Just thought I would share my results.

I made a VERY nice table top 36 x 24 inches. The wood is 3/4 inch Pine, pre-lamanated. (Lowes)
I glued some "headliner" foam to the board. Then stretched some Billard table Felt over that.

The headliner foam is the stuff they use in cars for the ceiling. It comes in different colors and is about 1/8 inch thick. You can get it at Hancock Fabric Store. The glue came from the same place. It is a 3M super hold type glue. Number 90 strength I think.

I got the Billard table felt from a local Billard supply store. You can, however get it online much cheaper.
(I was in a hurry) It too comes in a varity of colors.

Glue the foam, not the felt. I simply tacked the felt on (underneath) This felt is VERY dense and is very easy to work with. This foam is PERFECT, just the right amount of CUSH, when covered with billard felt it looks and feels very professional.

I will next trim the edges with some stained hardwood for a more finished look. Although it looks pretty darn good as it is.

Later
PW

You can probably find small pieces of head liner for almost nothing at an auto upholstery shop. Pieces as small as 24x36 are too small to use for anything and are probably thrown away.

Once you get everything fastened to the bottom of the tabletop, use a piece of ¼" plywood, Masonite, or something similar on the bottom of the table to give you a finished bottom prior to putting on the side trim.

Amos McCormick

Amosmc

Great idea on the bottom finishing.

thanks
PW

I will often use a piece of vinyl on the bottom. As Amos mentioned, the side trim goes on last, and buries the tacks and raw edges. This creates a nearly weightless addition to finish the bottom, it helps the top grip a stand, as with a busker's table, and if reversed, makes a decent hard surface for dice stacking or whatever.

~michael

Let me recommend not gluing the foam to the wood with a very strong adhesive. Here's why. The foam backing of headliner is polyurethane. After a while, it will break down from moisture and heat. When that happens, you will want to be able to remove it from the wood.

Rubber cement or even glue stick is a much better solution in the long run. Just do the edges and a cross across from corner to corner and side to side. This will keep the padding in place until you get the felt down.

Also, you can use upholsterer's tack strip to edge the table. It looks like closely spaced upholsterer's tacks. Actually, there is a tack every 3 inches.

Why not just use headliner adhesive from an auto parts store since it's designed not to destroy the material its made to glue?