Getting Started with Maple Timber

So last Tuesday I stared at my garage pile of leftover hard maple boards. Thought, why not turn these into a proper dance pad? That fancy arcade crap costs way too much anyway. Pulled out three planks about 3 feet long each. Man, that maple timber’s heavy – nearly dropped it on my toe twice. Propped everything on sawhorses and wiped off years of dust with an old t-shirt.

Cutting and Joining the Base

Grabbed my circular saw and eyeballed measurements. Cut two planks to 2×2 foot squares – ears popping from that screeching maple cut. Screwed ’em together from underneath with 3-inch deck screws. Almost cracked the wood near the edges ’cause maple’s so dang stubborn. Sanded the surface rough to bare wood using 60-grit. Sawdust flew everywhere like cheap confetti.

Arrow Pad Installation Steps

• Taped down printed arrow templates where feet hit
• Chiselled shallow grooves tracing those arrow shapes
• Painted arrows red with garage-sale acrylics – looked pink first coat
• Sealed everything with three layers of floor varnish

Nearly ruined it midway when the varnish bubbled up. Had to sand off half the work and restart. Note: don’t varnish in high humidity. Mounted rubber kitchen mats under each corner using construction adhesive. That pad ain’t sliding anywhere now. Total mess – glue smeared on my work jeans permanently.

Battle Testing the Beast

Plugged in the gaming console yesterday morning. Stepped on the center pad barefoot – timber felt cold but solid. Tried some basic DDR moves first. Feet stuck a bit on the surface till I scrubbed it with soapy water. Maple held up against stomping like a champ though! Even when my clumsy nephew jumped full weight on the left arrow pad. Zero cracks! Bottom rubber feet left black streaks on my laminate floor – wife’s not thrilled.

Honestly? Building this was 75% sweat, 20% cursing at tools, and 5% actual dancing. Maple timber performs way better than plastic pads for heavy stompers like me. Totally worth the effort. Just gotta fix those floor scratches before my wife kills me.