markaustin
New member
Hi all,
My name is Mark and I’m new to the forum. I decided to join after searching around and reading a bit - I felt that this group would be the most helpful. I have some questions about the best way to handle a Brunswick Anniversary table that I recently inherited. I will explain what I know about it and then ask for your advice in a couple areas. Sorry for the long post, but I’d rather be thorough to avoid problems later.
My in-laws are moving from the Detroit area to Chicago and they will have no room for this table. The table means a lot to my father-in-law so he would like me and my wife to have it – which is great with me because I have loved shooting pool since my dad taught me when I was too little to hold a standard cue.
The story I have is that my father-in-law’s dad won this table from a bar owner in a poker game in the back room of some place in Detroit in 196x. He had the table moved from the guy’s bar and installed in his basement. When he passed away about 10 years ago my father-in-law had it professionally moved to his house and re-covered with new cloth and the rubber pockets were switched for Leather ones because the rubber started to deteriorate and crack. The information I was able to gather was this:
Pre-1960 Model C-I, 4x8, Baked Enamel White finish on corner castings, No side pocket castings, 4 white strakes down the sides, drop pocket table with leather pockets (non-OE), Original cues, cue rack, and triangle.
Here are the questions I have:
Move
• What is the best way to package this thing for a 350 mile move? I’ve read that you want to stack the slate horizontally for travel (as it would rest on the table frame), but I’m unclear if I should have things crated up or the best method to build a crate. I would assume you could make a frame out of 2x4 and some plywood sheeting or maybe even just sandwich plywood between the individual pieces of slate?
• Assuming I get things secured tightly, can I just pop it in a UHaul? Anything to watch out for? I imagine each piece of slate is ~200-300lbs, is that about right?
Storage / Setup
My wife and I currently live downtown Chicago and as you might imagine, don’t have room for a pool table. Trust me; I have tried to make this happen for a few years now, but if she won’t have her grandfather’s table in our living room I think that about settles it. My choices here are basically to store this thing somewhere (mom’s basement / sister’s basement / storage facility) or to try and set it up in someone’s basement and leave it playable. Do you see any problems with storing this thing in a climate controlled area as long as it is secured, crated, and supported and the humidity is kept in check? I assume it would be ok, but want to confirm that things like the slate won’t tend to warp more so than if it were assembled and playable.
Refurbish, Refinish, or Restore?
• The table is a beauty the way it stands, but I have also seen what they can look like when refinished (azbilliards forum thread# 100905 – they won’t let me link to it without having 5 posts…you can also search for ‘Brunswick Anniversary with matching cue rack’ in wanted/for sale). The question is, knowing what I know about the table, am I going to end up decreasing its value if I choose to change it? I really like the look of the table in the thread above where it is finished in a much darker stain with a super glossy finish and the castings and leg bands are shined up instead of the off-white baked enamel coating. I could do it in steps maybe, where I would refurbish it first. Try to get all the scratches and marks out of it, bring back the shine, and maybe re-do the rails and the cloth. Then down the road when I find some buried treasure I could do a full restoration and have a new hardwood frame for the slate, real wood repairs, professionally level the slate and check the radius on the pockets etc. I love the pics in the thread I listed above it just looks classy and retains the art deco feeling.
I am not looking to sell this thing (ever, ideally), but to pass it through my family. I guess I am just torn between preserving a classic and restoring it to a beautiful-better-than-new condition. As I understand it, Brunswick lost most or all of the production records for these tables in a flood/fire years back so it would be exceptionally tough to accurately trace the provenance of the table. In addition to that, it would be pretty hard to account for how many times it had been re-covered or what kinds of repairs/modifications were made while it was in the bar with the original owner. It’s not like this is a rare-option numbers-matching Chevelle or something right? Thoughts?
• I read a couple posts talking about retro-fitted long support beams that help keep the slate from sagging. Does anyone know the part numbers or have a method for determining whether I have them or not?
Any help or direction you can provide would be GREATLY appreciated!
Thanks in advance!
