# Octagonal Poker Table



## Jdurg (Sep 7, 2008)

*Octagonal Poker Table - FINISHED!!!*

I am VERY new to woodworking and this is actually my very first project. So this project is introducing me to my power tools, different types of wood, and the many mistakes one can make that will take a lot of work to correct.

The first photo was taken by my cell phone and is just the raw base with the molding and trim work added. The base is an octagon made out of white pine, as are the base and top modling. The vertical trim work is red oak and is used to cover my mistakes from when the pine boards didn't line up properly.

The second photo is of the base with the legs attached, stain applied (Vermont Maple), and a fresh coat of the PolyAcrylic applied to it. Again, this was taken with my cell phone so the color appears MUCH darker than it really is.

Finally, the third photo is of the base attached to the playing surface and the red oak plywood, that will make the base of the chip trays, attached to the top. This was taken JUST after the pre-stain conditioner was applied. I have since applied the same Vermont Maple stain to the trays and have rough cut the interior trim boards and the corner pieces where the cup-holders will go. Until I get a hold of a router table, it's kind of on hold. 

Thus far it hasn't been all that bad. For the inexperience I have, I think it's pretty damned good. I have come across a few issues though. :icon_cry:

1): The inner octagon isn't a perfect octagon, so not all of the chip trays are of the same width. This leads to issue #2.

2): The external angles where the outer oak trim will go is not the same on all 8 sides. This means I will have to cut some funky angles in order to get it to match up seamlessly which I will need to do. In addition, this makes all of my corner pieces that I cut a bit different and not uniform and that will be visually troublesome. Thankfully, I purposely cut them slightly too big so I can trim them up for a tight fit.

3): Perhaps the biggest issue. The oak plywood use for the chip trays was slightly curved, so when I attached them to the base most of them angle downward a bit. This will leave gaps where the side trim exists when I ensure that the corner pieces are level. Thankfully, I picked up some cove molding that will fit on those sides and look beautiful in there. I just hope the exterior trim goes on properly so I only need to put that cove molding on the interior sides.

The project will probably be on hold for a few weeks until I can get the oak board for the exterior, more of the cove molding, and I can get a router table to use. (My father keeps promising me he'll bring his over to my house where I can store it and use it, but he hasn't brought it over yet and next weekend I'll probably just go and buy one. I need it to round over the edges of the interior trim and the corner pieces, plus use it to trim up the pieces so they fit right).


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## John in Tennessee (Jun 11, 2008)

As a wannabe woodworker all I can say is WoW!! for a 1st project. As a poker player it looks a bit small. What are the table and felt dimensions? I hope my 1st real project is that bad.  How did you arrive at your angles? 360 divided by 8?


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## Jdurg (Sep 7, 2008)

The playing surface (The green felt) is 48" across, and the chip trays are about 6" deep, but not all of them as my measuring abilities still need work. Hehe. The table itself (from floor to top of playing surface) is 31" high. I made the playing surface by taking two 2'x4' plywood boards and cutting the corners off at the proper length. Sadly, this is where my mistakes got magnified because I stupidly assumed the 2'x4' measurements were correct. They weren't. They were off by a good 1.5" on the pieces so my angles were cut a bit off. As a result, the rest of the table is a bit off which has led to my issues.

For the angles, yes, I did take the 360 and divided by 8 to get 22.5* for the angles. For the chip trays, even though the angles weren't exact it didn't matter because the corner pieces will hide that. The hardest part is going to be getting the interior trim on, getting the corner pieces shaved down properly, and getting the external board on there and not having any gaps. I'm a bit nervous about doing that so it will take me some time. (I never do anything if I'm still a bit nervous about something because nerves lead to mistakes which leads to more mistakes).

I'm happy with how it's turning out. Even though it's not done yet, I'm hosting a game tomorrow night since the table is in playable shape. I myself am a bit stunned at how well it's turned out.


