Forum for Building a Pool Table?

Mr. Dogg

Mr. Dogg

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Would it be worthwhile to add a forum to AZB about pool table construction?
Would it get enough traffic?
Are there builders here who could answer questions about all aspects of it - everything from accurate saw adjustment to finishing techniques/materials, and everything in between? (Also recommendations on asking price, how to market, etc.)

I have a great, detailed book that I paid about $70 for, but sometimes unexpected stuff comes up, and it would also be nice to have second opinions on some things.
 
Just start a thread on the table mechanic board,
start/open with a picture of the 70$ book, and go from there...,
 
Thanks. I'll snoop around in that forum.

The book, "Design & Build Your Dream Pool Table" by Mary Clare Southall and Brian Swift doesn't seem to be available, anymore. The website, PoolTablePlans.com, is down, and an Amazon listing says they don't have it now, don't know if they will. I'm glad I bought it when I did!
 
Mr. Dogg said:
Thanks. I'll snoop around in that forum.

The book, "Design & Build Your Dream Pool Table" by Mary Clare Southall and Brian Swift doesn't seem to be available, anymore. The website, PoolTablePlans.com, is down, and an Amazon listing says they don't have it now, don't know if they will. I'm glad I bought it when I did!
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Member Johnny "V" has a website on which he describes how he built his own table. I think I've seen him post recently so you might even be able to ask him some questions.

http://pooltable.kirchelconsulting.com/

I suspect that the list of contacts is out of date.:smile:
 
I’ve seen a few magazine articles over the years. I used to subscribe to 5 woodworking magazines from about age 12 to 20 and read them cover to cover. The ones I’ve read were not “player’s” tables. And they will end up costing you way more money and a year of your life building and sourcing the parts. So unless it’s a dream of yours to build one, you’d be way ahead in playability, time, and money, buying a new or used table. IMO:)
 
During the 80's i became close friends with a guy who built a few tables every year. He also dealt used BBC, & Fisher coin tables, and maintained many of the local tables in a tristate area. He also built some bars, again both commercial and residential.

I came to understand over the years that all that frenetic activity from 4PM through early morning was in many respects therapy for his day job "for the gummint" & he died from stress before his time. But that's another story.

John had sought me out to make some curved molded bar rails for one of the commercial bars. From then on, i made wooden parts for many of his ventures, and then started making tools and tooling to facilitate his table work. Regretfully, i never paid much attention to the actual builds, always assumed "John would be there" if i ever needed a table. Plus his builds evolved as he experimented to make them better. He copied BBC including GC methods, but was always trying to improve. I went once with him to the quarries for slate, the van would haul 3 sets per load. I still buy architectural slate from the same place, but they sold their hone for pool table slates years ago & no longer offer that specific service.

I don't know enough to build a table from scratch at the moment & wouldn't know where to begin with rails, but i do know from close exposure that it is fairly basic woodwork, so long as there could be a resource for the specific details. A table boils down to a solid, stable platform for the slate. The critical parts are the rails and rail attachment methods. Parts most people would choose to buy are the pockets, irons, any castings depending on style (design)

For someone already in hardwood lumber trades, a table could be built from scratch for relatively minor costs, the lumber is probably in inventory anyway. However, from any perspective, there's plenty of old tables out there for rebuild that sell for about what a set of new slates cost these days. But i doubt most who would be interested in building have any notion of significant savings. It's a challenge, like any other, that appeals to a certain segment or interest base.

smt
 
iusedtoberich said:
Are you looking to build a table for the fun of it? Are you a woodworker?Are you trying to save money?
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iusedtoberich said:
I’ve seen a few magazine articles over the years. I used to subscribe to 5 woodworking magazines from about age 12 to 20 and read them cover to cover. The ones I’ve read were not “player’s” tables. And they will end up costing you way more money and a year of your life building and sourcing the parts. So unless it’s a dream of yours to build one, you’d be way ahead in playability, time, and money, buying a new or used table. IMO
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I'm somewhere in between "for fun" and wanting a good table. I want a table, and I want it to be MY WORK! :grin-square: I'm somewhat of a woodworker. I can do stuff, but I haven't built many projects that require perfection. I think I can do it if I'd just take my darned time. I know it will be a challenge, but I'd take great pride if I can pull this one off, and I want to go for it.

The book I have has plans for tables that meet BCA specifications, and the quality of construction is superior to tables I have examined. The book gives detailed step-by-step instructions, and is very well illustrated. It also has a list of places to get all the materials from. The cost to build would be about $5000, and the tables are "the real thing" - quality.

As far as time, I don't know what I'm getting myself into, but if it ain't too much time, I might try making another one to sell … then another. … Problem is I'm gettin' kinda old. (Pipe dream: Maybe my sons can be the next Olhausens. lol -- They need to do SUMTHIN'!)

Right now, this whole thing about building a table is a pipe dream, and it has been for a long time. In a couple of years, I might end up saying, "Hell with it. I'll just buy one", but I hope I'll stick with it and get it done.

I took a quick look at that link. I bookmarked it, and I'll look more closely later.
 
