Build a Rainbow Table From Scratch

Let us make  a Rainbow Table from scratch...

A medium sized piece of press board, left-over from some previous wood work, was lying at our home unused. Initially, I thought of making a small bed-side table from this piece, but seeing those colorful Cellophane tapes lying around gave me an idea, to make a colorful rainbow table for the Christmas Nativity scene.

The Rainbow colored table you see here is very easy to make with press board and Cellophane tapes of various colors. Please go through the step-by-step instructable on how to make this rainbow table.

Here is the piece of left-over press board available with me... I have planned to use this board to make a small table, to be covered with Cellophane tapes of various colors. I have also decided to make the legs of the table from this board itself...

• Measure the available size of the board. I can make a 50 centimeters by 40 centimeter sized table with this board after removing pieces required for the legs.
• The thickness of the board is 1.50 centimeters. I have decided to join two cut pieces together to make the legs of size 3.00 by 2.50 centimeters. So, I need eight pieces of 2.50 centimeters width from the existing board.
• Mark four pieces from one side and another four from the other of width 2.50 centimeters.
• Cut all the pieces along the markings. Now I have eight pieces for the legs and one rectangular piece for the table top.

Materials Required other than the Press Board

• Cellophane tapes of various colors
• A wood glue like Gorilla or Fevicol wood glue
• Epoxy based resin like Araldite or Gorilla Epoxy resin

You do not need many tools

• A Hand saw to cut the press board
• A Ruler to measure and mark
• Pair of Scissors to cut the Cellophane tapes
• A Craft knife to trim the Cellophane tapes

Do not have a Hand saw and do not know how to cut press board...? Don't worry.. Make all markings and take it to the nearest wood work shop. They will cut them to size for you.

For making the table legs, I need to join two of the cut pieces together to form one leg.

• Clean the cut pieces thoroughly
• Apply wood glue (Gorilla or Fevicol) liberally on 2.50 centimeter wide surface
• Join two such pieces together to make four legs
• Place the glued pieces over firm support and add distributed load over them
• Wipe out excess glue bleeding out from the joints
• Allow them to cure for about 24 hours
• Remove the pieces after curing
• Cut all pieces to 35 centimeters in length. Removing pieces from both ends will give you uniform surface.

Now legs for the table are ready.

Before proceeding with tapping the press board with Cellophane tapes, it is advisable to make sample sequence of colors to be added. If you are satisfied with the color combination, you can simply follow this sequence without any confusion.

Now we are ready to stick color Cellophane tapes to the table top

• Mark the leg portion on the back side of the table top. Make sure not to cover this portion with tape.
• Start from one end. You can use colors from sample piece for the color sequence.
• Stop about two widths of tape from the center
• Start from the other end. The color sequence will be same as the finished end
• Now stick tapes of same color, one at a time on both ends till some little space is left at the center
• Tape a color of your choice over the remaining uncovered portion at the center

The table top with colored Cellophane tapes are ready

You can see that two of the front and back edges are covered with Cellophane tapes and two side edges are not covered. Also the tape edges are not uniform at the back of the table top

• Cover the sides with Cellophane tape. I have used black, you can use any color of your choice
• Tape over the Cellophane edges protruding on the back side with the same color used for sides
• Trim and remove the protruding edges uniformly using a craft knife
• Cover the trimmed portion with tape of same color used before. Do this for both the edges on the back.
• Take care not to cover the portion marked for fixing the table legs

Our table top is ready. The four legs of the table need to be applied with colorful Cellophane tapes.

• Start from one end. You can use the same color sequence used for the table also
• Use same color on both ends of all the four legs
• Cover the center portion with any color of your choice

It is finishing time...

• Spread a clean cloth over the floor where you are planning to attach the legs. Select an area which will not be disturbed.
• Place the table top upside-down over the cloth. Place gently so that the finished top side is not damaged
• Place the legs over the marked portion on the backside of table top and see that they sit properly
• Mix epoxy based glue and apply generously over the surface of the leg which will be attached to the table top
• Fix the glued end over the marking
• Allow the joints to cure for 24 hours

Our Rainbow table is ready after 24 hours of curing

Every year we used to make Christmas decorations by replicating the Nativity scene with objects representing the Baby Jesus, Mother Mary, Joseph, the three wise men (Three kings or the Magi), shepherds and cattle. We used to construct a small cow-shed like structure using old news papers and clothes. But this year, the Rainbow table has been used for the Nativity scene.

Hope you all enjoyed making of this simple Rainbow Table...

Wish you all a Merry Christmas...