Yeah, but as the old saying goes, "one man's trash, is another man's gold"
Got a fixer-upper for my first pool table, looking for guidance
- Thread starter tycrawford
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tycrawford
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Sorry I also hadnt realized Valley was 42x82. The common slate size I've been seeing is 43x83. Surely that latter size is incompatible?And don't tell them you want the slate for a pool table, that adds value to the slate. Tell them you're looking for a 42"×82" ×3/4" slate from an old 7ft valley table for a home project, you're building a work bench so the slate can't be broke, and you'd be willing to throw the cabinet away for them so it won't cost them anything
Much older Valleys had 42"×82" as well as Quality, Fisher, USB, American, and many other coin ops. A true 7ft playing surface is 38"×76". It was years later that the 40"×80" playing surface 7fts were produced.
The question is, what does the playing surface of your table measure from side to side, cushion nose to cushion nose?
You could in fact, have the wrong slate on your table. Instead of measuring the slate, measure where it sits on the frame, check and see if a 43"×83" slate will sit there as well, and still clamp the rails down.
tycrawford
New member
Well the slate sits, like you mention, in a sort of frame. Under each rail is a support scaffold made of particle board with a 3/4" deep lip. With the slate inside the frame that all 6 of these scaffolds effectively make, theres no real room to move around, maybe a 1/4" along each axis. I can take some pictures and some measurements of that tomorrow.
Measure the width of the playing surface too.
tycrawford
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Excuse my noobery but would that be the same as the bumper to bumper measurement or would I take a measurement from where the bumper meets the slate, or some other measurement?
tycrawford
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Taking some measurements. The "frame" where the slate sits is 42-1/8 x 82-3/16 or so, and so it wants a 42x82. I could modifiy these to take a bigger slate if I wanted to, unsure how that would affect the radius of the corner pockets.
The cushion to cushion is just about 39x78 exactly, maybe a hair bigger.
The cushion to cushion is just about 39x78 exactly, maybe a hair bigger.
Cushion nose to cushion nose.
tycrawford
New member
Yeah it looks like 39x78 as best I can measure it
If you put a larger slate in it you would probably need to recut the pocket openings in the slate.
tycrawford
New member
Yeah and that is above my skill level as far as i can tell.
Not for a 1/2" per side wider.
Wider slate would not affect pocket shelf??
Not really, the broken slate may have shallow pocket shelfs as well.
39"×78" playing surface don't match up either. A true 7ft is 38"×76" an over sized 7ft, most common today is 40"×80"
tycrawford
New member
So I took some measurements of the pockets as well:
tycrawford
New member
Im also wondering how this table is meant to separate the cue ball, because so far it is not. I got a set of what I believe are used Aramith balls from the local pool hall. I have found the area in the guts of the table where the cue ball is supposed to be separated out, but I dont feel a magnet in the area anywhere, and I cant see anything to suggest that a larger cue ball is meant to be used.
Its not the end of the world if I dont get dedicated cue ball return; theres no coin op mechanism right now that would make it any kind of inconvenient. I am just curious how things (are supposed to) work.
Its not the end of the world if I dont get dedicated cue ball return; theres no coin op mechanism right now that would make it any kind of inconvenient. I am just curious how things (are supposed to) work.