2 questions about slates

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duffy28

Registered
Hello all, brand new here and joined because of this section of the forum (and my overall interest in the game of pool). I am wondering if anyone here would have an answer for these two questions. Thanks.

1: Does anyone know of anyone having taken old slate(s) that is still intact and having a small amount of material machined, milled or ground off of the playing surface in order to refinish and re-true (flat) the slate?

2: Who would you recommend to contact regarding replacement slates for a 9 foot antique pocket billiard table from the early 1900's? This table has the brass dowel pins and of course the barrel nuts in the slate for the horizontal rail bolts.

By the way table in question #1 has vertical rail bolts so installed cushion height would not be changed.

Any help with answers or comments would be appreciated, thanks.
 
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duffy28 said:
Hello all, brand new here and joined because of this section of the forum (and my overall interest in the game of pool). I am wondering if anyone here would have an answer for these two questions. Thanks.

1: Does anyone know of anyone having taken old slate(s) that is still intact and having a small amount of material machined, milled or ground off of the playing surface in order to refinish and re-true (flat) the slate?

2: Who would you recommend to contact regarding replacement slates for a 9 foot antique pocket billiard table from the early 1900's? This table has the brass dowel pins and of course the barrel nuts in the slate for the horizontal rail bolts.

By the way table in question #1 has vertical rail bolts so installed cushion height would not be changed.

Any help with answers or comments would be appreciated, thanks.
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First off I am not qualified to give you a correct answer, need to ask OTLB or RKC. I will say this tho, if all else fails call your local marble counter supplier, the guys that cut and mill their own slabs. Maybe they could do something like this for you, now as for how "perfect" its going to be I'm not sure, but just thought the info might be helpful.

Grey GHost
 
Jim Vondrell said:
It wont be cheap but call Ken Hash at classicbilliards.net
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Thanks for the reply. Yes I had found their website and I was planning on purchasing a nameplate and diamond sights from Classic Billiards. I aquired the table without a nameplate and missing/chipped sights. I was wanting to see if he was the only one out there in the lower 48 that I could turn to for slates. Seems to me, looking at their website, that it would take a minimum $2K with freight to get it done. I've got plenty of time and I'm trying to make sure I have exhausted all possibilities (including slate repair) before I have to find the money to have a set fabricated. This table (#2) really deserves new slates although it may not get them for a while.
 
greyghost said:
First off I am not qualified to give you a correct answer, need to ask OTLB or RKC. I will say this tho, if all else fails call your local marble counter supplier, the guys that cut and mill their own slabs. Maybe they could do something like this for you, now as for how "perfect" its going to be I'm not sure, but just thought the info might be helpful.

Grey GHost
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Thanks for the reply. Yes with all the granite countertops that can be seen in kitchens these days I had actually thought about talking to a supplier or contractor. I guess tolerances are the big question. I also guess that maybe no one reading this has actually had, or tried to have, a set of slates resurfaced. For all I know just replacing the slates might turn out to be cheaper anyway. This is the home table I actually play on right now (table from 1st question). It is an oversize 8 and the slates are basically flat, they just have a lot of surface irregularities due to age and being worked on too much by people who had no clue. (I only have half a clue myself so that is why I am here).:confused:
 
duffy28 said:
For all I know just replacing the slates might turn out to be cheaper anyway. This is the home table I actually play on right now (table from 1st question). It is an oversize 8 and the slates are basically flat,.:confused:
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i have a set of oversize 8 foot brunswick slate in tennessee if it helps
scott
 
Pool Table slate is honed to it's playing surface while still in one piece. Then it is cut into three pieces. Although a granite/stone shop could hone the surface of your slate, the three separate pieces may not end up perfect to each other. And you must remember, slate is nothing more than quarried stone. If you've ever worked in a stone shop or talked to someone that has, they can attest to the fact that any kind of stone is full of imperfections that can cause it to break, crumble, crack or flake once a tool is put to it. While the surface of your slate may be fine, there could be imperfections lurking 1/32" below that can cause the slate to be completely screwed if you try to machine it.

I'm killing myself trying to think of a situation where this would be a smart thing to do... In my mind, if the playing surface of the slate is so buggered up as to need to be re-honed, then why not just get new slate? Even if it's a rare old table, chances are you can find something that matches it.
 
QuickEdward said:
Pool Table slate is honed to it's playing surface while still in one piece. Then it is cut into three pieces. Although a granite/stone shop could hone the surface of your slate, the three separate pieces may not end up perfect to each other. And you must remember, slate is nothing more than quarried stone. If you've ever worked in a stone shop or talked to someone that has, they can attest to the fact that any kind of stone is full of imperfections that can cause it to break, crumble, crack or flake once a tool is put to it. While the surface of your slate may be fine, there could be imperfections lurking 1/32" below that can cause the slate to be completely screwed if you try to machine it.

