What to look for when looking for a table.

If you love to play and want some value get a commercial style table . The furniture styles are junk made for suckers . If you see furniture style tables in a pool room , either the owner is broke or is a pelican . They don't play well , they don't hold up , and you can't give them away when you want to sell . Also a mechanic will charge more for recovering as they are more work to do and a pain . Good luck . A brunswick gold crown 3, 4 , or 5 , a diamond , a valley or dynamo , or Shelti bar box are very good players . Good luck ...

Eric Wynne said:

If you love to play and want some value get a commercial style table . The furniture styles are junk made for suckers . If you see furniture style tables in a pool room , either the owner is broke or is a pelican . They don't play well , they don't hold up , and you can't give them away when you want to sell . Also a mechanic will charge more for recovering as they are more work to do and a pain . Good luck . A brunswick gold crown 3, 4 , or 5 , a diamond , a valley or dynamo , or Shelti bar box are very good players . Good luck ...

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Excellent advice. Here is some more. Be PATIENT and, while doing so, save up more money towards a quality table. Also use this time to further your education and know what you are looking for in regards to potential problems. You might contact a reputable mechanic in your area, as he or she might know of some available tables.

Use Search Tempest for Craigslist and spend some time within a couple hundred miles(or what you are comfortable with)and wait it out. A good table WILL come up.

As Steve pointed out, avoid the furniture types. A good condition GC(which is what I would probably purchase if it was within my means) will not only give you a lifetime a fine play, but provide good resale should that need arise.

If your fiance changes her mind regarding the table, take the ring back....

pescadoman said:

Excellent advice. Here is some more. Be PATIENT and, while doing so, save up more money towards a quality table. Also use this time to further your education and know what you are looking for in regards to potential problems. You might contact a reputable mechanic in your area, as he or she might know of some available tables.

Use Search Tempest for Craigslist and spend some time within a couple hundred miles(or what you are comfortable with)and wait it out. A good table WILL come up.

As Steve pointed out, avoid the furniture types. A good condition GC(which is what I would probably purchase if it was within my means) will not only give you a lifetime a fine play, but provide good resale should that need arise.

If your fiance changes her mind regarding the table, take the ring back....

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In 45 secs I found this one within 2 hours of my house..

http://www.searchtempest.com/result...oweb=1&keytype=adv&minAsk=&maxAsk=&subcat=sss

pescadoman said:

In 45 secs I found this one within 2 hours of my house..

http://www.searchtempest.com/result...oweb=1&keytype=adv&minAsk=&maxAsk=&subcat=sss

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or how about this one for 950 as well, with all accessories!!

buying a table.

go to a pool room or two. look at their tables. if all you play is bar leaque then just buy a valley or diamond 31/2 x 7 either will have everything you want in a table. your 20 x 20 foot space will accomodate a full 9 foot table with room to spare. if you get a nine foot decent brands are brunswick gold crowns, diamonds, olhausen, and even a decent gandy or big G. at the pool room put a couple of balls into the pockets, if they fit there with ease, space on each side of the balls then the pockets are loose probably 5" or bigger. if you can barely get two balls side by into the pocket then your playing on a decent tight table. the shelf of the pocket should be deep. the closer the edge of the shelf is to the mouth of the pocket corners (tit to tit) the loser the pocket will play. for the little you want to spend you can still get a 1"slate table, but it will usually need some work to the tune of 500 to 1000 dollars unlless you are very capable of doing refinishing and refurbishing yourself. figure at least 250 for new cloth, and if you need rubber another 150 to 200. there are much cheaper cloths and rubbers but your going to get what you pay for. you can call me for more info. if you talk with a pro your going to get a lot of confusion about what to do. i've done three of my own tables in the last 10 years and have finally ended up with a an antique brunswick worth about #3K to 5K. look for estate sales, or people who are advertising to move. they usually want to unload a table for a great price. like the other people have said stay away from the furniture style table, like leisure time, connelly, american billiards, or any department store stuff. run through craigs list in your local area, also upillar.com might yield something in your area. good luck. gerald

pescadoman said:

or how about this one for 950 as well, with all accessories!!

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Total_Chaos13 said:

I've never owned a table so sorry if this sounds stupid.

I'm looking to get a used table in the 500-600 range, that will probably need some work. I'm not so worried about cosmetics as quality of the table. When looking for a table what are some things to consider? Brand, Model?? Solid wood/mdf?? 3/4 in slate or 1" slate? I looked on my local cl and iwanta trader and found 10-20 different tables for sale, I just don't know what I'm looking at when I see them. I see name brands I have never heard of and will so a search on here but not find much about them. After being here on this site it seems Diamond and Brunswick are the preferred tables, but right now I think both of those are out of our price range.

Thanks guys for the suggestions.

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Not a stupid question at all - but some of the replies so far are.
There's nothing wrong with a good quality, solid construction furniture style table. Solid woods, a beefy frame, pliable cushions and 1" slate should be the first things to look at if you settle on any non-bar box type of table. Not sure what you will find in your price range but you will probably do ok with a brand such as Olhausen, Connelly, Gandy or Steepleton if you can find one and shouldn't cost any more to setup then a commercial style table if you hire someone. By the way, Brunswick and Diamond also manufacture furniture style tables. If you're only playing league on bar boxs then you may be better off looking for a used Valley. While this could mimick your league table conditions you would do better on improving your overall playing skill with a larger table.

Dartman said:

Not a stupid question at all - but some of the replies so far are.
There's nothing wrong with a good quality, solid construction furniture style table. Solid woods, a beefy frame, pliable cushions and 1" slate should be the first things to look at if you settle on any non-bar box type of table.