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## Jdurg (Sep 7, 2008)

I hosted the first game last week and the table held up beautifully. Even with 8 drunk guys leaning on the edges and abusing the table. It held up quite well. A little bit of wobble if force was applied in the right way, but that's due to the angle brackets being used to hold the top on. It wasn't really an issue though. The table is nice and sturdy and I am so happy that it held up. My father is also cleaning out his garage and moving his power tools into my house since he has a key and I've always told him that if he needs to use anything he's welcome to come right over. Meanwhile, I'm getting a bunch of great tools. The router table was dropped off last weekend, and earlier today I routed a rounded edge on my interior trim pieces and they have come out beautifully. This weekend I'll attach them to the table and be one or two weekends away from a completed table. Pictures will follow at that point.


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## Jdurg (Sep 7, 2008)

Well, the interior trim didn't go on like I wanted it to, so now I'll get to learn about how to use putty on a stained piece and blend it in. Ugggh. :-( I eventually go it on, but it's not spectacular looking. In addition, the corner cup-holding pieces turned out like crap, so I'm just going to bite the bullet and buy some more oak boards and start over with those. In the meantime, I did go and get the exterior trim pieces and began attaching them. The outside corner was rounded down on the router table, and I'll also be getting some quarter round trim for the bottom edge to cover the parts of the chip well bottoms that are showing. I also need to pick up one of those angle finders so I can bisect the corner angles better. I'm going to have to do a lot of shaving and sanding as the corners aren't coming out perfect. That will take a lot of work, but hey, if I've spent this much time on it already a few more weeks won't hurt. It's just nice seeing it slowly come together more and more each day. Hopefully I can take some time off of work this week so that I can spend a full day on the project and get it fully assembled. At that point I can start staining and eventally finish it.


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## Jdurg (Sep 7, 2008)

It's been a while since I posted in here, but a lot has been accomplished. I came to grips with the fact that this hasn't turned out as perfect as I wanted it to, or expected it to. When I had a friend stop by and he looked at the table, he just said "Holy cow that thing is beautiful!" Even with the imperfections that I know of, he still thought it was great looking. My parents came by the house and said pretty much the same thing. So that has made me feel a lot better.

The contruction is all done. I am now in the finishing stage. The three photos of the table below are after one coat of stain. There are some blotchy areas that I will work on with more coats of stain. The bottom of the chip wells are already stained, and I noticed that after about three or four coats, the color evens out on its own as the areas that have absorbed as much as they can don't change color anymore. It's a pain in the ass staining this thing as all the corners and angles make it difficult to get into them all. I'll have to pick up a bunch of small artist's brushes in order to get into the corners and ensure they are stained properly. Putting on the gloss finishing coats will be an adventure, but the end result will be worth it. :smile:

(The holes you see will be plugged by little buttons which are currently being stained separately).


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## smitty1967 (Feb 24, 2008)

JDurg: that is one _awesome_ project, man! Wow! I love the way it turned out. Glad you were able to share. I may be lifting some ideas from you soon. Again, great job!

smitty


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## Jdurg (Sep 7, 2008)

Thanks smitty. The kind words mean a lot to me. As I now get closer and closer to a completed project, it really does look better and better. The flaws and design mistakes make it appear hand made and not mass produced. And the little imperfections in it just don't seem to stand out as much anymore. I know that when the next one comes along, I'll learn from the mistakes made on this one.

Feel free to contact me any time if you have questions, or even seek advice on the best way to go about building one. (Best advice I can give is start by building the outside octagon first, then build the inner one. By building the outside one first, you can mass cut everything at the proper 22.5 degree angle and then just throw together the middle piece. This will also allow for better removal of the playing surface and any imperfections in the cuts for the playing surface won't be seen due to the felt. I built mine the opposite way and it's harder to cover up mistakes on stained wood).


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## Jdurg (Sep 7, 2008)

Just wanted to say that the table is DONE!!!!! The last coat of poly was applied this morning and it is fully drying and curing as we speak. Later today I plan on getting a couple of final photos of the table and posting them here. Thanks for all the kind words and encouragement everybody. This thing looks great. There are certainly some issues such as the buttons not being anywhere close to evently spaced on the outside, a few gaps, some minor coloration problems, etc., but it makes it all look handmade which is great. I would have liked things to come out a bit smoother (would have taken me a few months to sand it down completely smooth, if that's even possible with the wood I used), and the angles made sanding almost impossible. So it's got a somewhat rough texture to it but I like it.

