How amazing would it be to have the whole world on your table? Instructables member HiVisVest72 has crafted a beautiful backlit world map coffee table with a glass top to prove just that.
This build was born of an idea to have a large, backlit world map on a glass-top table. The maker found an outline world map on the internet, printed it to the scale and taped the sheets together. He glued the sheets with a map on a medium density fiberboard and cut it out with the help of a scroll saw.
He purposely chose IKEA table for the build since it has solid corners to support the legs, but a thin top and bottom sandwiching a card/paper honeycomb pattern. The bottom of an old 60cm Lack table was slashed and the bottom bit of hardboard was removed. The maker removed the cardboard and left the hollow base.
He then marked the sides for the stand-offs using glass as a guide and then they were secured into the wooden frame. The stand-offs were placed in the corners as to go deeper in the legs of table, securing them further.
Then the world map was laid on the tabletop, drawn around the boundaries and positions for the dowels were marked and glued. Once they were dry, it was time to mark the points where LEDs were to be placed. A total of 160 LEDs have been used in the table to achieve the desired effect.
The holes were drilled from the top to give a clean and nice finish, LEDs were pushed in from beneath and were then secured with a hot glue gun.
Also Read: This DIY Motorized Coffee Table Conceals a 4K Projector
In the final assembly, the bottom shelf and legs were assembled following the IKEA instructions and the painted landmasses were glued to the dowels. Finally, the glass was secured onto to table with screw tops of the stand-offs on the corners of the table. Thus, the beautiful and mesmerizing table was ready. Wanna give it a try?
