Upholstering the Octagon Playing Surface

Upholstering the Octagon Poker Table Playing Surface

This is a great place to start to get your feet wet in the world of upholstering. The playing surface of this poker table is an extremely easy upholstery project even for those with no experience to speak of.  We will do this job in two, fairly simple steps.

First, lay your 1/4″ foam down flat on a hard surface.  Now spray one side of piece A with your adhesive spray and lay it down in the center of your foam (Figure 3-1).  Allow a minute or two for the foam to secure to the wood, and then cut off the excess foam flush with the edges of the wood.  Lay your fabric out and place the padded wood on top of it with the padding facing down (Figure 3-2).

Now, with your staple gun at the ready, begin folding the fabric up over the wood and stapling it tight.  Start with one straight edge and get a few staples in it.  Then move the the opposite side and pull the fabric tight and staple again.  Continue this process around the entire octagon until the fabric is tight on all sides and edges.  After checking the fabric side to make sure the the fabric is tight and wrinkle free, you can cut the remainder of the fabric away (Figure 3-3).  This will give you the octagon playing surface for your poker table.  A cross section is also provided (Figure 3-4).

Once you have the playing surface stapled and trimmed, you may want to go around and knock the rest of the staples flush if they are not already.  Then you can set the playing surface aside and move on to Step Five – Upholstering the Octagon Rail.