Liquid dowel and slate seam questions

[RhoadBlock]

I recently posted in my intro thread I've been setting up the used table I picked up. The slate is installed and leveled to the best of my ability with the tools at my disposal. And I did a simple rolling the cue ball along the table, and it seems to roll true without any direction or speed changes. I haven't sealed the seams or holes yet, so if I absolutely need to I can undo the work done so far and start over.

I did not come across the liquid dowel part of setting up the slates until after the slates were down. And in all my searching the past few days, I really can't find too much information on it: what this "popping" is, how to properly install the liquid dowel/superglue, or even why it works. In my very limited logic, super glue is hardly something that'd hold a 150lb piece of slate in check.

Does the liquid dowel actually contribute to structural integrity? Or does it simply act as a tiny spacer so your seam filler has something to fill and level out?



Once that portion is done I'll be at the point of sealing the slate seams and screw holes in the middle of the table. Initially I was going to use beeswax (my table is indoors and I do a/c for a living, so temperature and humidity levels are never left unchecked). Beeswax seemed very easy to install, tho I was unsure about the durability of it, filling the big holes for slate screws in the middle of the table. But after scouring AZB I'm leaning towards Bondo - largely due to realkingcobra's posts on the subject. I'll hopefully be picking some up on the way home from work this afternoon.

 

[rellek]

My pool table lives in a garage, in Iowa. I heat with wood, which means that in the winter I go through some pretty extreme temperature swings. I superglue and bondo my slates and in the 4 years I have had my table I have never had any issues with seams popping. Maybe I am just a lucky sob, but I believe that there is something to it.

 

[RhoadBlock]

Quoting perfectpockets in an old thread:

Get you're slates apart and clean sides that are going back together with a razor blade, and scrape the top to remove other wax or what ever else is on them. Put 5 business cards evenly spaced apart between the joints, fold them in half so half is on top and level. Take a quarter and rub over the joints so that there is no clicking sound at all. Glue the business cards all the way around with liquid dowels to lock them in place. Scrape the business cards when dry off and cut out the top of the card with a razor blade so the bee's wax will seed or you'll have a hump where the business card was placed. Use the blue stick wax, it's harder wax.

Hope this helps!

Mark Gregory

Also quoting liquid dowels instructions:

Liquid Dowels is specially formulated and tested for billiard table slate. Direction:
1) Install slate in normal manner, center slte first
2) Before installing end slates, insert paper (business card stock) about one half inch wide, between slates at three points.
3) Continue with slates installation finally aligning joints.
4) Before sealing joint, drop 3 to 5 drops of liquid dowel onto paper already in place.
5) Sheer off surplus paper and proceed with seam sealing.
6) Continue with you installation
**Always store bottle upright

If I read these right, I simply slip in a few business cards in between the slate joints. Slide the slates together, apply super glue to the top of the card and let it soak down to the bottom, then level and bolt down the slate joints? Once level cut the card flush to the table top with a razor blade, then apply filler of choice to seams and screw holes? I'm not sure what perfectpockets meant by folding the card in half and sliding a quarter over it.

But, is it really that simple? I must have been over-analyzing this liquid dowel process since it's my first pool table install, and it's MY first pool table. I think I understand what to do now, but I still don't quite get why to do it. I don't fully get how a thin layer of superglue does what lagging the 150lb slate down in place and bondo-ing the seams together won't.

Hope I'm not sounding like too much of a rookie, tho I am at this. I'm just looking to expand my knowledge, and do so accurately.

 

[rellek]

It's pretty much that simple. I just used some card stock strips.