Looking for Advice on My 2nd Table Build (1 Viewer)

[pokerpig]

I've found that my sweet spot for tables is 92" x 44". This will allow for 10 players without having to do the whole 4' x 8'. I too like a thinner rail; 4.5" is my ideal, but that's purely subjective. Also, instead of slide-under cup holders, what about side-tables with cup holders in them? I bought a four-piece set of black TV tables. I just cut proper size holes and drop the cup holders in before every game. They're easy to store and they keep clutter off the table as well as reducing the risk of spills. Below is a picture of what I'm talking about:

View attachment 3401

As far as legs go, I followed Redbelly's lead and got these: http://www.rockler.com/folding-stacking-banquet-table-legs.They're a little on the pricier side, but they're incredibly sturdy, they lock in both positions, and they're the nicest looking folding legs in my opinion.

I like those little tables, good idea. Now I know what my next trip to the store has in store for me.

 

[courage]

I've seriously been considering this. My only concern is that a round table with enough space for 10 dudes would need to be pretty huge, no?

Correct. Prolly need to be 55"-60". Standard 48" round can seat 6 or 7.

Is 65 lb foam for the rail still the way to go? Pretty sure this is what I used on my first one.

What about the padding under the playing surface? Current one has 1/4" closed cell Volara. Any other (aka: better?) options?

65 is great but I've used 50lb on almost every table I've built and nobody has ever noticed or commented.

I like the 1/4" sew foam (firm or medium) from YAT much better than Volara. Easy to work with, softer and no creases.

Side tables are great except if there are 40 players in crowded space or one won't fit where Drunktard Jerry is sitting.

 

[links_slayer]

I like those little tables, good idea. Now I know what my next trip to the store has in store for me.

Around here these can be found on Craigslist and/or at garage sales quite easily.

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Correct. Prolly need to be 55"-60". Standard 48" round can seat 6 or 7.

65 is great but I've used 50lb on almost every table I've built and nobody has ever noticed or commented.

I like the 1/4" sew foam (firm or medium) from YAT much better than Volara. Easy to work with, softer and no creases.

Side tables are great except if there are 40 players in crowded space or one won't fit where Drunktard Jerry is sitting.

I've decided to go oval. Thanks for your comments on the other materials, too. One comment I get occasionally is that the table is "too firm" (I agree to some extent) so I like to hear that this sew foam might be a better option for this build. If I stumble across TV trays on the cheap I might just pick them up and turn them into drink/snack tables. There should be extra room on each side with the narrower table (ldo) this time around.

Just sent a sketch (if you can call it that) to J5 for some table artwork. Weeee!

 

[Irish]

Thanks for the feedback I'm in the early stages of talking with J5 about a custom Three Putt Poker felt design. I'll probably start a separate thread for feedback on that part of it so this one doesn't get too muddled.

I might just go a tad thinner on this rail. Maybe 5" or thereabout. I've got a sample of rail suede from YAT coming just to see what that's all about.

Is 65 lb foam for the rail still the way to go? Pretty sure this is what I used on my first one.

What about the padding under the playing surface? Current one has 1/4" closed cell Volara. Any other (aka: better?) options?

IMHO yes the 65# foam is the way to go, for the extra few $ it's worth the upgrade over the 50#, slightly better quality. I've used it on tables that have been in regular use for years in private cardrooms and the foam has held up great.

It's a couple of years old now, but I did a comparison of the various playing surface foams here:
http://perfectmancave.com/forum/showthread.php?t=34314

Cliffs notes- the 1/4" high density foam would be my recommendation, but it's really a matter of personal preference.

 

[courage]

Nice comparison Irish. That HD foam is what I was referencing. Great stuff.

 

[Trihonda]

Links... When are you planning your build? I'm off work the second half of December. .

My my offer to help with your build still stands, or you're more than welcome to any of my tools.

I'll be in your neck of the woods at some point in the near future.. I just made arrangements to purchase a nice used table with folding legs to use as my second tourney table. The seller lives in defo, and is also a chip enthusiast.

 

[links_slayer]

Hahaha! Yeah, I saw that ad on Craigslist too

I'm in no real rush but if you have time and are offering to help I can certainly fit things into your schedule. You do great work and I'd love an assist. I plan on ordering materials from YAT in the near future. We could get everything done except covering the playing surface and attaching the rail. I don't want to rush the design part of that.

 

[Shanghai Sparky]

I have a roll of red 4' wide construction paper here (from Menards). It is used to protect new floors during work. Want me to drop off 10' at your house? You can draw a real sized mockup on it and place chairs around it to judge actual playing space.

 

[links_slayer]

Thanks for the offer sparky - good idea. However, I played at Trihonda's on Saturday at a nearly identically sized table (it may have been off by a couple inches at most. It will be perfect for what I'm looking for.

 

[Trihonda]

Thanks for the offer sparky - good idea. However, I played at Trihonda's on Saturday at a nearly identically sized table (it may have been off by a couple inches at most. It will be perfect for what I'm looking for.

Here's the LINK to my table build thread from PTF (Tony's forum). It has all my specs (92'x42').

 

[johnnycnote]

Wondering why you decided on a narrower rail? What was the drawback of the 6"? Figured the wider rail will provide more comfort.

 

[links_slayer]

Wondering why you decided on a narrower rail? What was the drawback of the 6"? Figured the wider rail will provide more comfort.

