Infinity Pong Table V2

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Infinity Pong Table V2

This is my second infinity pong table. I've learned a lot from these two tables, and I'll try to set out some steps to replicate them. Although I'll give a fair warning, there is a lot of trial and error. Good Luck!

Materials & Tools

*You'll need to find a fold up table as the base. I used a 6ft by 2.5ft table that i had laying in the garage.

*1- .25" plywood board cut to the size of the table. so 6' by 2.5' in this case.

*4- 2" by 4" by 8' lumber.

*2- 1" by 4" by 8' lumber.

*1- 1" by 4" by 8' MDF board. we use this to cut the triangles.

*3- cans of black spray paint. I used Rustoleum, it's good stuff.

*Opt. 1- box of Never Wet frosted clear spray for the gutter. It works really well.

*1- bottle of adhesive. I used a clear loctite brand like this.

*2- strips of RGB LED's. Get the non-waterproof, they are soooooo much easier to work with.

*1- Section of 4 color ribbon wire for LED strips. I had 20' of it from old projects.

*4- LED controllers. This is up to you, I had 4 seperate ones to control the 4 sections though.

*1-Power supply.(At least 6A)

*4- barrel DC end plugs, size N.(Found at Radioshack)

*2- Mirrors 1/8" by 34.25" by 27.5". I had to get these custom cut at a glass store.

*1- 1/4" by 72.5" by 30.25" Glass sheet. Easily most expensive part, and also custom cut at local store.

*1-roll of privacy reflective tint.

*1 Gutter. I used old scrap that happened to be 6ft long. Then I cut some end caps out of Plastic sheeting.

*1- hose, PVC elbow, and bucket for gutter system.

Various Hardware.... Brackets, Screws, Bolts. It's stuff I had just laying around.

Tools Needed.........

*Power Drill, Various drill bits. Finishing Air Nailing gun. Table Saw, Miter Saw, Jig Saw, Router with 1/4"and 1/8" bit. Soldering equipment, opt heat shrink with heat gun.

Wire in the Power Wires

Flip the table over, and mount the power brick up on one end so that it is out of the way. I just drilled holes in the metal support that wraps around the table and used zip ties.( make sure when the legs fold they don't hit any of the wiring)

Now cut the wire a couple inches coming out of the brick. ( make sure its the part that leads to the barrel jack.)

Now solder in 2 wires, red for positive, black for negative, and extend them all the way down one side of the table.

Now branch off two sections for the barrel jacks on both ends. This is where the shrink tubing and heat gun came in handy. Electrical tape works just fine too. Just make sure all connections are covered so it doesn't short out. Sorry I don't have any pictures, but I have a crappy diagram that may help.

Start Laying Out Frame

First, get the 1/4" plywood cut to the same size as the table.

Then, measure your table dimensions and cut the 2x4's to the length, then cut 3 pieces for the middle. They go on the ends and middle.

Next, using the 1/8" straight router bit, router the inside of all the wood. That means the middle board needs both edges routered. This is so the wood will clamp around the mirror that lays on the table.

Bonus tip, Don't paint at all until the end. I was in a hurry to get in done, but in reality it just set me back and caused my paint to get smudged.

Cut the Triangle Sections

This was by far the hardest part of building the frame. I just broke out the miter saw and kept experimenting until i found the right size. My advice is to draw out a template before by measuring the cups you use. I used the MDF boards for this, mostly because that stuff cuts like butter. Just don't inhale the dust, that stuff is dangerous.

The main problem once you get the triangle cut is that it sits on the mirrors. This causes it to be just a hair taller than the 2x4 frame. I just sent each piece through the table saw and took an 1/8" off. This allowed it to sit flush.

Painting Round One

Paint the plywood, MDF triangles, and the 2x4's. It can be whatever color on the outside, but the black on the inside where the lights will be helps add the the infinity effect.

Lay Everything Out Again

Just set the Plywood on the table, but DON'T attach it to the table at all, we want it to be removable.

Now set the mirrors in their spots, and then lay out the 2x4's around and fit it all together. I used screws in the ends to draw everything together.

