I am thinking about making a table tennis surface and I'm looking to replicate the high end tops. Do you know what wood material is used (High Density Fiber Board) or ?. I realize 1" thickness is preferred but is .75" OK?
How about the paint on the top? Does this have certain characteristics concerning "grip" or the measure for smoothness v. roughness and do you know where this paint can be purchased? Same question for the lines.
Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks
Tim
As far as I have been able to discover, just about all the modern table tennis tables use fiberboard - I would expect that it is High Density Fiberboard in almost all cases. In my table tennis forum, it was mentioned that MDF (medium density fiberboard) might be a useful alternative if you are looking to build your own ping-pong table. A 0.75 inch table top should be fine in terms of playability.
Regarding the subject of table tennis table paint, here are a couple of sites that I have found that sell table tennis paint - I thought there would be more actually!
Blue Table Tennis Table Paint
White Table Tennis Table Paint
Another Source for Blue Table Tennis TablePaint
Some people say that chalkboard paint can be used as well, while others claim that it tends to be too gritty, which causes problems in the bounce of the ball, and the speed of the table. Here's some forum threads on the topic.
Paint for White Lines - Chalkboard Paint?
Restoring a Table Surface
Hope this information proves to be useful.
Greg