Poker table curved rail chip slot cover ideas? (1 Viewer)

[Tonysquander]

I have been kicking around the idea of creating some type of removable cover to go over the chip slots built into the racetrack on my table so players can just stack chips instead of putting them in the slots. Trying to crowd source some idea on how best to accomplish same. It is a round table and the slots look like this:

Only current ideas I have are to custom cut a thin piece of wood, cover it with felt or speed cloth and maybe glue something on the bottom that will fit into the slots to hold it in place. Other idea is to beg a 3d printer member to make something that fits and cover that with felt. would like to keep it even or below the slightly raised edge of the playing surface so it has to be fairly thin but stiff. Anyhow, I am open to any creative ideas you all can come up with short of buying a new table…lol. I don’t want to cover the drink holders so would need to replicate whatever cover I come up with x 8. Thanks for any ideas you have.

TS

 

[IamMattDamon]

3d print and make it thin. Put some lights inside for a cool effect

 

[Al Azouri]

Yeah. I think that’s a job for. 3D printer. Though getting the exact measurements will take a lot of trial and error - especially around the curve.

I’m not sure that you’ll be able to felt it and keep it at or below the play surface. There’s just not enough thickness there to do any stapling and I don’t thing there’s any way glue would keep the felt in place. You might want to do the opposite and make it a raised surface. This way you can staple the felt any have it act as a card stop.

 

[Tonysquander]

Yeah. I think that’s a job for. 3D printer. Though getting the exact measurements will take a lot of trial and error - especially around the curve.

I’m not sure that you’ll be able to felt it and keep it at or below the play surface. There’s just not enough thickness there to do any stapling and I don’t thing there’s any way glue would keep the felt in place. You might want to do the opposite and make it a raised surface. This way you can staple the felt any have it act as a card stop.

I don't have much experience (actually none) with how the designs/measurements are inputted into a 3d printer.

@BearMetal can you educate me?

Was thinking I could do a mock-up with thin cardboard to get the exact dimensions and if went with thin wood would have template to use for marking and cutting. Agree on the stapling, that won't work. There is adhesive back felt on the market and/or I have seen some projects where it is glued down as well. I think my biggest DIY issue would be getting the corners right and making sure it sat flat.

 

[BearMetal]

I don't have much experience (actually none) with how the designs/measurements are inputted into a 3d printer.

Everything 3D printing always begins with a 3D model in some CAD software. You create your three-dimensional model in something like tinkercad, or any of the other modeling softwares available (like SketchUp).

The modeling software is extremely precise, down to fractions of a millimeter if necessary. But once you have your model completed, then the rest is relatively "easy".

You would export your 3D model to a file type that can be "sliced". Slicing a 3D model turns it into many different layers. With each layer representing a single pass of the 3D printer head. So, you would take that 3D file and you would put it into a piece of software like Cura, and this produces a file that has instructions that you give to your printer.

I say that this is the easy part because creating a 3D model, especially one with curves can be extremely difficult. But slicing your 3D model for your printer can also prove extremely challenging. There are hundreds upon hundreds of options when you're turning your model into a bunch of layers for your printer.

Part of the issue with using a printer for this I think would be the size. I don't know very many home printers that are large enough to produce a single piece that can cover the rail. Yes, there are third party sites where you can give them your model and they will print them on professional, industrial grade printers, but it's not cheap.

 

[Tonysquander]

Everything 3D printing always begins with a 3D model in some CAD software. You create your three-dimensional model in something like tinkercad, or any of the other modeling softwares available (like SketchUp).

The modeling software is extremely precise, down to fractions of a millimeter if necessary. But once you have your model completed, then the rest is relatively "easy".

You would export your 3D model to a file type that can be "sliced". Slicing a 3D model turns it into many different layers. With each layer representing a single pass of the 3D printer head. So, you would take that 3D file and you would put it into a piece of software like Cura, and this produces a file that has instructions that you give to your printer.