Photos to come later today. (Currently have a plumber at the house since I had a bit of an unfortunate incident with my shower. The valve assembly was leaking, and when it was being removed the entire thing went to hell. Add to that the fact that the access to the plumbing is not very easy at all and I'll have myself a $700 bill to deal with. I guess I better start making good use of my poker table!)


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## Jdurg (Sep 7, 2008)

Okay, as promised here at the photos from the finished table. I have to say that the camera plays weird tricks, because there are some areas where it seems like the poly didn't apply all the way, but when I went and re-checked those areas, they are perfectly glossy. Weird. 

Anyway, I'm very happy that this is done and the first game on the completed table will be this Monday. In the end, it turned out to be maybe an inch too high, but I think the folding chairs I have on it are just too short. (I expected 17" chairs and these are 16"). Over time, the chairs will be replaced with wooden chairs (Well, at least one for MY seat. :smile: ) Until then, I can always put something under the feet of the chairs to raise them up if need be, but for now it's only annoying to me.

So the photos below show a close-up of the chip wells, a shot from the side, a shot from the top, and another shot from the top. For someone who had NEVER done woodworking before, I think this is a good start. In a few weeks, I'll probably start on my next project which will be a simpler, fancy oak box.


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## Kenbo (Sep 16, 2008)

All that I can say is that for someone who had so much frustration with this project, it turned out FANATASIC. I'd be proud to have it in my home!! Great job.
Ken
:thumbsup:


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## Jdurg (Sep 7, 2008)

Kenbo said:


> All that I can say is that for someone who had so much frustration with this project, it turned out FANATASIC. I'd be proud to have it in my home!! Great job.
> Ken
> :thumbsup:


Thanks. :smile: All that blood, sweat, and tears has turned out to be a great looking table. (Well, minus the blood. I actually not once cut myself while working on this which is AMAZING considering my lack of experience with nearly all of the tools I used). I can't wait to show it off to my poker buddies tomorrow when I host the first game on the finished table. (The only saw it after the base was built and the chip well bottoms were on. They've never seen it with the cup holders and external trim on there, nor with a stained, polyd finish).


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## dbhost (Jan 28, 2008)

Man that is one sweet looking poker table. Is that your own design, or did you build a copy of the poker table from New Yankee Workshop? I would be proud to set up at that table and fleece my friends at poker yet again... Uh I mean play a few hands, yeah, that's it....


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## Jdurg (Sep 7, 2008)

Thanks! I actually did a search online for octagonal poker tables, and the chipwells and corner cup holders I found were typically of this style, so that is what I went with. For the base, I wanted something to kind of mirror the octagon of the table-top so I made that octagonal and just put the trim and legs on there to liven up the previously bare wood. To be honest, I've never seen Norm's table! I've been dying to catch that episode, but the damn PBS station around here keeps pre-empting it for some European singer dude who just whines incessantly. I guess the elderly folk who give up their money like him or something. Heh.

The coloring of the stain was chosen to compliment the wood floors. The wood floors are a VERY dark color so the medium tone of the Vermont Maple Minwax stain looked to be the best match. I'm happy that it is because I bought the can of stain without picking up a variety to choose from. So the basic design was taken from some tables I've seen online, but the little details were something out of my imagination.


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## smitty1967 (Feb 24, 2008)

Jdurg: 

Man, I can't stop looking at your table! You did an outstanding job. 

I'm at the point now where I need to ask you some questions....

How did you decide on the dimensions for each player's chip basin?
What are the overall dimenions of the table?
How did you adhere the felt?
How did you join the table carcass to the pedastal?

If you like, you can PM me here or email me at < [email protected] > and we can chat further without mucking up the thread of your fine project. 

Yeah, in case you haven't guessed, a poker table is on my list. I think I'll start with the pedastal....

smitty


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