Ssonerai said:
During the 80's i became close friends with a guy who built a few tables every year. ...
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I don't have a response, except to say I wish this forum had "like" buttons.

Oh, and to say "a few a year" is kinda what I'm thinking/dreaming of.
 
cool initiative! be sure to report your progress

i do some woodworking myself but mostly coffee tables and such
 
skogstokig said:
cool initiative! be sure to report your progress

i do some woodworking myself but mostly coffee tables and such
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Thank you, and I will.

I'm also thinking about building cue racks, etc. For my table, I would make a three-piece dining table cover for it. The sections would set vertically on a shelf fastened to the studs, low on the wall, and the undersides would have decorative woodwork. Remove them from the wall to cover the table, and decorative woodwork on the wall would be exposed.

A cue rack that I have in mind would be hinged so that it can be flipped around to the other side, and from that side it would be like one of those china cabinets. Flip it around to the cue rack side, and an abacus scorekeeper on the wall would be exposed.

I haven't set pen to paper, yet, and I'm not getting very far in my head, either, but I would like to design dining chairs that would stack to become bar stools.

One minute it's a dining room, the next minute it's a pool room! :)
 
If it's a dream go for it but don't count on other folks wanting the same. Sounds like expensive novelty table, no offense.
 
Wow...$5K and it may not play right? No offense, but if you want a pool table I recommend picking up a solid, well maintained used Gold Crown for less than half that. Or, if you want a project, buy one that's a little beaten up and restore it. This is the route I went and I built a custom light to match it. Table cost, restoration and light build put me at around $3,000.

49622667162_283e6b60a9_b.jpg


49725546583_f658784cff_b.jpg
 
(Pipe dream: Maybe my sons can be the next Olhausens.
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Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. John's boys were brought into the business at a young age and did some of his commercial table work in the bars & such. But they died, one by one, of drug related causes. He had hoped they would never have to come out of appalachia during the depression like he did and struggle to make a very good life for his wife and family doing demeaning day work he hated. Unfortunately, they mostly hated having to do table work on dad's scheduled appointments, though it gave them good money & great reps in the pool & fast life communities. His last is a good kid, was really good in the shop, but had congenital bone problems that led to medical professional induced opiod addiction before people really understood that.

If you just want to think and talk about it, stay on AZB.

If you decide to get some equipment and start building, you can ask questions and show your work on my forum on PM. We can be rough but i'm on a dozen forums from Aviation to Woodworking, and don't think any can be as rough as AZB :grin:
(Actually what i like here - it's real)

https://www.practicalmachinist.com/vb/woodworking-and-woodworking-machinery/

Not sure there are any currently who could tell you specifically how to build a pool table though one never knows who is lurking. However, we can tell you how to use/adapt/modify any machine, make any sort of part or hardware, and make the cutting tooling to do it in wood & metal, if you seem to be a serious do-er rather than talker. The PM site owner has always intended PM to be professional/industrial & I try to keep the wood forum that way as well. There's some leeway but mere chit-chat (in Don's words) is not encouraged. AZB is more generous to that. You also can't talk about hobby/home owner level machines, but you can show them doing actual work, and you can ask about how to do specific tasks if the focus is the work & not the (homeowner level) machine.

Good luck if you decide to progress.
Basically, you have to start. That's always the hardest part. Start and fail forward, keep going, one step at a time.

smt
 
My 2 cents if you are really serious is get a free or $100 table off Craigslist. Take it completely apart, every screw, every staple. Then you will get a feel for how big the parts are, how they go together, if the weight is too much to handle in the shop, if you have enough shop space, how to transport, etc. if the slate is decent, you can even use it for your ground up idea. If you have the free table all apart in front of you and change your mind on the whole thing, just take it all to the dumpster in pieces at that point.

Also if you ever go to DCC, be sure to take the diamond factory tour. I took it 3 times, ha ha. I love pool and woodworking and machining.

I think there is also a video of a factory tour a member here made on YouTube.
 
Ssonerai said:
we can tell you how to use/adapt/modify any machine
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WELL, WELL, WELL! You may be just the guy I need to ask!
I have two major concerns about this project:
1. My garage floor is a joke. (That can be remedied.)
2. MY SAW! This is the one that could stop me in my tracks instantly.

I have a Craftsman radial arm saw,
model number 113.197751.
When I need to, I can bump it to perpendicular to the fence, but it won't stay locked in to that position. I've piddled around trying to fix that (set screws on the column), not really fully knowing what I was doing, and I made some improvement. I can tighten it up some more, but when I do, the crank to raise/lower the saw becomes too stiff to turn.

My question to you is: Am I doing something wrong, or is it simply that this saw is not suitable for precision work?
 
rexus31 said:
...restore it. This is the route I went...
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I have issues with my garage floor. It appears you have built a slab on your floor (first image) for your work. Am I correct? Was your floor also in need of leveling/repairing? If so, what material did you use? (regular cement, leveling cement, something else?)

" No offense, but if you want a pool table I recommend picking up a solid, well maintained used …"
No offense taken! I'm here for opinions, suggestions, and such. Buying a used table is my Plan B if I get cold feet, or if I find it just isn't doable for whatever reason.
 
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