I say that this is the easy part because creating a 3D model, especially one with curves can be extremely difficult. But slicing your 3D model for your printer can also prove extremely challenging. There are hundreds upon hundreds of options when you're turning your model into a bunch of layers for your printer.

Part of the issue with using a printer for this I think would be the size. I don't know very many home printers that are large enough to produce a single piece that can cover the rail. Yes, there are third party sites where you can give them your model and they will print them on professional, industrial grade printers, but it's not cheap.

Thanks for the quick reply. Sounds like the 3d printer idea is not feasible. I think if I did a mock-up template I can probably find nice thin wood or even plastic I could cut to size so that may be what I attempt.

The playing surface is about 3/16” raised and the slot is about 3/8” deep.

 

[BearMetal]

Thanks for the quick reply. Sounds like the 3d printer idea is not feasible. I think if I did a mock-up template I can probably find nice thin wood or even plastic I could cut to size so that may be what I attempt.

The playing surface is about 3/16” raised and the slot is about 3/8” deep.

Always happy to chat about 3D stuff! Oh, so you were thinking of an insert into each individual slot (or maybe an insert into the pair of slots) OK, that could be more feasible, but I think overall dimensions would help here. How log is each slot?

 

[Tonysquander]

Always happy to chat about 3D stuff! Oh, so you were thinking of an insert into each individual slot (or maybe an insert into the pair of slots) OK, that could be more feasible, but I think overall dimensions would help here. How log is each slot?

I was thinking about a full cover between the cupholder area. I guess potentially covering just the slots would work, but that seems harder (lol). Idea on the slots was just to have a little drop down piece under the cover at each of the 4 ends of the slots to keep the cover steady and in place. Was thinking I might just be able to cut a felt chair leg floor protector in 1/2 since it already has adhesive on the back and I could probably get them pretty close and squared up onto the little divider for a good fit.

 

[Tonysquander]

P.S. I was being lazy last night when I made the original post and just pulled a screen shot off of the internet of a similar rail slot. Have edited the original post with picture of my actual table.

 

[Machine]

I would buy ‘hardboard’ and use a jig to get a full 1 piece circle that would fit over the shaped race track. I would think this approach wouldn’t need any glue or fuss and would fit like an insert held in place by the rail. Then I would drill out the cup holes and pick up deeper cup holders which would also assist in keeping it in place, and less drink spillage. Then toss some thin closed cell padding on it, then cover with felt

 

[Nine_high]

I have been kicking around the idea of creating some type of removable cover to go over the chip slots built into the racetrack on my table so players can just stack chips instead of putting them in the slots. Trying to crowd source some idea on how best to accomplish same. It is a round table and the slots look like this:
View attachment 1070309


Only current ideas I have are to custom cut a thin piece of wood, cover it with felt or speed cloth and maybe glue something on the bottom that will fit into the slots to hold it in place. Other idea is to beg a 3d printer member to make something that fits and cover that with felt. would like to keep it even or below the slightly raised edge of the playing surface so it has to be fairly thin but stiff. Anyhow, I am open to any creative ideas you all can come up with short of buying a new table…lol. I don’t want to cover the drink holders so would need to replicate whatever cover I come up with x 8. Thanks for any ideas you have.

TS

Could you fill the trays with epoxy or something? I don't have any experience using epoxy but some kind of liquid fill is the first thing that jumped in my head. Not sure about aesthetics of this either. Just spit balling

 

[Tonysquander]

Could you fill the trays with epoxy or something? I don't have any experience using epoxy but some kind of liquid fill is the first thing that jumped in my head. Not sure about aesthetics of this either. Just spit balling

I definitely don’t want to fill it in. I was thinking of something that could be easily put in place or removed so players could have the choice of utilizing whichever method they wished to hold chips in front of their spot.

 

[GetUrShineBox]

Can you order a new custom padded top to just lay over the the existing felt and trays?

