Dave's Poker Table Top

Page 2 - Parts List & Outer Octagon Construction

I did not start taking photos until after the staining phase but you will understand the process from what you see here.

Construction

(2) 1"x10"x8' pine (outer octagon base)	$40
(1) 1"x2"x8' pine (cup holder structure sides)	$2
(1) 1"x8"x4' pine (cup holder structure tops)	$8
(2) 1"x3"x8' poplar (outer octagon outside trim)	$6
(1) 4'x4' plywood (inner octagon)	$8
(2 yds) green Ultra-Soft Veleveteen (from yourautotrim.com)	$24
(2 yds) 2EO 1/4" Volara padding (from yourautotrim.com)	$20
(8) jumbo, aluminum (came as a pkg of 10 from Tablesharx)	$55
(1 qt) polyurethane	$8
(1 pt) stain	$6
(1 can) 3M 77 spray adhesive	$8
hardware (brackets, latches, velcro, 3/8" oak buttons)	$25
TOTAL	$202

Materials

OUTER OCTAGON:

My buddy NO-EL Blankenship helped me cut 22.5 degree cuts in the 1"x10"x8' pine planks and the project was off and running. Noel also loaned me his biscuit jointer to help bond the sections together. (What's a biscuit jointer? There are some good photos of one in action here.) Finally, three brackets (the two you see on the bottom of each joint and another on the top) at each "seam" secure the joints for good.

Close-Up of Seam:

Close-up of the cup holder holes. I drilled the holes BEFORE the cupholder section was built so that I could clamp the two pieces that have holes together and just drill once.

Also visible are the brackets and the screws holding the cupholder structure to the base.

By the way, everywhere you read about cup holders you will read, "wait to drill the holes until AFTER you have your cup holders." Now I know why. The width dimensions given for the holders are INSIDE dimensions. So, all my holes were 1/16" of an inch too small. Hehe. Ok, Ok.

This photo shows the tops of the two halves of the outer octagon. Here the third (and final) coat of polyurethane has been applied. Note the glue splotches and imperfections in sections of the "chip wells". These areas are not a concern as they will be covered with solid pegboard sized for each spot. The pegboard will then be covered with the same padding and veleveteen as the inner octagon. I applied polyurethane even over the non-visible sections so that when the inevitable beverage spills occur, there will be no damage to the wood. Even the nacho cheese that tends to escape the plates of certain unnamed players (John) shouldn't be a problem.

Cup Holder Structures

I have had a few questions about the cup holder structures so here are some facts and figures.

The tops are 1"x8" pine planks cut to the shape you see in the photos. Of course, 1" means it's really just 3/4" thick.

The tops are placed on sides which are made of 1"x2" pine pieces turned on their sides. Of course 2" really means 1 1/2". So that means the total HEIGHT of the structures are 2 1/4" (1 1/2" side plus 3/4" top).

I made the structures that height because my cupholders were 3" high. That way, if I drilled a hole in the 3/4" base and fit the cup holder through the hole in the TOP then through the hole in the BASE, there would still be enough clearance so that the bottom of the cupholder wouldn't touch the top of my kitchen table (and cause the cupholder not to seat all the way down into the cupholder structure).

The WIDTH of the cupholder structure was determined by (1) the width of the cupholder lip and (2) the length of the metal bracket that is hidden under the cupholder structure. Look at the photo of the two metal brackets on the bottom of the outer octagon. There is a third single metal bracket on the top side as well. It is UNDER the cupholder structure as close to the outer edge as I could get it. So the cupholder structure had to be wide enough for the 1"x2"s to clear either side of the bracket.

As far as the length of the cupholder structures...the inner octagon has a 38" diameter and the outer octagon has a 54" diameter. So when the inner octagon is in the center of the outer octagon, there is 8" on every side to play with. I sized the length of the structures at 7 1/2" to leave about 1/2" play between the inner octagon and the end of each cupholder structure.

All Three Pieces:

This photo was actually taken before any poly was applied. It's starting to come together.

Here you can clearly see the cup holder structures, the ample room in the chip wells, and the oak buttons placed in the outer rim which is made of 1"x3" poplar.

A close-up of the inner octagon where it will "almost" meet each cup holder structure. Note the top edge of the inner octagon has been routed with a round over bit so the padding and velveteen will flow nicely down the side and not tear.

Chip Well Bases

Here are the eight chip well bases placed on the roll of 2EO 1/4" Volara padding. The bases are just cheap 1/4" solid pegboard cut to fit each individual chip well. I cut the padding to fit each base then glued each piece of padding to its base using 3M 77 spray adhesive.

Then the green ultra-soft velveteen was cut to fit each base and stapled into place. To say this really was not too much fun is understating it dramatically. Turns out my staple gun would not drive the staples all the way into this pegboard which is very dense (hard). I had to finish each staple with a hammer. Staple, hammer, stretch, staple, hammer, stretch, staple, hammer, stretch... And there are EIGHT of them??! If I had to do it again I would use 1/4" plywood instead.

However, the effort seems to be worth it. The merlot stain, the gold aluminum cup holders, and the green ultra-soft velveteen go together nicely. The 1/4" padding gives a very firm yet not hard feel to the base.

Darrell, I still say green was the best choice.

While the chip well bases fit snugly into place, I decided to velcro them down to assure they'd stay put while the sections are being moved and hung on the garage wall.

Four down. Four to go.

Go back to Page 1 of 3
(General description & finished photos)

Go to Page 3 of 3
(Inner octagon construction)

Contact Dave: creolejazz(at)yahoo.com