Last Updated on June 16, 2024
Building out your own ping pong table has crossed your might, at least a few times, right? If you answered yes you have come to the right place to find out how to make a ping pong table out of wood.
Do you think there is anything better than having a ping pong table in your garage or back yard?
We think there is only one thing that’s better. It’s the ability to have a ping pong table that you’ve completely built and made.
Not only to brag about it to your fellow players but to take pride in every match you play.
And in this post, you’ll find everything you need to know in order to make your own ping pong table.
Is it a Good Idea & Is It Worth The Cost to Build a Ping Pong Table?
While this idea has crossed a lot of minds, not so many people execute it, right?
And the reason for that is the cost, time & skills that are necessary in order to turn such project successful.
There is no reason this wouldn’t be a good idea, however, you should be prepared to spend a lot of your time and even spend a lot of money to get everything you need.
Also, you’ll need to prepare yourself to learn a lot in order to do your best.
Regarding the cost, some people say that it can be a big money investment and if you don’t set your budget straight from the beginning, it might cost as much as a commercial table.
Worst of all, it’s an investment that might not pay off but that shouldn’t put you off.
What Will You Need to Build DIY Ping Pong Table?
There is plenty of things you will need, but here are some of the most important things you need to have in order to succeed.
- Drawing diagrams
- Dimensions
- Notes
- Part list
- Photos
- Instructions
No matter how technical you are, everyone should be able to build their own ping pong table.
However, if you’re planning to do it in an easy way – being prepared is one of the most important things you’ll need to do.
That involves everything from drawings to dimensions and part list, along with the final instructions to take action.
How to Make a Ping Pong Table out of wood?
Step 1 – Scope
In order to start building a ping pong table, you’ll need to have a clear diagram of the table you’ll try to recreate and build.
We highly recommend you to pick up any diagram that features a table in standard size dimension and is made out of light yet full wood.
Step 2 – Table Legs
Now when you have the dimensions of your table, even before building it, you’ll need to sort out the legs of the table first.
What we find to be very cheap and yet very useful is to get 4 workstands which can act as table legs and are durable enough to keep up with the ping pong table weight.
So what you need to do is gather workstands or even go shopping for them, but there’s one thing you should pay attention to. It’s the height.
Step 3 – Table Support
As you can probably see, it’s all about building the table from down. The last step before actually building and setting up your table together is the table support.
It’s something that will hold your table top connected with the table legs, secure and fit in one place.
We recommend using a robust and wooden plank and for connection, you should use support pins and wood screws.
Step 4 – The Table
When you have everything ready, it’s time to work on the most important piece which is the table top.
It’s important to get this right because it will directly result in the game performance and even ball bounce.
We recommend using two pieces of plywood that are about 1.6mm thick cut to nominal dimensions.
When working on placing the table top on table support, it’s important to pay attention to leave enough space for the net.
Step 5 – The Net Device
Once you’ve placed everything together and everything is in one piece, you’re only missing a net.
While this might be a complicated part to get, you’ll need to prepare the bar and fix the net plates with wood screws to the table.
When you have bars in place, work on fixing net shafts and finally, get a net from the store and adapt it to your home-made net device.
Step 6 – Paint the Surface & Enjoy
Once all work is done, everything is in one piece and you even have a net in place, it’s time to paint the surface.
We recommend painting it with a few different coats. 2 layers of the primer coat, mark the lines and then do a 2-layer to coat.
Components can be left unpainted, but you can paint them if you wish to.
Once you’ve painted the top surface and left it to dry, in about 24-48 hours, you will enjoy a ping pong match on a table you’ve made!