Now use the finishing air nailer to attach the 2x4s to the plywood base.

Now comes the hard part...... Measure and center the triangles where they need to go. Once set, send some nails through the pieces to get them to stay put.

I also painted and attached some brackets to the actual fold up table and had them sit up to stop the rest of the table from sliding around. I put one on each end and one on each side. It allows the table to be lifted off the fold up table. This is a very heavy table, and it made moving it down into a basement a whole lot easier!

Attaching the LED Strips.

This was the most time consuming part of the project.....

The table has 4 sections. So I started by attaching 1 long sections of ribbon wire to the start of each section of LED's. You can trim off the excess later. (Better to have it too long than too short)

Next I drilled a hole just big enough for the wire to leave the table in each section. ( After this use some black touch up paint to hit up the freshly drilled wood.)

Now feed the ribbon wire through the hole. Now have someone else run a bead of the adhesive around the middle of each section. Then peal the backing off the strips and press it around. ( the adhesive is completely necessary because the cheap LED double sided tape sucks and comes off after like a day.)

Once you go around, cut the excess LED's along the cut lines on the strips. Repeat this for all the sections. Also make sure that all the lights and colors work for the lights. (This is where I found out that 3 of my LED controllers were burned out, Stupid cheaply made controllers! )

Almost There! Now Glass Tinting Time!

Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures of this process, as I needed all the hands I could get.

First, Lay the glass out on top of the table.

Clean it with windex and get it all pretty.

Now fill a spray bottle with water and dish soap, and get something ready to help smooth out the tint and get air bubbles out.

(This step requires at least 3 people)

This is a huge piece of glass, so things can get tough at times. the first step is to roll the tint out and get a rough size. make sure you have plenty of overhang. (you'll cut it off once it is on and dried.) Now spray the crap out of the glass.... No dry spots. and slowly peel the backing of the tint and slowly smooth it on, make sure everything is soaked, even the back of the tint.

Once it is on, start smoothing all the air bubbles out, and spray where you wipe so you don't scratch the tint.

Don't cut the excess tint off until the next step.....

Important!

once smoothed out allow to dry overnight so the tint doesn't peel up off the edges.....

Once the tint is dry, use a straight edge to cut the excess tint off. Now FLIP the glass over so the reflective tint is FACING the mirrors!

You are now finally done with this step. It sucks but take your time. If you mess up the tint it becomes EXTREMELY noticeable once the LED's are lit up.

Get the Glass Caps On

Again, no pictures for this part. I was in the zone apparently!

This step is very similar to cutting the frame and routering the edges.

First, cut the 1x4' to the length of the table, but don't forget to include overhang for the end cap 1x4's too. so add 3/4" to each end. you only need 1 because the gutter will be on the other side of the table.

Then cut the 1x4's for the end caps. They will be the same width of the table.

Now if the glass is the right size, it will extend over .25" on one side, and be flush on the other. The glass should also extend .25" on each end also.

Now slap in the 1/4" straight bit for the router. Router in a groove that is .25" deep on all the boards. But do it so that there is a 1/2" lip to the board once the glass is slid into the groove.

Dry fit everything, then paint them.

I used screws to attach them all, but the air nailer would have worked just as well.

Paint and Attach the Gutter System

I had some scrap gutter I used. This is all up to you to design and be creative. I just rigged something up with what I had on hand.

I had to make my own end caps out of plastic, then i glued and silicone sealed them to the ends.

Now paint it whichever color you like.

I also decided to try out the new Never Wet spray that allows the water to flow and bead up easier. It didn't dry very clear, but it was mostly just hazy. The stuff works great though!

All that's left is to attach it to the side of the table. Make sure you slant it as much as possible so it drains easier.

I just marked and pre-drilled and bolted the gutter system on.

Test Out Lights, and Show Off the Table

Now it's basically all done. just plug in and get the lights set up!

Here is a bunch of pictures of mine. I'll try and add some pictures and videos of the table with different settings. It's just hard to do since I built the table for some friends who live pretty far away from me.

Thanks for reading through this, and comment if you have any questions!