3rd table build.... (1 Viewer)

[Irish]

I then spray glued the strips around the inside and outside. Everything seemed to look good, but in hindsight, there are waaayyy to many seams. This was destined to fail.
View attachment 241580

Yeah, that's a really tough approach with the foam to get a good final result. The foam does compress, but when it's cut unevenly, the bulges will be evident once it's wrapped. When it's a single piece and the only cut portions are at the bottom edges of the rail, it's typically fairly well hidden. But having the seams running around the top is almost definitely what's causing the problem. If you recover it in the future, I'd probably just rip off the side foam pieces and run the cutting knife straight up and down along the inner and outer edges to get a nice straight foam line, that'll be a lot easier to wrap. The key to getting a nice looking rail isn't necessarily pulling the bejesus out of the vinyl, but rather taking your time and pulling the same way (force, direction, method) from start to finish. Lesson learned for the next table, and it does look like it's functional and comfortable. I've seen and played on a lot worse

I got the felt down on the table. Everything seems great, but I think I may have put the wrong side up. The contact from YAT indicated that the unsuited speed cloth has the most slide of all felts. This does not have more than my current suited speed cloth. Without the suites, it was hard to tell which side was supposed to be up.

I'm fairly surprised they said that, typically my experience has been the suited speed cloth (and even more so - the mini-suited) has better card slide than the unsuited material. I think slightly raised suit pattern provides more "air" under the cards as they're pitched. I honestly don't think there is a "wrong" side for the unsuited material, the fabric is one layer thick without a backing, then they treat it to make it water repellent and I think the coating soaks fully into the cloth. The SSC has two layers, the base material and then the stitching for the suit patterns, so there's definitely an up and down side. For the few tables I've used it on, I dribble some water on both sides to see if one beads up more, but honestly it's usually the same so I don't think it matters.

 

[Highli99]

This is 100x better than anything I could do. Thanks for sharing.

 

[T_Chan]

"A" for effort on the rail. The upholstery is the hardest part. Experience really helps with large round tables. Irish's advice is good. I do not like using electric carving knives personally, just a regular utility blade with a new blade works really well. Rather than adding strips for the sides, leave some overhang from the top foam.

Pulling the vinyl a bit tighter would help for the next one.

Good work.

 

[longflop]

I think when I redo this rail, I want to try to find a larger piece of foam. I think I saw something somewhere on here about being able to order 60"+ circles of foam. Less forced stretching would help my consistency I think.

Upholstery is by far my worst skill. In a related note, it is my least favorite part of the process. In hindsight, there is no doubt that experience helps with the large rounds.

 

[T_Chan]

Larger foam would make the job easier. The seams in the side pieces are what made it more difficult I imagine. On the inside, I leave a 1" overhang assuming 3/4" plywood. On the outside, just 1/4" extra for however thick the rail is. If 1-1/2" plywood, then I leave 1-3/4" overhang and it wraps around the edges without any creases/lumps.

This 60" rail was done with 54" foam.

Bear in mind that's me doing upholstery with 8 years experience. YMMV.

 

[longflop]

Thats a beauty! I think I just put too much faith in the adhesive keeping the seams together. Now I know you have to do everything you can to keep it as seamless as possible. Seams ruin dreams.

 

[Irish]

A couple of seams running perpendicular to the rail are usually workable, you can cover them with cotton batting. Seams running parallel, especially at the corners/pull points, you want to avoid. There was a recent thread about a 54" table with recommendation on foaming/upholstering, for future reference:

https://www.pokerchipforum.com/threads/54-inch-round-table-build-question.35874/

 

[longflop]

I am going to take another shot at this rail at some point. I love how the rest of this table came together too much not to. If I end up loving how this table plays, and I can afford it, I may make the investment on a @T_Chan custom felt with this logo that @p5woody helped me with:

Without the denomination, and moving the flags down and centering them, I think that could look really good on a round table. Maybe add a betting line around the outside. Ok, we're getting into a cart before the horse situation.

 

[DoubleEagle]

A couple of seams running perpendicular to the rail are usually workable, you can cover them with cotton batting.

That’s what most builders do. Have done it many times and it works very well. The upholstery work has a steep learning curve to do it at same level as @T_Chan and @Irish. Masters at work!

 

[choice]

Thanks for sharing! Looking forward to my first build soon.

 

[Jampiece]

Id love to play on that table dieting a self dealt game.

 

[Forty4]

This 60" rail was done with 54" foam.
View attachment 241632

Nice table

 

[Forty4]

Thanks for sharing I need to get motivated as I have two table bases and all other supplies but the rail is the part I’m most concerned with and I don’t handle imperfections well.

 

[saskbull]

if you do decide to give it another go : don’t know if the pros would advise this, but i wasn’t happy with my rail on my first oval table, so i pulled the 800 staples (not a good time) and used a heat gun on my second attempt. waayyy better. just kept it moving, on low and heated up sections as i went. and then hit the whole thing after i was finished. it seemed to smooth everything out. keep in mind i was using thick automotive vinyl, not the stretchy whisper stuff and i am not an upholsterer, so might be bad advice??. as previously mentioned, definitely use batting if you have seams, i used batting on the oval, no batting on the round (rush job from scraps), and it shows. there’s a seam in both rails shown (the oval seam is to the left of the top cup holder)

 

[longflop]

Thanks for sharing I need to get motivated as I have two table bases and all other supplies but the rail is the part I’m most concerned with and I don’t handle imperfections well.

I'm in the same boat man. Everytime I looked at it on Saturday I just thought, dammit Harry. The upside is that, and I think @Highli99 might agree, the 60" round plays really well for a self dealt game. As long as the pot is in the middle of the table, you never have to reach and it is super easy to deal. We got up to 7 handed during the tourney and everybody had good space, 8 would not feel crowded at all. +1 on design, -1 on upholstering execution.

 

[longflop]

if you do decide to give it another go : don’t know if the pros would advise this, but i wasn’t happy with my rail on my first oval table, so i pulled the 800 staples (not a good time) and used a heat gun on my second attempt. waayyy better. just kept it moving, on low and heated up sections as i went. and then hit the whole thing after i was finished. it seemed to smooth everything out. keep in mind i was using thick automotive vinyl, not the stretchy whisper stuff and i am not an upholsterer, so might be bad advice??. as previously mentioned, definitely use batting if you have seams, i used batting on the oval, no batting on the round (rush job from scraps), and it shows. there’s a seam in both rails shown (the oval seam is to the left of the top cup holder)

I might give that a shot before I pull everything and start over. I'm convinced that the seams are the major cause of this.

 

[Highli99]

I'm in the same boat man. Everytime I looked at it on Saturday I just thought, dammit Harry. The upside is that, and I think @Highli99 might agree, the 60" round plays really well for a self dealt game. As long as the pot is in the middle of the table, you never have to reach and it is super easy to deal. We got up to 7 handed during the tourney and everybody had good space, 8 would not feel crowded at all. +1 on design, -1 on upholstering execution.

I thought the table played great. I scooped many pots in the cash game and didn’t even have to stand up to take in those chippies. Felt and foam were great too.