Raised Railing Poker Table

How to add a raised railing to your poker table

      If you want to raise your railing an inch or two you're going to need to buy some extra wood and paint or stain.  A raised railing can give your poker table a really nice professional look and its pretty easy to do.  There are two ways to do this and its really a matter of preference on what you do.  The first way looks nicer but the second way is less work.  I will explain both in this section.

Additional supplies:

• One or more sheets of wood
• Paint or stain
• Sand Paper
• Paint Brush

       The first thing you need to do is complete steps one through four.  This will give you an upholstered playing surface and 2 pieces of wood cut to make your railing (B&C).  With an additional piece of wood you need to cut a piece identical to piece B (Fig 6-1).  If you choose to build your railing the first way (Fig 6-4), and I would, than now you need to cut a ring off of the outside of piece E identical to peice C (Fig 6-2).  For information on these previous pieces see Step 3.

       Once this is complete you will have two seperate rings that we will now refer to as E1 and E2 (Fig 6-3).

       The first step in now assembling your railing is to attach piece B and E2 and upholster as described in step 5.  The reason for cutting E into 2 pieces is so that we can tuck the vinyl ends under E1 while still being able to upholster the back of E2.  Once you have done this you can attach E1 and C to thier respective places.  Its a good idea to sand and paint the exposed edges before you attach them to avoid a mess later.  Now you can attach your railing to the table as described in step 6.  If you want more height to your railing you have the option of adding another ring of wood before attaching piece C.  This ring will be another replica of Piece E and does not need to be cut into E1 and E2.  You can add as many rings as you like at this point.  If you want to make your railing 2 feet tall and wallpaper the inside of it and hang family photos in there you certianly have the option.  Your table will with out a doubt look rediculious though.  I recommend no more than one extra riser (Fig 6-4).

      If you want to take the easy route, you won't need to cut peice E into E1 and E2.  You simply upholster piece B by itself and everything goes together nicely (Fig 6-5).  You will have more exposed wood on the outside of the rail if you go this route and will probably want to use some kind of filler to mask the joints.  This is especially true if you decide to use an extra riser.

       An option to make the outside and inside of this railing look really nice is to skin it with acrylic.  You are going to spend some extra cash doing it but I guarantee it will be beautiful (barring insanely poor craftsmanship).

       For more variations on your poker table visit our other ideas section.  Also if you have ideas of your own be sure to let us know.  If you build a poker table and our plans helped out give something back.  Share some photos of your table.