--Mark
My name is Mark and I’m new to the forum. I decided to join after searching around and reading a bit - I felt that this group would be the most helpful. I have some questions about the best way to handle a Brunswick Anniversary table that I recently inherited. I will explain what I know about it and then ask for your advice in a couple areas. Sorry for the long post, but I’d rather be thorough to avoid problems later.
My in-laws are moving from the Detroit area to Chicago and they will have no room for this table. The table means a lot to my father-in-law so he would like me and my wife to have it – which is great with me because I have loved shooting pool since my dad taught me when I was too little to hold a standard cue.
The story I have is that my father-in-law’s dad won this table from a bar owner in a poker game in the back room of some place in Detroit in 196x. He had the table moved from the guy’s bar and installed in his basement. When he passed away about 10 years ago my father-in-law had it professionally moved to his house and re-covered with new cloth and the rubber pockets were switched for Leather ones because the rubber started to deteriorate and crack. The information I was able to gather was this:
Pre-1960 Model C-I, 4x8, Baked Enamel White finish on corner castings, No side pocket castings, 4 white strakes down the sides, drop pocket table with leather pockets (non-OE), Original cues, cue rack, and triangle.
Here are the questions I have:
Move
• What is the best way to package this thing for a 350 mile move? I’ve read that you want to stack the slate horizontally for travel (as it would rest on the table frame), but I’m unclear if I should have things crated up or the best method to build a crate. I would assume you could make a frame out of 2x4 and some plywood sheeting or maybe even just sandwich plywood between the individual pieces of slate?
• Assuming I get things secured tightly, can I just pop it in a UHaul? Anything to watch out for? I imagine each piece of slate is ~200-300lbs, is that about right?
Storage / Setup
My wife and I currently live downtown Chicago and as you might imagine, don’t have room for a pool table. Trust me; I have tried to make this happen for a few years now, but if she won’t have her grandfather’s table in our living room I think that about settles it. My choices here are basically to store this thing somewhere (mom’s basement / sister’s basement / storage facility) or to try and set it up in someone’s basement and leave it playable. Do you see any problems with storing this thing in a climate controlled area as long as it is secured, crated, and supported and the humidity is kept in check? I assume it would be ok, but want to confirm that things like the slate won’t tend to warp more so than if it were assembled and playable.
Refurbish, Refinish, or Restore?
• The table is a beauty the way it stands, but I have also seen what they can look like when refinished (azbilliards forum thread# 100905 – they won’t let me link to it without having 5 posts…you can also search for ‘Brunswick Anniversary with matching cue rack’ in wanted/for sale). The question is, knowing what I know about the table, am I going to end up decreasing its value if I choose to change it? I really like the look of the table in the thread above where it is finished in a much darker stain with a super glossy finish and the castings and leg bands are shined up instead of the off-white baked enamel coating. I could do it in steps maybe, where I would refurbish it first. Try to get all the scratches and marks out of it, bring back the shine, and maybe re-do the rails and the cloth. Then down the road when I find some buried treasure I could do a full restoration and have a new hardwood frame for the slate, real wood repairs, professionally level the slate and check the radius on the pockets etc. I love the pics in the thread I listed above it just looks classy and retains the art deco feeling.
I am not looking to sell this thing (ever, ideally), but to pass it through my family. I guess I am just torn between preserving a classic and restoring it to a beautiful-better-than-new condition. As I understand it, Brunswick lost most or all of the production records for these tables in a flood/fire years back so it would be exceptionally tough to accurately trace the provenance of the table. In addition to that, it would be pretty hard to account for how many times it had been re-covered or what kinds of repairs/modifications were made while it was in the bar with the original owner. It’s not like this is a rare-option numbers-matching Chevelle or something right? Thoughts?
• I read a couple posts talking about retro-fitted long support beams that help keep the slate from sagging. Does anyone know the part numbers or have a method for determining whether I have them or not?
Any help or direction you can provide would be GREATLY appreciated!
Thanks in advance!
--Mark