It's just a bit too big for my taste. IMO, comfort is more a function of padding and covering than width. Again, JMO. I'm not going much narrower with this one. Just a little bit

 

[Trihonda]

It's just a bit too big for my taste. IMO, comfort is more a function of padding and covering than width. Again, JMO. I'm not going much narrower with this one. Just a little bit

I'm sure there's a study of the PSI of the forearm resting on the rail, and the differences of rail width (surface area)... Ha!

I like the wider rail, but don't think a smaller (say 5") rail is going to be uncomfortable whatsoever. Go with what you want. The smaller rail will give you two extra inches of play surface to shuffle chips, set your phone, etc...

 

[magre]

I just finished my first table, went for an oval suitable for 8 ppl. The outer dimensons with rail ended up beeing approx. 3 ft, 3" x 6 ft 6" (metric ftw ).
Rail 4" with 1.25" thick padding worked out perfect imo. The distance across the narrow of the table was perfect, so maybe extend the length of the table to 8 ft, but keep the with a bit narrower than 4 ft.

 

[links_slayer]

Rockler folding legs arrived today along with other materials from YAT. The legs appear to be very nice. They got Mrs. Links' stamp of approval as well so that's a win by itself Decided on chocolate suede for the rail.

 

[Trihonda]

Decided on chocolate suede for the rail.

That's gonna look puuurrdy!!!

 

[links_slayer]

Figured I would get things back on track in this thread instead of my other thread. Here's a brief exchange:

What cloth are you going with? I have both gaming suede and SSC, and after my recent acquisition I have to say I am a huge SSC convert

Old table had SSC and I didn't care for it much. I preferred the feel of the gaming suede...but now you have me second guessing my choice!!

My main table is gaming suede which I felt great about until my recent acquisition of three BBO tables with SSC. The gaming suede is absolutely softer and doesn't have the suited background. That being said after playing on both I feel like the cards are in a dead zone on the gaming suede vs the SSC. The glide on the SSC >>>>>>>>> then the glide on the gaming suede. My players definitely prefer the SSC surface and have take to calling it the air hockey table. If the soft feel is more important to you then I get it but if I could redo the surface of my main table I'd switch it to SSC.

I'm starting to second guess my decision to go with gaming suede over SSC. I still have time to decide since I haven't ordered anything yet. BUT...J5 and I have all but nailed down the artwork and I want to get this sorted out in the event he needs to change anything if going one way or the other.

First, can SSC even be custom printed? I assume yes but haven't done much (read: any) homework yet on this. If yes, who does this?

Second, my games are self dealt (working on this...) so performance / card glide is currently a factor. Didn't have any issues with this on my old table w/ platinum colored SSC.

I much prefer the feel of the gaming suede but I guess if all other things equal (graphic quality, durability, etc): performance > feel

Any thoughts/suggestions?

 

[MoscowRadio]

I'm 99.9% sure that Chanman dyes SSC. I know for a fact BBO does. Maybe you could work out a way to get the unsuited speed cloth dyed if you don't want the suits on there? If you go (can) go that route, be sure to get the second version. I've used both and the second version is far superior to the first.

 

[T_Chan]

I do dye sub. You can always print the SSC pattern onto gaming suede. To me the card glide of my gaming suede is equal to that of SSC.

SSC can also be printed/dye subbed. I have a few yards of white dye-able SSC but haven't used it yet.

 

[Poker Zombie]

I cannot believe nobody has posted a video comparison of SSC vs Gaming Suede. Where's the PTF (Poker Table Forum)?

 

[links_slayer]

I do dye sub. You can always print the SSC pattern onto gaming suede. To me the card glide of my gaming suede is equal to that of SSC.

SSC can also be printed/dye subbed. I have a few yards of white dye-able SSC but haven't used it yet.

Thanks! Sorry for mis-using "printing" vs "dye sub" :/

Do you regularly keep white SSC on hand? Or could you easily get some if I wanted to go that route? To my untrained eye (would need to confirm w/ J5) I don't think my artwork would be overly impacted if I went the SSC route. If I decide on gaming suede there wouldn't be a need to print the SSC pattern onto it (but I admit that's a cool option!!).

 

[T_Chan]

I've been meaning to do a comparison video of SSC compared to gaming suede but it's just another thing on my To Do list. I have 6 yards in stock, enough for 2 layouts. I haven't really offered it as an option yet, I havent even done a test print yet but I'm sure it will be no problem.

If you print on actual SSC, the pattern isn't very prominent because all you see is the weave. It's not like the high contrasting SSC like a blackberry.

 

[MoscowRadio]

I do dye sub. You can always print the SSC pattern onto gaming suede. To me the card glide of my gaming suede is equal to that of SSC.

SSC can also be printed/dye subbed. I have a few yards of white dye-able SSC but haven't used it yet.

I can speak to the quality of Tony's gaming suede. It's not like other gaming suede samples I've received and I know I'll never build another table without using his cloth.

 

[Jeff]

I agree that 92/44 would be great. I have a 90/48 table and am perfectly happy with it. I think the maffs on space is about the same and it fits 10 fine...

Be careful on the width to length ratio. I was at a game where the table was too narrow and looked very weird.

 

[BGinGA]

I have Tony's gaming cloth (printed/dyed to look like green SSC but with an added betting line). It is outstanding. It replaced a SSC surface that has lasted for 7 years.

Josh, I'd break it down this way: if you have dedicated dealers, go with the custom gaming cloth. If you host games that are self-dealt, stick with SSC -- the extra slide is highly beneficial when dealing from end-to-end.