GGHank
Sitting Out
Hey PCF! I've been hosting a weekly home game for the past couple months and wanted to show off my table that I re-felted. I got this table for free from my close friend's parents who were downsizing. It's a 52" octagonal bumper pool table with a reversible topper, and one side of the top looks like it was designed for poker and other games.
Getting this table was what initially sparked me to host my first home game, but after using it for a night, I ran into some issues. Firstly, you can kinda tell from the photo that there is a lot of glare and reflections from the topper, which made reading cards kind tough at some angles. The other main problem is that the top is wood, but it has a black plastic sheet glued to it that makes the table super slippery. I had people struggling to pick up cards all night. So, I was on a mission to make this table somewhat more playable, though I didn't want to spend a lot of money.
My wife does a bit of crafting as a hobby, so we go to Joann's often and I knew they would have something good. I looked around and decided to get a 55" x 55" piece of their Hudson Velvet, which was on sale, and I liked the feel of it. It's a bit dark in the basement so I went with a lighter gray color they call Chambray.
I've never done any furniture modification in the past, and admittedly, I should probably have researched the best way to attach the velvet to the top. I started by removing the metal "rail" pieces and gave the table a good wipe down.
I still wanted to retain the option to flip the topper over and have a regular wood top, so I didn't want to wrap the fabric around completely or have it noticeable from the opposite side. At this point I thought that there were enough screws around the border that those plus a few staples at the edges would secure the fabric pretty well. It was pretty easy to feel the screw holes through the velvet, so I mocked up the rails.
I though it looked pretty good! From here, though, I had some more problems. I tried to staple through the top, but since it was a decently thick sheet of plastic, I couldn't get the staple into it very well. And with my mocked-up design, I realized that the center playing area was going to move around and bunch up since I didn't think I'd be able to pull the fabric tight without ripping it thanks to those small screws and the sharp edges of the metal rail pieces.
I ended up going to the hardware store and picking up a can of 3M super 77 spray adhesive. I think if I did a bit of research, I would have found this to be the best option from the start, but I'm just glad that I didn't ruin the fabric trying to screw and staple. I had a buddy of mine help spray down the topper and the back of the fabric, and it was relatively easy to line all the holes I made back up with the top. I used a knife to trim the edges of the fabric to line up under the metal rail pieces so it looked seamless.
After playing on it for a couple weeks, I can say it is a definite upgrade over the plastic play area. I think it looks much better as well. It does have a 'grain' to it, where dealt cards will slide better in one direction than other ways. I'm not sure if this will become less noticeable through regular use. Also, I am worried that the lighter color will be more prone to getting dirty or marking up, but time will tell. Most importantly, we don't have any problems reading or picking up the cards anymore so I would call the project a complete success.
Overall, I'm really glad with how the top came out! I know this isn't anything close to a lot of the premium tables I see posted here, but I wanted to share my experience to maybe give some inspiration to someone like me who is just starting out and is on a budget. Feel free to let me know how I could have done this better or make fun of my lame folding chairs. Thanks for reading!
Getting this table was what initially sparked me to host my first home game, but after using it for a night, I ran into some issues. Firstly, you can kinda tell from the photo that there is a lot of glare and reflections from the topper, which made reading cards kind tough at some angles. The other main problem is that the top is wood, but it has a black plastic sheet glued to it that makes the table super slippery. I had people struggling to pick up cards all night. So, I was on a mission to make this table somewhat more playable, though I didn't want to spend a lot of money.
My wife does a bit of crafting as a hobby, so we go to Joann's often and I knew they would have something good. I looked around and decided to get a 55" x 55" piece of their Hudson Velvet, which was on sale, and I liked the feel of it. It's a bit dark in the basement so I went with a lighter gray color they call Chambray.
I've never done any furniture modification in the past, and admittedly, I should probably have researched the best way to attach the velvet to the top. I started by removing the metal "rail" pieces and gave the table a good wipe down.
I still wanted to retain the option to flip the topper over and have a regular wood top, so I didn't want to wrap the fabric around completely or have it noticeable from the opposite side. At this point I thought that there were enough screws around the border that those plus a few staples at the edges would secure the fabric pretty well. It was pretty easy to feel the screw holes through the velvet, so I mocked up the rails.
I though it looked pretty good! From here, though, I had some more problems. I tried to staple through the top, but since it was a decently thick sheet of plastic, I couldn't get the staple into it very well. And with my mocked-up design, I realized that the center playing area was going to move around and bunch up since I didn't think I'd be able to pull the fabric tight without ripping it thanks to those small screws and the sharp edges of the metal rail pieces.
I ended up going to the hardware store and picking up a can of 3M super 77 spray adhesive. I think if I did a bit of research, I would have found this to be the best option from the start, but I'm just glad that I didn't ruin the fabric trying to screw and staple. I had a buddy of mine help spray down the topper and the back of the fabric, and it was relatively easy to line all the holes I made back up with the top. I used a knife to trim the edges of the fabric to line up under the metal rail pieces so it looked seamless.
After playing on it for a couple weeks, I can say it is a definite upgrade over the plastic play area. I think it looks much better as well. It does have a 'grain' to it, where dealt cards will slide better in one direction than other ways. I'm not sure if this will become less noticeable through regular use. Also, I am worried that the lighter color will be more prone to getting dirty or marking up, but time will tell. Most importantly, we don't have any problems reading or picking up the cards anymore so I would call the project a complete success.
Overall, I'm really glad with how the top came out! I know this isn't anything close to a lot of the premium tables I see posted here, but I wanted to share my experience to maybe give some inspiration to someone like me who is just starting out and is on a budget. Feel free to let me know how I could have done this better or make fun of my lame folding chairs. Thanks for reading!
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