Upholstering the Playing Surface of A Lighted Poker Table

Upholstering the Playing Surface of Your Poker Table

Upholstering the playing surface of your lighted poker table is the best place to start as it will give you a little experience for when you move onto the rail.  For this step, we will be using piece A, your 1/4″ foam, your playing surface fabric, spray adhesive, staple gun, and a lot of staples.

To start, lay your foam down flat on the ground without any wrinkles or folds.  Then you want to lightly coat one side of the wood with adhesive and lay it sticky side down on top of the foam.  The weight of the wood will be sufficient to keep everything in place (Figure 2-1).

After a few minutes, you should find that the adhesive is more or less cured.  When it is, go ahead and cut the extra foam from around the edges of the wood.  Then lay your fabric down in a clean place and place the padded wood on top of it with the padding facing down (Figure 2-2).  If you’re using a fabric that has a “good” side, make sure it is facing away from the wood.

With your staple gun in hand, fold the fabric over the end of the wood on one end and throw in a few staples. Then you will move the the opposite end and repeat the process, this time making sure to pull the fabric tight before stapling.  With the ends secure, I move on the the center of each side and do the same thing, always pulling the fabric tight.  Now onto what would be the corners and finally all the way around the table always pulling the fabric very tight before stapling.  Check to make sure that your playing surface is tight and, most importantly, wrinkle free.  If there are imperfections, don’t be afraid to pull some staples out and redo any or all of the job.  When you’re happy with your work, go ahead and cut off the excess fabric (Figure 2-3).

At this point your playing surface is done. I have included a cross section of the playing surface to simplify anything that was previously unclear (Figure 2-4).

With the playing surface of your poker table upholstered, you can now set it aside somewhere safe.  Please move onto Step Four – Building the Lighted Rail