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So what are some good ones? If a Pro am/GC are what is preferred for a commercial table, how can you tell what to look for in a non-commercial table. AZ as a whole name checks the two best tables, and gives the reason why. But for those of us who cannot acquire one for whatever reason, well, there isn't as much information on anything else.What is the best table by Olhausen, Gandy, Connelly (is it even worth mentioning Legacy?).

Dartman said:

Not a stupid question at all - but some of the replies so far are.
There's nothing wrong with a good quality, solid construction furniture style table. Solid woods, a beefy frame, pliable cushions and 1" slate should be the first things to look at if you settle on any non-bar box type of table. Not sure what you will find in your price range but you will probably do ok with a brand such as Olhausen, Connelly, Gandy or Steepleton if you can find one and shouldn't cost any more to setup then a commercial style table if you hire someone. By the way, Brunswick and Diamond also manufacture furniture style tables. If you're only playing league on bar boxs then you may be better off looking for a used Valley. While this could mimick your league table conditions you would do better on improving your overall playing skill with a larger table.

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A nice playing furniture style table would probably be further out of his range than either of the TWO GC's I linked him to. Considering they play in a league, it is unlikely they would see any of those either in practice. It should also be pointed out that, all things being perfectly equal, a bar box would help his league play as cluster and safety play is quite different.

He seems to have been waiting awhile so I am suggesting he be patient. By doing so he can continue to save and get the best value for his money.

If inferring I was a dumbass somehow helps this gentleman in anyway then so be it.

I certainly didn't mean to step on any toes and apologize if I did.

Not a mechanic but I'd like to share a couple of things about a table in the garage as this is where I have my GC4.

Since the garage is 20X20 keep in mind that you have plenty of room to fit a table and still get a car in the garage. All you need is 5' or so from one side wall and you're good to go. I just pull the car out (if it is in the garage) when I want to play. No big deal for me and it's nice to be able to park in the garage. Also, if your garage door opener hangs from the middle of the ceiling it can cause interference with hanging a table light if the table is centered in the middle of the garage. I've also found that with the table in the middle if you have a bunch of guys over it can be close quarters having seating all around the table and not interfere with play but with more space on one side there is plenty of room on the empty side for the railbirds. BTW, if you do make room for a car I would recommend putting the car on the left so you're not always opening the driver's door into the table.

You may play occasionally with the garage door open or partially open for climate control so I would put the foot end of the table towards the back wall so that it is less likely any balls that fly off from breaking will roll out and bounce around on the concrete, plus now you have to go chase them down.

A roll up door is preferred over a tilt up, and insulated is preferred. Roll ups are better because they seal the garage closed thus providing better climate control and the garage stays cleaner. More importantly, because the roll up door seals the garage, it keeps the bugs out that are otherwise attracted to the table lighting when playing after dark. Bugs on the cloth and buzzing around the light while you are trying to play are a pain.

Hope this helps, and congratulations!

Its hard to list all good tables and bad ones. So find a couple that you like then post them on hear and we will advise you

Baby PacMan said:

So what are some good ones? ...

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If you try to find a table based on a brand/style and have a low budget you may be searching for a long time. IMO the brand is less important then visually inspecting a table for quality of components and construction. If you find a table and know the brand/style odds are one of the mechanic members here may have worked on that type of table and can give an opinion as to quality.

Took a look at CL-Chicago to see what came up for $600 max and found this - http://chicago.craigslist.org/nch/spo/2075172375.html
It's plain jane and brand unknown but it's within budget and looks like it's worth the time to check it out. If it played good and appeared to be well constructed on inspection then it could be a good choice to buy regardless of whatever nameplate it may have.

Jim Vondrell said:

Its hard to list all good tables and bad ones. So find a couple that you like then post them on hear and we will advise you

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Olhausen Belmont
Olhausen Champion Pro 2
Olhausen Reno
Brunswick Allenton

What I thought was weird was the Champion Pro says it's made from laminates, well, the entire L-series are laminates. Which I assume are a cheaper alternative to real wood. Why would they use laminate on their commercial table. I thought laminate was bad.

Baby PacMan said:

Olhausen Belmont
Olhausen Champion Pro 2
Olhausen Reno
Brunswick Allenton

What I thought was weird was the Champion Pro says it's made from laminates, well, the entire L-series are laminates. Which I assume are a cheaper alternative to real wood. Why would they use laminate on their commercial table. I thought laminate was bad.

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It is a high pressure laminate and can take one hell of a beating and continue on. I think your best two options are the Champion and the Belmont. The Reno is a solid table but a bit plain jane, and the Brunswick I am personally not impressed with any Brunswick furniture grade table.

ChrisShanklin said:

It is a high pressure laminate and can take one hell of a beating and continue on. I think your best two options are the Champion and the Belmont. The Reno is a solid table but a bit plain jane, and the Brunswick I am personally not impressed with any Brunswick furniture grade table.

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I've been leaning toward the Belmont, as the wife doesn't like the idea of having the world OLHAUSEN plastered across the side of our pool table. What's wrong with Brunswick furniture tables?

Baby PacMan said:

I've been leaning toward the Belmont, as the wife doesn't like the idea of having the world OLHAUSEN plastered across the side of our pool table. What's wrong with Brunswick furniture tables?

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If you dont like the pro then belmont for sure is the next best

Brunswick furniture tables are kind of weak in the frame. The legs bolt to a metal bracket with a pocket bolt and 3 wood screws so they can be a bit shaky when bumped

Jim Vondrell said:

Brunswick furniture tables are kind of weak in the frame. The legs bolt to a metal bracket with a pocket bolt and 3 wood screws so they can be a bit shaky when bumped

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Not all of there furniture style tables use that bracket.

In that price range they do

Jim Vondrell said:

In that price range they do

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Sorry Jim, did not see anybody post a price range and your statement was brunswick furniture tables.

Does the Bridgeport use the same bracket?