Monday, September 10, 2012

Rail Design

OK I've spent way too much time in the forums dedicated to building poker tables.  But I think I've got my rail design down.

So there are a couple of different options that I have when building a table.  First off, there will not be any racetrack on the table.  I personally hate them, and they make a lot of noise (not good for recording).  Plus they create a LOT of extra work to build.  So thats that.  Next was to choose between a "2 sheet table" or a "3 sheet table" as they are referred to in the forums.  What it comes down to is do you want the rail to go completely underneath the table, or should it just be on the top with a nice veneered siding wrapped around the edge instead?

To complicate things further, I need to work in the fact that this will be holding electronics.  That right away tells me that I'm going to need another layer to act as a lid or a cover for the electronics.  And while I'm at it lets throw in the fact that I would like to be able to get to the electronics should something go wrong.  So something removable was in order as well.

After a couple of drafts sent to Andrew (the VideoPokerTable.net guy), I settled on this:



cross section of the rail and table design


Apparently the maximum distance between the receiver and the cards can only be less than 25mm.  So I had to make the playing surface on 1/4" plywood.  The playing surface will not be glued or permanently attached to either the rail or the base.  Instead it will "float" in the center, held in by the pressure from the foam rail on the edges.  The rails will be attached to the base with bolts that are screwed into EZ-Lok wood inserts that are in the rail.  Tighten those down and everything should be pretty secure, with no room for the cards to slip under the rail.  In addition, take those bolts out, lift off the rail and playing surface and you can easily get to the electronics that are in routered spaces in the base.  Kind of like popping the hood!

I'm hoping to pick up the plywood and start cutting at the close of the week!

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