Practice table felt suggestions

[pressitkuya]

I'm building a craps table in the garage for practice and hoping for some suggestions on the covering.

I'd like one end to be relatively hard/average, and the other end bouncy.

I know that felt is the covering I should be looking for, but I expect it's not all created equal.

Any links or recommendations for plain felt that would be of casino quality...and also any suggestions of how to achieve the bounciness on the one end?

Thanks much

[Big O]

I'm no expert, but you can use flannel under for bounce. If you want more you can use marine grade vinyl under. The deck you use can have a big effect on bounce as well. If it has too much grain in the wood it can cause an uneven bounce.

[pressitkuya]

Big O, thanks for that...i got 3/4 birch for the deck, and will check that part out also

[heavy]

I'd go with billiard cloth unless you want to purchase a real layout. You can pick up a decent new layout for under $400. Often you can find take-off layouts from casinos on e-bay for about half that. High quality billiard cloth is going to be close to what you're looking for. For more bounce you can use that vinyl, some very thin closed cell foam, or just use six or eight sheets of newsprint.

[pressitkuya]

that's good info too, thanks, didn't think about used layout on ebay.

[SHOOTITALL]

I will throw in my from what it's worth dept. I think I would use a piece of leftover birch from the base and adjust a practice spot before doing all the heavy work on the table. Not good to put it together, not like it and redo, sometime more than once. Just my opinion.

[pressitkuya]

dang, that's a good idea...i have all the wood cut to size ready to screw together, and do have enough of the plywood left for that...experiment with different coverings on that smaller scale. Thanks

[bounce the bones]

You can always rip some one by one strip about one sixteenth thick, put them under the felt forming a square box under the landing area, and it will make it bouncer.

Then if you want it more bouncy than that just add another strip until you get the bounce you want.

East to change at any time.

[pressitkuya]

Great idea also, thank you