Let me learn from your Chanman experience (2 Viewers)

MarquetteMonkey

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Hopefully going to take the plunge on my first Chanman table very soon.

From the tables you have built, what would you absolutely do again and what would you do differently?

I am going to be doing an oval table with a custom felt. Probably my biggest questions are around a raised rail or not and thoughts on cup holders. I am not going to be doing a racetrack.

I plan on having the table be able to be both a stand-alone table with folding legs and as a table topper after removing the folding legs. Tony has indicated this is an option. If anyone else has done this or had experience with this and had thoughts I’d be interested in that too.

EDIT
I had originally intended to have this be relatively portable and convertible to a table topper. I am now scrapping the table topper completely and it will just be used as a standalone table. I still might want some portability because I don’t have the dedicated poker room that some on PCF have. So I am weighing the portability of a folding table with the sturdiness and appeal of a more solid base.

Question is two-fold:
1) Does anyone have a non-standard table that has a raised rail on folding legs? Is it sturdy and/or do you regret not upgrading the legs?
2) For those with non folding legs, what do you have and how do you like it? How hard was it to put together/tear down.

Of note I am not considering the $1000+ upgrades like boomerang base (as awesome as it is).

Just looking for any thoughts before I pull the trigger.

Thanks!
 
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i love the raised rail preventing chip stacks from being knocked over. Haven’t had a spilled drink with the deep cup holders in my rail. The powder coat Tony used on the cup holders is holding up great. Players like the raised rail lighting too. With custom cloth design, use gradients and shading to get the best bang for your buck. I really like my betting line both shading and spaced to accommodate limit stacks from the edge of the rail to the bet line. Tony is super to work with!

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There’s a 50/50 split on preferences btwn cupholders and drink carts - it’s really just what you like. Raised rails are cool if they aren’t too tall 3/4 - 1” seems to be the sweet spot.
 
i love the raised rail preventing chip stacks from being knocked over. Haven’t had a spilled drink with the deep cup holders in my rail. Then powder coat Tony used on the cup holders is holding up great. Players like the raised rail lighting too. With custom cloth design, use gradients and shading to get the best bang for your buck. I really like my betting line both shading and spaced to accommodate limit stacks from the edge of the rail to the bet line. Tony is super to work with!

View attachment 296764
That’s a great looking felt. I am hoping to do something similar with the betting line and gradients.
 
One edit that I will make to the first post, is that I plan on having the table be able to be both a stand-alone table with folding legs and as a table topper after removing the folding legs. Tony has indicated this is an option. If anyone else has done this or had experience with this and had thoughts I’d be interested in that too.
 
I’m a cup holder guy myself but I think that’s a personal preference thing. Chanman makes them a good size to get a drink in. The raised rail is completely personal preference. You can do some cool aesthetics with them but I get not wanting to have to reach down for some people.
 
Didn't have my table built by Chanman but for my custom one I went with cup holders since I don't have the space to accommodate 4+ drink carts. From what I've read it's a pretty even split and some people don't like drinks carts because they get knocked over. The raised rail is mostly aesthetic. You can have a cool diffuser like that As/Es table above or some cool lighting. Some people also like to have their arms up higher. I'd do at least a small raise to avoid cards from getting caught under the arm rest. Happens at my local casino and I hate it lol. I'd have not gotten a racetrack but I ordered my table before I was a member here and knew about the implications on play-ability. I thought the race track looked sweet (which it does) and therefore wanted it on my table. But I'm happy with the table outcome either way.

296802
 
I didn't think you could use slide in cup holders with a raised rail.

Depends on how you design it. Obviously can’t use slide-unders if you have a diffuser slotted into a routed channel, but if the raised rail is just another layer of plywood, for example, you can make it work.
 
I like cupholders on the table, and the rail seems to be the most practical and safe spot for them.
If the table is going to double as topper (without the legs), you really need the extra depth of a raised rail to accommodate the cupholders, I guess.