 

[BGinGA]

Could you fill the trays with epoxy or something? I don't have any experience using epoxy but some kind of liquid fill is the first thing that jumped in my head. Not sure about aesthetics of this either. Just spit balling

I definitely don’t want to fill it in. I was thinking of something that could be easily put in place or removed so players could have the choice of utilizing whichever method they wished to hold chips in front of their spot.

Epoxy, and supply chisels.

 

[Tonysquander]

Can you order a new custom padded top to just lay over the the existing felt and trays?

Considered that but would have to either cut holes for cupholders or go with side tables b/c slide-ins would not have anywhere to slide in. I may seriously consider this though, I installed the custom felt in the center and feel pretty confident I could do it for a larger diameter and make the cut. Hmmm....

 

[Nine_high]

Epoxy, and supply chisels.

There ya go. If they're gonna use the trays, they really gotta want it

 

[XBobdog]

How are the trays attached? My first though would be to remove them and put on a solid piece of wood.

 

[Tonysquander]

How are the trays attached? My first though would be to remove them and put on a solid piece of wood.

Good question. I didn’t really pay that much attention to it whenever I’ve had the center portion removed. I would imagine it is screwed down and maybe even glued down to the sub base to boot. I will check that out, but I imagine that part is pretty solidly attached.

 

[Al Azouri]

Part of the issue with using a printer for this I think would be the size. I don't know very many home printers that are large enough

You could always take a hybrid approach. Where you print some inserts that fit in the chip slots and glue or otherwise attach them to a flat piece of wood that is trimmed to fit.

You wouldn’t even need to fill the entire slot. Just an inch on either side and maybe and inch in the middle. Much more manageable to print that way.

But again, unless you’re really good with a micro-caliper it could take several prototypes before you get it right.

 

[T_Chan]

Lay down a sheet of thin plastic, then fill it with bondo and trowel it flat. When it dries you can pop it out and it'll be an exact copy of each section. You can then glue or double sided tape the bondo pieces to some thin wood, then even add felt on it if you want.

 

[Al Azouri]

The great Tony Chan comes through!

 

[Tonysquander]

I guess this is now a build thread.

Supplies
Adhesive Spray

Thin plywood

Adhesive backed felt

Cardboard

3mm high density foam

Tools
Scissors
Box cutter
Pencil
Jig saw

I made a template of the chip slot opening out of cardboard

Then marked up the plywood and cut to size

I then used the box cutter to cut the foam to match each piece

Sprayed the wood with adhesive, put the cut foam pad on it and let it cure while I worked on the other pieces. Rinse and repeat.

Once all of the pieces were cut and foam adhered, I started working on the felt. It had a paper back over the adhesive so I cut the felt pieces out with the box cutter slightly larger than the piece I was going to put it on so I would have material to wrap around the sides and on the back. Once that was done, I pulled off the paper back and set the piece in place and began wrapping it.

The felt install took by far the longest, and was the most tedious part. It went faster once I figured out I needed some relief cuts in the felt on the arced top and bottom sections.

I thought I might need something on the bottom of the piece to hold it in place over the chip slots, but they fit well enough, and are so stable, I don’t think it will be necessary after all. I will see how they do under game conditions and adjust as needed.

Overall I am very happy with the results.

Before:

After:

 

[Al Azouri]

Nice job! Looks and probably plays so much better.

 

[doublebooyah85]

Booyah!!!

 

[GetUrShineBox]

Came out great!

 

[Tonysquander]

Nice job! Looks and probably plays so much better.

Came out great!

Thanks, hosting in April so we will see how it does under game conditions.

 

[Snapplefacts]

Wow what a result, great job!

 

[4SUMERZ]

nice work...looks fantastic

 

[Tonysquander]

I hosted my league this past weekend and I am very happy to report that the slot covers worked perfectly. No issues and were super stable. The players who didn’t like using the chip slots loved these, and the ones who like using the slots were able to easily just put them to the side. Some action shots:

 

[Boother36]

That looks like it worked out perfectly!! Nice job!!!

And I loved how your 1 buddy kept his chips on the play surface, and didn't use your new addition, except to hold his drink!! I guess you can lead a horse to water.....