Whiteboards are great infovis tools, but expensive and need space. Solution: the whiteboard coffee table. It’s the very poor man’s Microsoft Surface (with no BSOD!). Also, if your taste in home decor tends toward the spartan (as does mine), this makes a great dinner table; it’s durable and really easy to clean. Most importantly, it’s cheap and you only need a drill and few hours to make it. Here’s how:
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Materials:
- Some 1×2 boards (you can pre-sanded ones for about $2 a piece)
- A panel of “tile board,” which you can get from Home Depot or whatever for about 10 bucks.
- some 3″ drywall screws
- some 1 1/2″ drywall screws
- wood glue
Tools:
- Drill with a screwdriver bit
- handsaw (may need it, may not; see below)
- tablesaw or circular saw to cut the tileboard (may need it, may not; see below)
Construction:
- Decide on the dimensions you want, and figure how many 1×2’s you need (see the diagram above for the general plan). You may need to be flexible here, depending on the sized of tile board panel you’re able to procure.
- Get the materials. If you ask nice, a lot of times the store will cut the tile board for you, or they may have a 2′ x 4′ piece available. You can probably get them to cut the 1 x 2’s for you, as well.
- Once you get the materials home, cut anything that still needs cuttin’.
- Fasten everything together with the appropriate-sized drywall screws (The diagram shows where they go). I added glue, but you don’t really need it. Once the frame is done, glue the top on. Done!