I'm killing myself trying to think of a situation where this would be a smart thing to do... In my mind, if the playing surface of the slate is so buggered up as to need to be re-honed, then why not just get new slate? Even if it's a rare old table, chances are you can find something that matches it.
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Thanks, I appreciate the response. I agree the smart thing to do is replace the slates on both tables. I am, however, not exactly flush for cash so I was just kicking some ideas around. If they have to be replaced I think I can make that happen at some point. In the mean time I at least have a decent playing table (if not perfect) and a good winter project to get started on with the old 9 footer. Sandpaper, stain, supplies, cushions, cloth and all the rails rebuilt put together will probably cost less than a 9 foot set of slates. So slate will most likely get replaced last of all.
 
Chambers Billiard Co has drilled modern 9' slate to fit antique tables, I'm sure he has some pro 8 slate laying around as well. I will PM you his contact info.
 
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duffy28 said:
Thanks, you could PM me a price or just post right here how much you are looking for to buy the set. 1" thick, 3 piece right? Backing frame?
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i belive the backing is off the slate at this time but i do have it
the slate is in storage at my dads right now
i will get photos next time i am up there
cost make me an offer but shipping will be a bear
the table it came off of was too far gone to save but i saved what i could
scott
 
You can have the slate machined by companies that mill, grind and polish marble and granite counter tops. Call around until you find someone that is willing to take on your job. Call counter top installation companies and get their recommendations as to who they think might do the job. Just takes a little detective work.

With regard to replacement slates, I will bet you can find what you are looking for by contacting Antique Billiard Tables, Rockford, Illinois. They won't be cheap, but they will have them.
 
slate..

what condition is your slate in that u want to have it replaced?-----if concave or convex or both, "u can fix it" the slate can flex....ur gonna have to take your time to work the whoops out... but it beats buying a new set of slates.<<gona require frame bracing< if ur interested in getting those whoops out let us know...

-

- VVV this is how brunswick gets there slate VVVV
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k717SV6ljBQ

_
rob.m
 
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dontlitethat said:
what condition is your slate in that u want to have it replaced?-----if concave or convex or both, "u can fix it" the slate can flex....ur gonna have to take your time to work the whoops out... but it beats buying a new set of slates.<<gona require frame bracing< if ur interested in getting those whoops out let us know...

-

- VVV this is how brunswick gets there slate VVVV
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k717SV6ljBQ

_
rob.m
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Very interesting video, thanks. Makes me wish I could fly to Brazil with my slates and run them through the low tolerance surfacer. I am going to post some photos tonight to help illustrate what is going on with these 2 sets of slates. Thanks again to everyone who is helping me. I'm sure I'll have lots more questions about things that will need to get done on the older table in the future, but I don't want to wear out my welcome all at once so I'll be sticking to the current topic. However, if while viewing the photos, any of you have an opinion as to who made either table please speak up because I still don't know for sure who made either table.
 
photo of the oversize 8 slates

Below is the photo of the foot end slate with the one crack closest to the camera. you can even see the edge of the crack on the side if you look closely. Someone had previously patched the crack but they did not get the playing surface on both sides of the crack level with each other as the line of bondo shows. The one good thing about this crack is that it does not run all the way across the slate. It stops about where the bondo stops. That tells me that the whole foot rail side of that corner pocket is not level with the rest of the slate. As I wrote, it is permanently glued this way so I was thinking just run the set through a surfacer of some sort. This whole set had all sorts of divots, gouges and prior repairs/sanding that took place before I got the table. And of course the botched crack repair. It really looked to me that the crack was created by some knuckle head overtightening the backing frame screw on that corner.

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photos of the old 9 foot table/slates

Below are photos of the 9 footer before I disassembled the frame and moved it inside for safe keeping. Those cracks around the dowel pin are only part of the problem because 2 of the 3 sections have cracks running from one edge to another and I think one even has a "spur?" crack that runs at a right angle to a different edge from the larger crack. I was really sort of surprised that the worst piece actually held together during transport. I just knew, or so I thought, that it would come apart, snap the backing frame, and land on mine or my friend's foot crippling one of us, ha ha! Luckily that did not happen. I knew this was the condition of the table upon purchase but the price was so good, or so I think, that I told myself that even if I had to buy new reproduction slates that it would still be worth it to have this table as a project & potential future personal 9 foot table at home.

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I am still not sure what brunswick slate runs, the nice thing is if you get replacement slate and the holes don't line up the material machines easy so it would not be a big problem to drill it out. I did find a site that has 3pc slate sets for diff size tables. The 9' set says its $599 and around $250 shipping. Not sure of its quality compared to brunswick tho. My advice is to send a PM to RKC or to OTLB those are the pack leaders for mechanics on this site and they could definitely steer you in the direction you need to be. My guess is that your never going to get the slates you got EXACTLY like you want them to play, and will probably be better off replacing them.

Cool idea tho, if you get the replacements then make a nice kids table out of the old slates, design a nice little 3 or 4 foot table and make it coffee table height and throw a top on it. Kids would LOVE it and it would be a fun cheap project if you enjoy carpentry.

site link http://www.bestbilliard.com/catalog/1004.cfm?Prod_ID=251

for a level game lol,
G.G.
 
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