Getting a Bar Box Purchased and Installed

R

Rickhem

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I've got the space for a 7 foot table on my lower level, and I've been looking around a bit at various options for buying one, and getting it set up for use. I'd love a Diamond, but the least expensive one I've seen is $4K, and hundreds of miles from me. Having that shipped and installed puts it over $5K. Even spending $5K is doable if I can get a Diamond in good shape, have it delivered and installed, and not have anything extra to address in the process.
I play APA and NAPA, which are almost all on Valley tables, with the playoffs and qualifiers being mostly on Diamonds, which is why I would like a Diamond. After almost 9 months of casual searching, I'm starting to think a Valley with new rails and cloth might be a good Plan B. Which leads me to my questions:
Am I better off just finding a table myself and have a good mechanic get it tuned up, or would it be better to get in touch with the mechanic first with my wants, and let them supply me with a package deal, purchase, delivery, and set-up? I'd prefer a one piece slate, but only because in my mind it's a better choice than the three piece, even with having to go down 5 steps to my lower level. Is that more "do-able" with a Valley than a Diamond?
I'd think a better finished product would result from letting the mechanic address all the details from the start, so I'd like to hear what a mechanic thinks of my thought process.
 
Rickhem said:
I've got the space for a 7 foot table on my lower level, and I've been looking around a bit at various options for buying one, and getting it set up for use. I'd love a Diamond, but the least expensive one I've seen is $4K, and hundreds of miles from me. Having that shipped and installed puts it over $5K. Even spending $5K is doable if I can get a Diamond in good shape, have it delivered and installed, and not have anything extra to address in the process.
I play APA and NAPA, which are almost all on Valley tables, with the playoffs and qualifiers being mostly on Diamonds, which is why I would like a Diamond. After almost 9 months of casual searching, I'm starting to think a Valley with new rails and cloth might be a good Plan B. Which leads me to my questions:
Am I better off just finding a table myself and have a good mechanic get it tuned up, or would it be better to get in touch with the mechanic first with my wants, and let them supply me with a package deal, purchase, delivery, and set-up? I'd prefer a one piece slate, but only because in my mind it's a better choice than the three piece, even with having to go down 5 steps to my lower level. Is that more "do-able" with a Valley than a Diamond?
I'd think a better finished product would result from letting the mechanic address all the details from the start, so I'd like to hear what a mechanic thinks of my thought process.
Click to expand...
Not a mechanic, but I do my own table work and that of a couple friends. 3 piece or 1 piece really makes no difference once set up correctly. 3 piece are so much easier to move, though a mechanic might have a stronger back than me. I'd say try to see if a mechanic has any on hand. There are tons of them everywhere. Also make sure they will even install a 1 piece going up or down stairs.

If you go valley, I highly recommend the penguin brand rails, great rails and you can order them with cloth already installed, this is a tedious job and might help with the labor costs with your mechanic. Talk with them and see. If you like how diamonds play, the penguin pro cut are tighter pockets (4 1/4") but with the shallower shelf on valleys, they play pretty closed to a diamond. You can't hide a ball deep in the pocket, but you can "titty hook" someone. The penguin pro will play tougher than a regular valley, but shooting on a regular valley will be like buckets, and a diamond takes very little adjustment at all. It might be a good idea to play on a valley as you'll become better at bridging on their rails, they are a bit different than a lot of home tables.

Diamond are great obviously, but you should be able to find a local valley, installed, clothed, and new railed for less than half the price. With penguin, play wise I'd say there's not a ton of difference. I don't like the metal castings on valley, but for $2-4K less they aren't an issue.
 
Thanks for the thoughts guys.
I guess a part of me wanted to see if the consensus would be to just suck it up and get the Diamond, or if the upgraded Valley would be good enough, and worth the effort.
I'll definitely look into those Penguin rails.....seen them mentioned before, and with positive comments too.
And I'll be sure to capture the process with pictures and share them here.
 
Rickhem said:
Thanks for the thoughts guys.
I guess a part of me wanted to see if the consensus would be to just suck it up and get the Diamond, or if the upgraded Valley would be good enough, and worth the effort.
I'll definitely look into those Penguin rails.....seen them mentioned before, and with positive comments too.
And I'll be sure to capture the process with pictures and share them here.
Click to expand...
I would love to sell you a Diamond, but, you clearly stated in your post you did not need one. Sell the valley if you get the itch for the Diamond down the road, who knows you could flip enough Valleys to have BOTH! Good luck and keep us posted, god bless.

TFT
 
not a mechanic, but all I can say is buy what you really want. If you have to wait and save money, do that. Once you purchase a table its not really easy to swap them out later. Buy once, cry once.
 
Rickhem said:
Thanks for the thoughts guys.
I guess a part of me wanted to see if the consensus would be to just suck it up and get the Diamond, or if the upgraded Valley would be good enough, and worth the effort.
I'll definitely look into those Penguin rails.....seen them mentioned before, and with positive comments too.
And I'll be sure to capture the process with pictures and share them here.
Click to expand...
You better look into the mechanic 10× harder than looking into the table!!!
 
Rickhem said:
Thanks for the thoughts guys.
I guess a part of me wanted to see if the consensus would be to just suck it up and get the Diamond, or if the upgraded Valley would be good enough, and worth the effort.
I'll definitely look into those Penguin rails.....seen them mentioned before, and with positive comments too.
And I'll be sure to capture the process with pictures and share them here.
Click to expand...
Keep in mind Valley tables don't disassemble making installing them a possible table for any install. 5 steps down and a 90 degree turn may not work for that valley😉
 
I would recommend Ridgeback Pro rails if you go with a Valley, they seem a little better built to me. A bit hard to get ahold of right now though, they are selling them faster than they are building them it seems.
 
bradsh98 said:
I believe that the Penguin Amusement rails are quite similar quality.
Click to expand...
I'm just going off of some stuff I read on these forums, and the design. I have installed lots of sets of the ridgebacks, but no penguins yet. I've played on both and they both play fine.
 
bradsh98 said:
I believe that the Penguin Amusement rails are quite similar quality.
Click to expand...
Fred at Penguin is the man! I have installed a couple dozen sets of his rails at Miscue North and South here in Toledo. Great product and GREAT PEOPLE TO DEAL WITH :)

TFT
 
The anchor nuts in the Ridgeback rails are way better than the Penguins.

And what are about 90% of the repairs done on bolt on cushion blocks????
 
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