stuckshut

I need a better place for my buddies and I to play our weekly poker game, and after looking at how expensive pre-built tables were I decided to try and build one myself.

What I'm wondering is if anyone here has built their own poker table? Even directions to plans or general suggestions about size, materials, etc. would be very helpful.

zero2

Most tables I have seen are either round or square with rounded corners, I think if you went with the round table, your buddies could easily sneak a peak at your cards so go with a square table. Next maybe have green felt material on top of the table, with a lip or raised edge that goes around the outside of the table. You could easily use a router to make some interesting design. Then use a lathe to make the neck of the table and legs.

You should also consider how you want to store your table when it is not in use, maybe the legs fold in or the table can be dissassembled and put together without any hassle. Or the table can convert into a small coffee table or tv tray.

noblejr

I built my own table for ~$100. It's rather nice and functions well. I'll take some pictures today and post them tonight for you, along with some plans.

Mael

it should be octagonal, although circular works well too. it should be large enough to fit 6 comfortably, 8 a bit squished. felt top, although there are some plastic/rubber tops that work well too. if you have enough money to gamble with, you probably have enough to buy a decent table with. or maybe have your friends put in $2 a week each to a table fee, and when you have enough buy the table.

noblejr

Well, I've got to locate my camera, but here's what I used.


Tools:
circular saw and sawhorses
staple gun
heat gun
3M spray glue
drill



Supplies:
3/4" MDF
1X4 boards
1X1 boards
legs stolen from an old card table
quilt padding
felt
black leather-look vinyl
open-cell foam


I started by cutting out an octagon (dimensions will come with pictures) in the MDF board. I sanded the corners just a bit so they wouldn't tear the felt when it would be put on. Spray glue was applied to the top and I laid down some polyester quilt padding (about 1" think) on the top, and stapled it down to the cut edges of the board. Then I used the heat gun to 'shrink-up' the padding while patting it with my hand to make it flatter. I ended up with a nice 1/8 to 1/4 in of padding with a thick top to it. (A previous table I started w/ a friend was too 'fluffy' so I adapted this method to thickening the padding.)
Next the felt needs to be stretched and stapled. I stapled one edge, wrapping the felt all the way around the cut edge and stapling it to the underside of the table. Then I stretched it across the table and stapled, working from the middle outward. After working my way around the table I had a nice, tight felt surface that would press down just enough to easily pick up cards.
An old folding card table became a donor for the legs. There's a small amound of wobble to the legs but it's tolerable for now. Some day I'll build some nice wooden folding legs for it.

I also construced a padded armrest around the table. I'll describe how I did this when I get the pictures uploaded, hopefully tonight.

noblejr

Here's my semi-finished project. Someday I'll build better legs and maybe iron a logo onto the felt in the middle. I had thought about having it screen-printed at a T-shirt shop with a circle in the middle and some kind of logo, but I didn't have the extra $$$ at the time.



Here's a cut-out of my armrests. I built 8 seperate armrests and added them to the table. First I joined a 1X4 and a 1X1 to make to wood part. Then I stapled foam padding I got at the fabric store (Hancock Fabricks) onto the wood. Figuring out how the vinyl (also from the fabric store) would attatch over the foam and designing a template was the hardest part of this. Make sure you stretch the vinyl very tight. I had a friend help me by pressing the vinyl against the foam while I stapled.

Each piece fit right over one side of the table, and I worked my way around, attaching them from the bottom.



For the dimensions, first start with how wide you want each players side to be, then make an octagon from that. For the armrest you will have to do some work calculating the angles and accounnting for the thickness of the vinyl wrapped around the boards. If you get stuck, just ask and i'll help. atl_jimbo@hotmail.com. Just put "POKER TABLE" as the subject.

Jimmy

noblejr

here's 2 more pictues

bobw

poker.... I HARDLY KNOW HER !!!

acpower

wow that is a beautiful homemade poker table noblejr

noblejr

thanks. It did turn out better than I had expected. Much better than spending $500+ for something that functions the same.

passthru

Yeah, nice job, noblejr. I may have to go looking for an old table to get a set of legs from, but I want to build one.

ccvirginia

pretty sweet.

Mael

noble, great looking table! i'm curious though, did you think about putting chip trays in there? would taht be an easy thing to make from teh start or add?

stuckshut

awesome, thank you noble. I disappeared for a while during my move to college or I would have thanked you sooner. Now I just have to build the thing.

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mtimmerman123

sorry dude if i really knew i would be glad to tell you but i dont, hope you find out how, later

eltejano

that's an awesome table above
my two cents:
-I've seen a lot of nice used kestel tables around, If you're not a DIY'er I'd consider that.
-You can get a round "conference" table from Office Max or whatever that store's called for around $60. You could then order supplies like felt, padding, cup holders from a place like casino supply dot com (<a href=http://www.casinosupply.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Category_Code=OCH"> link</a>) or ebay

I'm not sure what your table stakes normally are but I'd try to keep the table pretty cheap so you can get some chair padding too . I have these wood chairs I like but after a few hours they suck. So I bought some decent tie-on seat cushions for my fat butt.

Good luck

noblejr

Mael: Yes, I thought about chip trays and cupholders but I didn't have any extra money to spend on them. If I were to add one, it would be the cupholders. I'm rather overprotective of my table when it comes to having drinks on it.

noblejr

Did anyone ever try to build a table? I just got an e-mail today about this thread.


-edit: Oh wow! It's been a year to the day since I last posted to this thread.

Delirious

Thats a nice table noble.. Have you ever seen the table tops ? I picked one up for $40 and it does the job pretty well.

2sheds

one thing to keep in mind - use a real gaming cloth to cover the table, not felt. a felt-covered table will get nappy as you use it, and the cards won't slide well. gaming cloth is like the stuff you cover pool tables with, and you can usually get it by the yard at places that sell pool tables.

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legolas

lol i love old classic (NOT corny... ok a little corny) jokes.

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skills1

Nice tables noble! I just bought a prebuilt one :x

hyperkarma

http://members.shaw.ca/pokertable/

Here's another one...

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Draconis

I'm going to use that to build a table for my frat house.

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bill96ab

I made a very nice wooden table several months ago. I used velvet rather than gaming felt becasue it was a lot cheaper. in all, i spet under 200 dollars on the table, but i aleady had the tools. if you want more info, i will post it.

here is a link to some pictures.

http://photos.yahoo.com/bill96a



Bill

Locke7

I'm not a huge fan of the octaganal tables. I like the poker room style a lot better. I just bought all of the materials for this guys plan...

http://jeffcroft.com/blog/archives/cat_poker.php (down near the bottom of the page)

I'll post again when I get started.

teacher22

hi bill96...

Could you send me any instructions or further pictures/suggestions for building a table similar to yours. It looks awesome!!!

Thanks

telekinetic

I'd maybe look elsewhere. Although bill96 is still a member, he hasn't been on in two months, and this thread is two days past 3 years old!

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