You should choose dependable and solid wood like oak or birch for the job based on your budget and preferences.
You can use wooden boards for the outer sides of the table. For using as a playing board, it is better to use boards with thickness of 1.5 inches. Cut the boards according to the requirement of foosball table. While you can depend on a decorative board for the exterior walls, you better rely on more durable wooden board for the playing surface.
Felt:
For covering the playing surface area of the table under building, you will need to buy the corresponding amount of felt. However, if you don’t have any problem to play foosball on the wooden board, you may discard collecting this material.
Players and Ball:
Player figures and balls are the most integral part of foosball game. If you are a top-level carpenter, try making fashionable & colorful players and the ball from the wood which would be the trickiest, complicated, and time-consuming part of the whole DIY process. However, plastic made player figures and balls are readily available in the market for buying them affordably. You can easily set those on the table.
Poles:
Poles are other important parts that you must have in hand in a suitable number for making your own foosball table. Keep it in mind that small table requires four poles and regulation-sized big tables require eight number of suitable poles.
Experts suggest that you collect metal poles that are easier for lubrication and durable. Don’t forget to purchase some plastic spares for mounting the poles into wood walls.
Saws:
Saw is a very essential tool for making your own foosball table. Choose the right saw according to your need. Manual saws work perfectly for foosball table making jobs. Some people prefer to use hands-on approach when needed. Use of a standard circular saw will make your task convenient.
Drill:
A power drill will help you putting all the different parts together. Use of nails and hammer for doing the job will not be supportive since these tools can’t give proper tolerance for holding all the materials together. When you use a drill, you can remain in a state of peaceful mind for joining the wooden components easily.
Step-by-Step Guide for Building a New Foosball Table:
- Measure the dimensions of the wood according to your requirement. If you want to build a regulation-sized table, cut the playing surface in the dimension of 56-inch long and 30-inch wide.
- To protect the balls from falling off while playing, cut the side walls in the dimension of 52-inch long and around 4.5-inch high. Choose the thickness according to your preference. It is better to select thin surface because this is lighter and gives less pressure on the legs.
- When the walls are ready ad cut into with proper size, make evenly-spaced holes with diameter of around 30 mm on the walls for fitting the rods through them. Make the hole according to the size of the poles. But keep some space for accommodating plastic buffers between the rods and the walls.
- Make and erect the walls at the ends of the table. Cut the goals on these walls for making scores.
- For recovering the ball after the goals, cut the walls shorter than the playing field. Cut further indentations under the board to make room for slotting the poles.
- Deploy the drill machine to join all the materials together for giving shape to the foosball table.
- Add the felt to the field and use glue coating to attach it tightly.
- Before sliding though the poles, you should add plastic spacers to the drilled holes on the walls. Add the player figures to the spacers.
- Attach the legs of the table and test its toughness and integrity. For a regulation table, height of the legs should be around 30-inch.
- For proper and smooth rotation of the player figures, give oil between the rods and the plastic spacers.
- Now, your table is ready to start playing.
Final Words:
It would be wonderful if our article helps you decide the right option between building a DIY foosball table and buying a new one. Although building foosball table is not a plain and simple matter for everyone, it is still challenging and fun worthy for the people who love playing foosball and have the hobby of carpentry!!
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