Poker Table Construction - Black Racetrack Table - Construct The Rail


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CONSTRUCT THE RAIL

GLUE THE RAIL TO THE UNDER-RAIL.
Set the RAIL piece on the saw horses so that the underside is facing up. Place the under rail on top of the rail making sure that the pieces match up (we marked alike sides earlier).
Apply the wood glue to outside 1.5 inches of the rail.
Place the under-rail on top of the rail and clamp the two pieces together.
Let the wood glue dry for 30 minutes... so relax, and have a High Life.
Remove excess glue with a clean, damp cloth.

ATTACH THE RAIL WITH SCREWS
Drill guide holes for the wood screws.
Attach the under-rail to the rail with 3/4" wood screws.
Remove the C Clamps
Place the rail over the racetrack/playing surface piece to confirm a proper fit.

APPLY THE RAIL FOAM
Lay the rail over the 1" high density rail foam.
Cut a 2" piece of foam from the unused end to use as a tracing guide for the outside of the rail and a 1.5" piece of foam as a tracing guide for the inside of the rail..
Cut along the cut lines with a serrated bread knife.
Once the foam is cut, apply the spray adhesive to the wood rail and lay down on the foam.

WRAP THE RAIL IN VINYL
Start by having another beer... because this part SUCKS!
To attach the vinyl to the outside of the rail:

Start on one side of the rounded rail and work your way around to the other side other the rounded rail.
Staple the outside of the rounded sections first.
Pull the vinyl towards you at an angle in the direction of the last staple.
Staple the outside of the straight edged sections.
Hammer in any staples still sticking out.
To attach the vinyl to the inside of the rail:

Cut out a rectangle in the inside of the rail, leaving 6 inches of vinyl to wrap around the straight edged sections.
Cut long triangular strips from the edge of the cut out rectangle towards the rounded sections of the rail.
When cutting the triangles, don't cut too close to the rails, leave about 4 inches uncut.
Start on one side of the rounded rail and work your way around to the other side other the rounded rail.
Staple the inside of the rounded sections first.
Pull the vinyl towards very tight. I used a hairdryer to soften and expand the vinyl. When the vinyl cools, it will contract pulling the vinyl even tighter. You want to do your best not to leave any wrinkles. This is very important.
Staple the inside of the straight edged sections.
Hammer in any staples still sticking out.
It is normal to have to pull out certain sections of staples to pull the vinyl tighter and restaple.
Trim down the vinyl near the edge of the staple lines.
Ahhh... now you should be glad you are done! The hard part is over.

ATTACH THE RAIL
Attach the rail, see how it looks.
Make sure the rail fits well over the racetrack. You may have to trim the vinyl further for a snug fit.
I had applied a single coat of polyurethane to the playing surface to help protect the wood from spills and provide some additional strength.