Old Table rebuild plans looking for your advice

J

jyarab

Registered
Hi I know this is my first post but I've been reading these forms non stop for a week and need some advice.......

I'll attach photos cause i know its kinda hard to explain what i mean with some of this.

I bought an older table no idea what brand or anything but it was 3/4in 3piece slate for cheap, but i really hate the way it is built. The table is a metal frame with MDF on the two center rails for the slate joints and MDF bed frame that is screwed to the top of the metal frame and the rails attach thru the mdf not the slate. Im going to have penguin amusement make some customs rails for me once i get the bottom half done. So im going to be building a new base for everything still working on a plan for that but building a level box is the easy part for me lol . my biggest concern/questions come with the slate. Should i back the slate with wood and extend it out past the slate to a normal slate size and match the slate height to attach the rails or is there another solution. also in the pockets am i limited on options since the slate is what i consider "undersized" compared to new slate pictures to follow


The bedframe



couple under side pics





and the way the pockets look









here is a pic of the junk old rails just for an idea on how the used to attach to the table



Any help would be great. Again I'm planning on building an entire new structure for the frame legs and all that and have the "pros" make my rails im just going to put the hard wood on them but im trying to figure out if this is even worth continuing or if i'm heading up the creek with no paddle

thank you again and if this turns out to be a project to continue i will post updates

-J
 
table

that table is old, import probly..late 70's to early 80's..rebuilding will be coslty....most guys on here will tell you that you are out of your mind trying to do any thing with that table..its a bad design..you will have to completly rebuild it. and once you done that' honestly.....it still gonna be a worthless hunk of wood..if you want something to bang balls on and wont cost you alot of money, look for a use valley,dynamo or murray bar style coin op table....once you find a used bar table, you can get rails from ridgebackrails.com what will bring older bar tables back to life....
I know every one these days dont have a lot of money and end up spending more time at home and wants to enjoy the game of pocket billiards with family in the home and save some money by getting a table dirt cheap but dont know a good table from a bad one, and figure hey' a pool table is a pool table and for that price why not' and then find out its worthless a few months down the road when it falls apart as your playing a game of pool.. i suggest you get started on the right foot...
Thanks for joining us' welcome to AZBilliards
-
have a good day'
Rob.M
 
dontlitethat said:
that table is old, import probly..late 70's to early 80's..rebuilding will be coslty....most guys on here will tell you that you are out of your mind trying to do any thing with that table..its a bad design..you will have to completly rebuild it. and once you done that' honestly.....it still gonna be a worthless hunk of wood..if you want something to bang balls on and wont cost you alot of money, look for a use valley,dynamo or murray bar style coin op table....once you find a used bar table, you can get rails from ridgebackrails.com what will bring older bar tables back to life....
I know every one these days dont have a lot of money and end up spending more time at home and wants to enjoy the game of pocket billiards with family in the home and save some money by getting a table dirt cheap but dont know a good table from a bad one, and figure hey' a pool table is a pool table and for that price why not' and then find out its worthless a few months down the road when it falls apart as your playing a game of pool.. i suggest you get started on the right foot...
Thanks for joining us' welcome to AZBilliards
-
have a good day'
Rob.M
Click to expand...

Yup.

ever heard the saying "good money after bad"
 
so would it even be worth using the slate if i built my own table? I've seen some very nice custom built frames. i mainly bought it for the slate since new slate was going to cost 500 before shipping
 
table

If building your own table is what your after,go for it... you can use the slate you have...the table will have to have the same build as the original..use the old frame as a mock-up...build the new frame with solid wood or find micro lam for the slate support..what is the measurements of the slate you have?
If the slate is a odd size you won't be able to change the design much..
-
Good luck'
Rob.M
 
build vs buy used

the slate is 91.5" x 47.5" i'm back and forth on building one or not when i first brought it home that was the intention but i don't have the leveling skills or tools you pros do so i'm a bit worried. i'm trying to figure the difference in finding a good used table and paying for set up vs buying a new one and having setup included in cost plus a warranty. my biggest drawback is i don't know what older used tables to look for im all over Craigslist within 3hrs of my home. it seems like allot of people swear by the gold crowns i just don't want to buy a used table that isn't worth the money or requires so much to be put into it i should have bought new and i dont want to just take the name brunswick or who ever and assume because that name is on the table its worth buying i dont know all the different grades of older models. So i guess onto my next question.... i love this game i used to play daily in college and i want to buy a table that is going to be a life long table to play on i dont care if it looks pretty or not i just want a life time table that is easy to service is gong to be good to raise my skills and wont become a hinder if i get on a league but within a reasonable price range. something i can improve as time goes on what should i look for that would fill this and be common and easy to have worked on also i wish i had room for a 9ft but 8 is all i can pull off unless it goes in my garage...........sorry so long of a reply but my wheels have been turning non stop
 
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