Hockey Table Project

[Iceman]

I have ALWAYS wanted a hockey table of my own, from playing the small tin ones as a kid, to the first time I saw the bubble hockey games in an arcade. Props to the wife who knew this, would search around every now and then and was able to spot one on kijiji. For you Murican’s, kijiji is like craigslist but without the ads involving Ed Hardy camping gear.

So I picked this beauty up for $60.




It was dirty as hell and a pretty scratched up but in structurally in good shape. It’s a Gamecraft model that’s not made anymore but it seems like a well built, sturdy table. So originally all I wanted to do was clean it up a bit, find a way to throw an Oilers logo at center ice and get playing. So I decided to re-paint the surface.

Here’s the start of the process, priming the surface



It didn’t take much searching on the web to find some other people who had done similar projects and that got me interested in putting some rink board advertising on there. I came up with a mix of standard, easily recognized logos, as well as a few personal favorites.

Here’s the test run for that.


Next up was to paint the lines. A little painter’s tape and some model paint was all I used. I ended up just tracing an old cd for the circles.



The players that came with the table were blue/white and red/black which was perfect as I could do the Oilers vs Flames. But to take it the extra mile I decided to do jersey logos and numbers. As you’ll see later, I also added some color trim to the players. The logos, numbers and rink boards were basic images I got online, resized and printed off on label paper. Then I just cut them out and pressed them on. Once everything was done they got a few layers of clear coat to protect them.




Next were the nets. Here’s the original net



Pretty good, but I thought I could do better so I grabbed a nylon mesh bag, cut out what I needed and with a little thread, a little glue and some white tape, I came up with this.



Now by this time I’m starting to get obsessed. The searching I did online lead me to some unbelievable projects and got me inspired. So I actually dismantled the table completely, cut off the section on the top of the boards where it was supposed to look like glass, found a great Oilers decal to use at center ice and put on a few layers of clear coat to make sure the surface was going to be smooth and fast.

Here’s the painted surface and the boards in the back.



Knowing there would be a fair amount of drinking involved and it would get a lot of use when friends come over, I ordered four fold up drink holders and screwed them onto the sides.




With limited artist skills, I did the best I could to enhance the players. My wife was constantly making fun of me for being obsessed about my “arts and crafts project”. When I found myself using a toothpick to try and paint a small orange lightning bolt onto a mini Gatorade bottle I made from a wooden dowel, I finally was able to admit she was right.

The original players...


After paint...





What really finishes it off was to buy some acrylic sheets and cut them to size. To make the stanchions I simply used some automotive pin stripe tape. I had previously run the boards across a table saw to cut a groove down the middle and the glass slipped right in. I’m glad I did this because the puck is pretty hard and really flies and I wouldn’t want it to bounce off something and take one in the eye. The last step was to mount some computer speakers underneath and hook up an old mp3 player to it that’s filled with crowd noise, organ music, crowd chants etc. Here’s this finished product, I had a blast making it!

[Karpro]

Bravo sir, bravo. I love when someone brings something back from the dead to better than new condition.

[TotalDonkey]

That's awesome!!!

Good work, sir.

[Doctor_XXX]

Nice job! ( Especially the PMC logo to the left, behind the Oilers' goal )

[Scuba_Dave]

That's freekin awesome !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[sunsetpizza]

That is the coolest project of the year! great job!

[Karpro]

And we thought JC was OCD about his projects.

[pauld22]

Cool project and very well done.

We sell this table top game at our store...



...but it's pretty flimsy. Lots of guys buy it reminiscing about their old table hockey games. Yours looks like a tank that's built to last.

[Wedge Rock]

Out-fvcking-standing!

SRS + ly. Nice work on your arts and crafts project.

[Iceman]

Thanks guys! It wasn't all that hard to do, just a little time consuming. I found a place that sells spare parts and ordered a bunch of new players so now I'm going to have a little fun and do another two sets of teams. I think first up is a set of LA Kings in the classic purple and yellow jerseys.