I really like to play ping pong. The only problem for me is that there is just no room in my house for a ping pong table, so I don’t get to play very often. I realized that the dinner table at my house is pretty big and would probably suffice as a ping pong table. To play ping pong on my table I would need a net, and if I had a net I would need brackets for the net. So today, I’m going to show you how I made some brackets that go on my dinner table that turn it into a ping pong table.
The number one criteria that my net brackets had to meet was that they could not damage the wood of the table in any way. So that means no clamping to the table, no sharp corners, no hard materials that could dent the wood. Nothing could hurt the table. With this rule in order it caused a bit of some engineering difficulty. After thinking about it for a while I came up with the idea of using the apron of the table to hold the brackets in place. The brackets hook onto the apron and then lay on the table (see pictures). I also decided to laminate three layers of dollar-tree foam and use that for the brackets. Using the foam is good because it is soft and cannot damage the table in any way and, because it is three layers of foam plus the paper, it is incredibly strong.
The net is 6 inches tall and made out of window screen. I found the easiest and best way to cut the net was to roll the window screen up and then cut the roll. This was much easier than cutting the whole length of the window screen. I then took the ends of the net and doubled them over to make a loop. I then stapled the screen to itself to secure the loop. I did this on each end of the net.
To attach the net to the bracket I mounted two ‘tabs’ made of 1/8″ plywood to the bracket and drilled a hole in each one. A wooden dowel slips into the holes in the tabs and the loop on the end of the net goes over the wooden dowel. I did this to each bracket.
I’ve played (and won 😉 ) multiple games on the table using this net and it works great! It’s very easy to put up and take down, and best of all, it doesn’t damage the table at all!
