Building a table light...

ok ive decided to basically build a replica of the diamond light, for the fraction of the cost. plus it will be a more personable design as my friend and i will be designing the actual housing. i plan to take photos and give information along the way for anyone else who might be interested in making a light for a 9ft table.


Purchased materials : 4 x 8ft t8 59 watt single pin bulbs. 2 2 t8 light fixtures. 2 metallic difussers. total parts cost $135. Next up is wood, screws, chains, and hooks.
 

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Are you building the small one, or the full size one that covers the entire table?

I want to build the full size model which is shown in the link above.

i am very interested. I have a cabinet builder looking into building one for me, and i will hang the lights in work the electrics out.
 
there are alot of links posted so im not sure of which link you are talking about. but ill give an explanation.

on diamonds website they say their 9ft boxes are 26x102 (2'2" x 8' 6"). thats what i am building. 102 inches goes head rail to foot rail and 26 inches leaves 12 inches on each side of the short rails. i dont have access to a diamond light to verify sizes personally so if someone can provide length width and height measurements that would be great.

to answer your question i am building the large light thats at this link
http://www.diamondbilliards.net/Accessories/Lighting/tabid/71/Default.aspx

Ill be building with a few friends. I will be posting pictures, details, and giving any kind of info i can. im expecting overall cost to be around 250.
 
I think the 26" is the smaller one. There is a larger one the dimensions i gave above, that fits over the entire playing field. The smaller one i think uses one set of the 8' lights you have. The larger one will use both sets of lights.

WARNING***Im assuming allot here, because i have never seen one in person. Just observations.
From the looks of it, the smaller fixture will work as well for home use.
 
I called diamond about the 2 listed on their web site. The smaller is for a bar box, while the larger is for a 9ft table. The larger one that is Tye same width as the table is the "Tournament" or "Professional" edition.
if you would notice the wider one uses 4 panels sideways. And from the various pics I and others have posted you can see 2 rows of bright lines from the 2 fixtures.
 
jwyatt8171 said:
amazing i am looking for the same info. The only information i have come up with so far is dimensions and very few shots of the actual light fixture itself. If anyone has one up that would take some shots of it, that would be great.
This guy has some pretty good pics of his.
http://www.pettypoint.com/poolhall/forsale/diamond.html

9' full size matching lights (51" x 102" x 8")
Click to expand...

i bought this about a year ago. It is hanging above my peter vitalli 9' table. I have stained it ebony to match my table, that i also refinished ebony and diamond plate. The inside is very basic. Two 8' light fixtures. The inexpensive ones that look like shop lights. They are mounted to two 1 x 4`s. The finished wood on the outside attaches to these also. Then there are hanging bolts through the 1x4`s out the top and thats where they hang from. To close in the top its 1/8 masonite board screwed in from the top. To finish the bottom (the part you see from the table) is chrome plastic that hangs in the 2x4 light fixtures in offices. You can buy these at home depot also. Give me a couple of days and i can take some pics and email if you like.
 
stickbnder some pictures would be great!! thanks a ton for the info



They are mounted to two 1 x 4`s. The finished wood on the outside attaches to these also. Then there are hanging bolts through the 1x4`s out the top and thats where they hang from. To close in the top its 1/8 masonite board screwed in from the top. To finish the bottom (the part you see from the table) is chrome plastic that hangs in the 2x4 light fixtures in offices. You can buy these at home depot also. Give me a couple of days and i can take some pics and email if you like.
 
Stickbndr- that would be greatly appreciated if you could send some pics.
My email is jwyatt8171 (AT) gmail (dot) com.
Don't worry about file size :)
Thanks
 
ok the box itself is built. staining is next. then mounting the hardware/bulbs.diffusers. here is what i turned out with.
 

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Just got off the phone with Diamond. I questioned them about the different sizes of lights we have posted here. I figure lets get the information straight up from the mouth of the maker. The light that is sized 51x102 is actually 50x102. This light was used for a while, but they have nearly stopped productions of these. This is because of the sheer size and weight of the housing. Additionally being hindered at a jump/masse shot. They then decreased the size to 26x102 which is listed on their website. The 26x102 model actually gives the same lumen/candle count as the 50x102 model. It also uses the exact same kind of hardware. two 2x8 fixture/bulb setup. The person claimed the lights are the same because realistically the important factor is the parabolic metallic diffusers. They bend the light diagonally allowing the same amount of light to reach the same spots with the same lumen/candle power. Thus in closing, to 50" and the 26" models provide the same light evenly. The sole reason of switching to the 26" model was to save head room for masse and jump shots.

p.s. interesting bit of information. the current owner of simonis is color blind. it was diamond products who actually came up with the 860 cloth with the tournament blue color. diamond had simonis create the cloth to their specs. (this is what i was told per conversation with diamond tech, paul)
 
Alright the parabolic metallic diffusers that i found were from home depot, at $23 each. the 50x102 light uses 4 of them horizontally, the 26x102 uses 2 of them vertically. The person i spoke with paul, said they "aren't beveled or angled". the diffusers they use are regular squares, its the metallic component that refracts the light diagonally. how many squares per foot etc i can not answer nor could he.

here is a link to home depots diffusers (egg crate is another name) this one isnt metallic but will give you a jump off point

http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc...Flow=3&catalogId=10053&langId=-1&ddkey=Search


edit: the parabolic metallic diffusers i bought, the ones diamond uses, are default a 2'x4'. a google search online shows it seems to be industry standard size.
 
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alrighty here is a picture of the box, with inside painted white. some decorative trim. and some stain. installing hardware and mounting should be coming soon , enjoy!
 

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Light

Nice looking light. The full size lights occasionally get in the way of a full masse, which is rare for most, and have never been a problem for jump shots. For what it's worth, our diffusers on our Diamond lights ARE angled, if that's the right word. Each square is made up of little wedges. I was never able to find them at Lowes, Home Depot, etc. , just the straight ones. I have no idea if makes any difference, except cost. It sounds like they changed that. The original big lights had a shipping weight of around 100 lbs, if I remember right. Ours are oak, and about 10 years old. Everyone wants always wants to touch the little faces of the diffusers, but that leaves streak marks which are hard to get rid of, and ours are almost impossible to dust without making them look worse than when you started, FYI:)

Dave Smith
www.oldschoolpool.com
 
hey there thanks for your input. thats what this forum is all about, members helping members. as to your light's egg crates being angled. i would have to say ARGGGG!! so many different pieces of information, and no two are alike! thank you so much for your information. diamond might have changed the type of egg crates/diffusers when they switched to the smaller model?

ps : how many licks does it take to get to the center of a tootsie pop...the world will never know(thats how i feel about all the different information about this project haha)
 
Diamond

I know what you mean. I look at pictures of disassembled Diamond Professionals on AZ and think 'wow, that doesn't look anything like mine'. You can't even get a Professional with ball returns these days, which ours have. Our Diamond stuff, tables and lights, are 10 years old and Diamond is always striving to make improvements in their products. If they switched the diffusers, it's likely because the new ones are as good or better. There are some nice pictures of one our lights in the 'Gold Crown' ad that is in the 'Wanted/For Sale' section now. That is one we had and sold to Patty and Barney LaMontagne.
 
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