Absolutely go with a betting line on your custom felt, and make sure not to make the latter too busy and distracting for the eye. Tony even offers SSC with a betting line if I 'm not mistaken, which is the nice, simple and cheaper solution.
 
I got a custom table from Tony like a year ago and a half ago. The whole experience was amazing. He works with you and isn’t satisfied until you’re satisfied, I had a tone of revisions and changes throughout (to the point where I was probably annoying ha). But he was amazing to work with. Everybody loves my table (even non Detroit fans lol). You won’t regret anything by going through Tony.
Let’s go Red Wings! (Well next season)
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I dont like cupholders on the rail. A drink in there gets in the way too much. Slide in cupholders for the win.
 
Thanks for all of the responses. Wanted to get opinions on one more topic - the base/legs.

I had originally intended to have this be relatively portable and convertible to a table topper. I am now scrapping the table topper completely and it will just be used as a standalone table. I still might want some portability because I don’t have the dedicated poker room that some on PCF have. So I am weighing the portability of a folding table with the sturdiness and appeal of a more solid base.

Question is two-fold:
1) Does anyone have a non-standard table that has a raised rail on folding legs? Is it sturdy and/or do you regret not upgrading the legs?
2) For those with non folding legs, what do you have and how do you like it? How hard was it to put together/tear down.

Of note I am not considering the $1000+ upgrades like boomerang base (as awesome as it is).

Thanks again in advance.
 
I only wish I had moved the betting line in a little. Not sure what the distance is but wish I had a little more room for chips and cards. The drawback is that makes less center area for a design. So have to figure out which is more important.
 
Thanks for all of the responses. Wanted to get opinions on one more topic - the base/legs.

I had originally intended to have this be relatively portable and convertible to a table topper. I am now scrapping the table topper completely and it will just be used as a standalone table. I still might want some portability because I don’t have the dedicated poker room that some on PCF have. So I am weighing the portability of a folding table with the sturdiness and appeal of a more solid base.

Question is two-fold:
1) Does anyone have a non-standard table that has a raised rail on folding legs? Is it sturdy and/or do you regret not upgrading the legs?
2) For those with non folding legs, what do you have and how do you like it? How hard was it to put together/tear down.

Of note I am not considering the $1000+ upgrades like boomerang base (as awesome as it is).

Thanks again in advance.
So my table fits your criteria.

A05A361A-43E7-4138-82CE-50A280E442A6.jpeg


I had no choice but to make this a folding table as I already have one permanent table and my wife won’t let me do two. For folding legs it is sturdy enough but nowhere near what you get with a permanent base. If I had a choice I would 100% go with a permanent base but if you need folding legs I wouldn’t let that deter you from the purchase.
 
So my table fits your criteria.

View attachment 298169

I had no choice but to make this a folding table as I already have one permanent table and my wife won’t let me do two. For folding legs it is sturdy enough but nowhere near what you get with a permanent base. If I had a choice I would 100% go with a permanent base but if you need folding legs I wouldn’t let that deter you from the purchase.
Thank you - this is a very helpful response!
 
So my table fits your criteria.

View attachment 298169

I had no choice but to make this a folding table as I already have one permanent table and my wife won’t let me do two. For folding legs it is sturdy enough but nowhere near what you get with a permanent base. If I had a choice I would 100% go with a permanent base but if you need folding legs I wouldn’t let that deter you from the purchase.
Excellent concept, although too deep for my preference. Still, it has unique character.
How tall is the side on the total (wall + rail proper)?
 
Excellent concept, although too deep for my preference. Still, it has unique character.
How tall is the side on the total (wall + rail proper)?
Tbh no idea and I’m not home. Taller than usual because we wanted the sidewalk clearly visible although I must say I’ve mever found the height to be an issue.
 
I did want to point out that a raised rail table with standard folding legs will be X inches higher than a non-raised rail table, and require that X inches be cut off each table leg to get the table rail back to standard height.

This was done with @Mr Tree's gorgeous Paymaster table as well. A saws-all with a small-tooth blade for metal works well for the task.
 

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