[dylanhosted]

I am thinking about making a coffee table and I had a cool idea that would make it really unique. I would just like some of your opinions on the idea and if you think it should be pursued.
This image is a rough draft of the basic table. The large rectangle cutout in the center will be for an old car dash that i picked up. It will be embedded into the table and will sit almost flush with the rest of the table. For the two holes on the side, I want to get some large pistons and put those in there. But the thing that would make it unique is that the pistons will move. I want to put them on a crank that can be manually turned by a handle on the side of the table. They will move alternately like a real engine and will sit underneath a plate of glass in the table so they are not effecting anything on the table when they are moved. the circular cutouts on the front of the table will have headlights from an old car that i hope to hook up to a battery and be able to turn on and off with a switch underneath the table. I know the picture is not very detailed but if you use your imagination I hope you can see what I am trying to do. Thanks for your opinions and any advice you have for me.

 

[bzguy]

Cool idea, to be practical as a coffee table, I would add a glass top.
If the pistons and radio are going to protrude above the surface put a raised edge around the perimeter to suspend the glass above them.

 

[sawdustfactory]

Cool idea, can't wait to see it finished :thumbsup:

 

[4DThinker]

If you have a battery in there for the headlights, consider powering the head unit so it works. You'll need at least a couple of speakers but there should be plenty of room in there for them. Don't forget to allow for the battery to be recharged, either by making it easily removed, or add a 12v jack of some sort that a portable charger could be hooked into.

 

[dylanhosted]

The cutout on top is for a front dash of a car, like a dash that has all of the gauges on it, not a radio head unit. sorry for the confusion, but now that i think about it that could be a cool idea too. Which do you guys think would be better?