Origins of Game Store’s Custom Wargaming Table
Ever wonder about the awesome wargame tables you see at your friendly local gaming stores? This is the work that goes into building one.
I caught up to a local carpenter who actually builds tables for gaming stores. Meet the work of Andrew Claessens. He lives in my area (Ontario) and does custom carpentry and commission painting service work too. Let’s call him Drew for short. If you like his work, there will be contact details closer to the end of the article.
Drew built this table. It now makes its home at the Hairy Tarantula in Toronto, but it did not start there.
His commission painting work is absolutely superb and I have a small selection of stories focusing on his painted works on my personal website. When I conducted research for my report on the best wargaming tables out there, I was sure to include Drew in those listings. I strongly considered having him build me a table for my Personal Gaming and Miniature Gaming Studio Space.
Drew has fantastic attention to detail and this is not the first table he built for a gaming store. The first I saw was actually at Forbes Hobbies and it looked amazing!
This was the first table that I saw made by Drew. Beautiful work! Image from Must Contain Minis’ Conan Battle Report.
Now, let’s take a look at some pictures of that Hairy Tarantula table being built.
A Professional Carpenter Builds a Wargaming Table
The newest table Drew built started as three piles of wood. He uses select-grade wood for a nice furniture finish that will look great in any room.
From there, Drew expertly built a frame with staggered supports and angled joints. This frame is sturdy!!!
He then expertly built the frame. There is a second frame against the wall because Drew built the store two tables. One is specially designed for cards, the other wargames. I am a wargamer, so I will focus on the wargaming table!
He then laid down the table surface.
After that, he laid on the felt. and built up the outside wall.
He then finished the table up before delivery.
Depending on the requests and arrangements with the customer, Drew may also do some work and adjustments to the table upon delivery. That is why his tool kit was out in the first photo of this post.
Contacting Drew
If you are interested in a table like this and would like to make an inquiry, there are two ways to reach out to Drew. One is through his Renovations and Carpentry business. The other is through Forbes Hobbies. It is actually through Forbes Hobbies that I met Drew. The owner was telling me about an informal network of painters connected to his store. He wanted me to check out Drew’s painting skills and I can tell you that they are amazing! The work Drew did painting up some miniatures for me was absolutely stunning. When I saw that and a table he built, I know that his work was something special. You can see his passion coming through his work.
via Andrew Claessens
Wrapping it up…
Thank you for checking out this article about a gaming table built by Drew. It is absolutely beautiful stuff. Drew was one of the table builders I considered in my own search for a gaming table. If you are curious about what table I sourced for my miniature wargaming studio area, please check out my related article on my personal website, Must Contain Minis. There is an update at the end of that article that lets you know which table I purchased for my gaming space.
Most of the pictures in today’s article come to me from Andrew Claessens. The exception to this is the table with the Conan game on top of it. That is my picture, but Drew’s table.
Until next time, Happy Gaming Everyone!!!
Read more about great Indie and Historical games on my site!
Must Contain Minis is my reviews, showcases, and battle reports website where I look at a wide variety of miniatures games and miniatures related products. I like to focus mainly on Indie and Historical Games.
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