For the most part, I kept my quest for the perfect gaming table pretty public. In my search, I considered three general options.
- Buy a table made by a specialized game table company.
- Commission a carpenter to build me a table.
- Build my own IKEA hack style table.
You can find all of the table options and details that I investigated in an my article about finding the best wargaming table.
In this article, we take a look at some tables built by Andrew Claessens, a local carpenter. He goes by Drew for short and his work is beautiful. Today we are treated to a number of work-in-progress pictures of his latest gaming tables that he delivered to a customer.
My hope is that this article will appeal to people who want to build their own tables, people who enjoy the beauty of gaming tables and to people considering hiring a carpenter to build them their own dream table. For those of you building your own, you will see some inspirational pictures and also get a rare peek at how a professional builds a wargaming table.
If you like what you see, I have links that you can use to contact the carpenter who built the tables in this post.
Now, lets get back to Drew’s tables. Below is the first table I ever saw built by him.
Image from a battle report post the Conan Boardgame.
This time around, Drew shares with us a number of work-in progress pictures of his newest builds. Let’s take a closer look.
A New Gaming Table
The gaming table below is not mine, but rather a table for another friendly local gaming store. Drew built a couple of these for his client and they look mighty nice.
Now, this table did not start out this nice. Instead, it was a pile of wood that Drew expertly crafted into a showcase piece for a gaming store. While Drew has been building these for stores, I bet that they would look really nice in the gaming room of a home too.
Drew sent me some of his work-in-progress pictures of building this table. Now, let’s take a closer look at the build of this wargaming table.
Building A Wargaming Table – Pictures from a Carpenter’s Custom Job
This table did not start looking like that great final product. It started as a few piles of wood.
Drew then constructed them into a frame.
That frames look extremely sturdy. I would have no worries about this table or its longevity.
Nearing Completion
At this time, the table really starts to look good as Drew continues the build. Next up was the felt on the gaming surface followed by finishing off the area surrounding the outer edge of the table.
Drew built two of these tables for his client. One with a felt top and the other with speed cloth. Speed cloth is used for card games to help cards glide across the tabletop.
Delivering the Tables to their New Home
Once complete, Drew takes the tables he builds from his workshop to the table’s new home. For the most recent two that he built, that new home happened to be a friendly local gaming store a few cities over. It looks beautiful there.
Drew’s work didn’t stop with the delivery though. He also installed the table and did a few finishing touches right there on site.
What’s involved with the delivery of course depends on the client and what is expected.
If you are interested in one of his tables for your home or business, below are his contact details.
Connecting to Drew
Drew’s tables looks amazing. I’ve seen them in person and was lucky enough to have him send me some work-in-progress shots of the latest gaming tables that he built.
Drew’s connection to Must Contain Minis is that he has helped the site with some of his commission painting services. He specializes in highly detailed paint jobs. You can find some of the articles about his work here. He brings that same level of attention to detail from his commission painting of miniatures over to his woodwork too. Simply stellar stuff.
I know of two ways that you can get in touch with him. One is through his renovation business – Claessens Carpentry & Reno’s. The other way that I know of getting a hold of him is through Forbes Hobbies in Cambridge, Ontario, Canada.
It is actually through Forbes Hobbies that I met Drew. He is a part of their informal network of commission painters that you can get in touch with through the owner of the store.
An Update on My Gaming Area…
Drew’s work, as always, is incredible. I strongly considered hiring him to build my table for my new gaming and studio space. In the end, my wife and I decided to go with a carpenter who builds dinner tables rather than specialized gaming tables. In doing this, we had a new dinner table made for our eating area, and I took the old one to my studio space.
It would have been nice to have a specialized gaming table, but Mrs. Must Contain Minis is very happy. She wanted to hire this carpenter for years. Win-win.
Wrapping it up…
Thank you for joining me in this look at gaming tables made by Drew Claessens. In this post, we got some behind the scenes images to see a wargaming table being professionally built by a local carpenter. If you are building your own table, hopefully you found these images inspiring.
If you are looking for a table and don’t want to build your own, consider looking at a custom carpenter. It is an option that one might not think about before doing their research. I know I didn’t back when I first thought of what to get for my space.
Drew’s work looks great and would be really nice for home gaming areas and stores alike.
Special thanks goes out to Drew for sharing these pictures with me for this article.
Until next time, Happy Gaming Everyone!!!
