The new tables i'm building is almost done! Just a few more screws to hold the rail and middle felt area down and some folding legs on it, and that's about it.

I have 1 question though...I am not entirely happy with the transition between the racetrack and the felt. I shaved some off slightly to make it fit but it seems like i shaved a bit too much. Does anyone have suggestions with what i could do to make that tiny little crack in between the felt and racetrack look better?

I suppose you could get some leather trim to match and glue it into the seam. It'll make felt changes tougher, if it comes to that ever.

I was thinking about possibly some sort of real thin weather stripping of some sort. I have to go to home depot and see what i can find I guess.

I hope you have some hamsters to race on that track. Makes for some great wagering opportunities.

Haha...this will be the last table i build with a race track on it. I really don't like them that much. I like playing with chips and people have a hard time looking at their cards on it. The next table will have cup holders in the rail and no race track.

You can use some thin decorative rope. The kind you sometimes find on the trim of chairs and couches. It would be tough to get it in there and stick, you would probably have to glue it.

The best solution is to take off the felt, add something thin to the edge of the playing surface, make sure it fits nicely then replace the felt.

Yea, extra padding of some sort on the sides of the felt would def be the best solutions. I made a big mistake cutting down the felt after i stapled it. So now, if i take the felt off and make it thicker on the sides...i don' think it will wrap around. I guess i could just buy more felt again and redo it all.

Well actually I should say the best best solution is to cut a new playing surface piece that fits better.

This is a common problem for new builders. Instead of scrapping the work you've done I would suggest as above and glue some deco rope along the seam. It will look ok but you'll know better for next time. I use a PVC piece attached to the playing surface that is a "filler" between the routed space between the track and playing surface. As Chan said the best thing to do looks wise would be to cut a new piece but unless you've routed it you'll still have uneven spots. Do some bandaid work and chalk it up to learning experience

It would be nearly impossible to cut one perfectly to fit though.

I tried some thin weather stripping...which seems like it was an awesome idea at first, but there is just no way to make it work. It's too tight for any filler like that. What about some black hot glue sticks? Just filling it in along the seem?

Do the deco rope. Also I just noticed the cupholder layout is a little off, did you space them a certain way?

nice looking table man...nice handi-work...love the look of the wood racetrack and I like how you laid out the grain etc. beautiful felt fabric. I love that. might have a very minor issue with red cards and red chips for someone with deteriorating vision. but whatever..I like it.

tbh, having had experience on tables like this, it really is not fun to play on these. it's a pain to look at cards, fold cards, and to slide chips...especially multiple stacks.

also I prefer when the cup holder is in the railing itself and doesn't take up space on the table. (not sure how hard that is to do though). prob with this racetrack concept you could have just left the cupholders out and just made some matching coasters or something to go with the table. that way someone without a drink isn't inconvenienced by it.

I would def discourage your customers from getting a table like this in the future unless they are set on it...even though I do think they look better.

how about pad and felt the racetrack, like in a contrasting color of ssc?

Do you happen to have a link to some deco rope that you would recommend? I messed up on the layout of the holders completely, so ya...it's off.

Not a bad idea, i'll have to fill in a small gap anyways.

No it wouldn't. Scribe it with an offset.

New piece on horses, racetrack on top, use some sort of bearing to offest the pencil the desired width and cut along the line.

Another option would be to cover the racetrack with a different color cloth. This way you would still have the betting line and the cloth would fhelp fill in the gap.

I helped my friend build a table and he wanted it like that. It looks fine.

I ended up using some decor rope, but decided to make it a bit thicker than usual. I can't stand trying to look at or pick up cards when it's on the race track. It's simply too slippery and ends up making everyone take way longer than it should to decide what to do. With this rope, the cards won't make it onto the race track. They hit the rope and it stays on the felt. It's not the prettiest thing in the world, but I like the idea of it a lot.

So what was the point of making the racetrack?

For chips + drinks + looks?

you would have been better off keeping the gap...

chips - will stand on a full felted playing surface. no hassle there.
drinks - use side tables
looks - well.... doesnt work if the cup holders and off, and that rope looks hideous.

sorry bro, just being honest..

at least the chips look cool!

Side table are terrible...drinks literally spilled every single night, multiple times. The table looks fine in person. You don't even notice the cop holders being off. I'll learn from my mistakes next time and make it better. It is what it is.

Weird. You guys with racetracks take your cards off the felt area?

Cards stay on my felt, generally in the RFID circles, with no problem. Drinks (in insertable cupholders) and chips mostly on the racetrack.



[Photo is from last year's bulk purchase of tournament chips before HPI2013 - my chips are in the corner.]