Slate question

qwerty53 said:

Hi,
I got old Brunswick pool table.
Its 3 parts slate (not backed up by wood) and I noticed (unfortunately only now) that most of the slate is not smooth like glass. It has ribbed surface. Very very fine ribbed but not as smooth as glass. Does this mean the slate is dead? Or should I just ignore it? Or should I fix it? (Because I didn't notice it when i saw it in his garage although the table was disassembled). Did you see slate like this?

Thanks!

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J. Chambers said:

Are the ribs symetrical? Do they have even spacing between? Do they run from side to side forming an arch? If so these are merely the milling lines created when surfacing the slate from the quarry. The distance between the lines is the travel between each rotation of the cutters on the milling head. Some are more pronounced than others. The closer they are together usually the more true the surface will be, But some slates composition is very dense and tends to vibrate slightly while being cut. Which can make the lines more pronounced in certain areas than others. I prefer the darker Italian slate myself. It tends to have a very consistant composition and cuts a bit softer which leads to less vibration, but nearly any slate can be cut properly with sharp blades and the proper feed rate. Please be sure that you are not looking at the bottom. Not to easy to screw that up but I have seen it done. The playing surface at the pockets will have a slight bevel or smooth transition in to the mouth of the pocket. Some bottoms are cut at a much quicker rate which spreads the lines out and can lead to roll offs if flipped.

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