Now that most of the board finished, I can start working on my HeroQuest tables and throne. Both had a lot of issues, and I recreated them multiple times.
Check out the Crafting Supplies page to see what tools and materials I use in my custom builds.
The Throne
I went through three iterations of the throne before I was finally happy with it.
Version 1 & 2
The first two versions I made of extruded polystyrene foam. Version 1 was dollar store foam core. This version didn’t last very long, it was very flimsy. I was extremely dissatisfied, I threw it into the trash immediately. I fished it out briefly to take a picture. As you can see from the cracks, it took little to destroy it.
Dollar store foam core doesn’t seem to take texture very well, you could still see the foams texture from manufacturing through the paint.
Version 2 ended up looking a lot better, I upgraded the material by using pink XPS insulation foam. Learning from version 1, I strengthened the legs using pieces of paperclips.
One thing that remained from version 1 was the weight issue. This throne was extremely light and would go flying at the slightest breeze. Despite being reinforced with paperclips, it was no match against my 2-year-old son.
Final Version
In my third attempt, I made a few design choices that really increased the durability of of it. Version 3, I made entirely out of wood. I’ve been using square wooden craft dowels in these projects. I find them easy to work with and when using plain quick-drying wood glue; they hold up extremely well. I don’t have any pictures of the build in progress but, here’s a picture pretty close to the final product:
The frame of the chair I made from the square dowels, the seat and back I made from jumbo wood craft sticks, that’s what the box says, but really they’re just wooden tongue depressors.
I used a mini file and sandpaper to shape everything and the tip of a flathead screwdriver to carve fake wood grain texture into the actual wood. The cushion upholstery is fabric from one of my daughter’s costume dresses they outgrew. To give it the shape of a cushion, I cut a small piece of foam salvaged from some spare floor underlayment. This, I placed between the fabric and the backing. I’m pretty happy with the final product.
Now, enough about the chairs. I’m writing about both HeroQuest Tables and Throne.
The Tables
The tables also went through a couple of iterations. The first version is made completely out of XPS foam.
How the legs thin out where they meet the top caused a weak spot, so I reinforced this with a piece of popsicle stick. I textured with woodgrain the same way I did the throne, but with a lighter touch since the foam is a more delicate material.
After a quick paint job, I was thrilled with them:
So why did I remake the tables if I was happy with how these turned out? It didn’t happen right away. I spent the next few months making more furniture, most of it made mostly out of wood. There is a very noticeable difference in style between the wooden furniture and the foam tables. I want all of my furniture to be consistent. I didn’t get rid of the old tables, I still like them, but maybe someday I can use them for something else.
Not Enough Wood?
Version 2, I made very similar to the way I built the final version of the throne. I used various sizes of the square dowels, and three tongue depressors glued together for the tops. I created a beam that runs the length of the table and connects the two legs together out of a popsicle stick.
For the legs, I cut lengths of square dowels with 45degree angles cut into each end so they look like a trapezoid. I cut two of these for each table, and I used one other to measure the height that the leg should be. This turned out to be a happy minor accident. Originally I was going to put a straight piece connecting the trapezoid piece to the frame piece, but it turned out that it looked better if I just glued two of the trapezoid pieces together, connected by their smaller sides. So I went about cutting two more of these shapes for each table.
I’m keeping the popsicle embellishments on the sides, they don’t provide strength anymore, but I like the way they look.
Here’s what the tables look like beside the old version:
You can checkout more about my HeroQuest Tables and Throne, and the rest of my custom set over at Ye Olde Inn.
Thanks for visiting, I hope to see you again soon.
