So while I'm buying a table, what am I forgetting...

iusedtoberich said:
I'm not familiar with that model table, maybe it's only in Canada? It's a home model table I take it?

Have you considered a used commercial model from a pool hall? You might be able to save half the money compared to a new furniture style table from a dealer.

Just an FYI, as it sounds like aesthetics are your priority.

Good luck.
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Thanks.

This is a "dining conversion" table, with a top cut to fit over the table to make it look and act like a dining table (albeit a bit thick of one). That's the only way I could get it approved to go into the Great Room - a piano there went into the dining room.

I'm not in Canada, am in Florida, just only the Canadian tables seemed to work for us.

So yes, we are working to balance aesthetics with a decent table, but the requirement for a dining top and very thin table really eliminated almost everyone but Canada Billiards and Fusion, and wanting 9' (or anything over 7') eliminated Fusion. I suspect we could save quite a bit of money if it wasn't a dining conversion.
 
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flyrv9 said:
You might want to consider a rack to store your cues vertically. Easy access, takes up less room and cues stored horizontally may tend to warp over a long period of time. Also, a cover of some kind will help keep things cleaner. Also a bridge head or bridge mounted on a shaft is a must for a 9' table. It may come in your accessory package though.
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I was wondering about horizontal storage, but vertical just wasn't in the cards since the idea is not to look like a pool room when it's a dining table. It was either a storage bench or a storage console, both horizontal. At least they are supported the entire length, not suspended at each end.

Will check on bridge, thanks.

The table comes with a dining top as cover. :eek:

And I did ask about things like spilled drinks - they have a plastic cover you put on under the (5 piece) dining top, so any spills that go through the joints in the top do not reach the table. It's really quite well done - they carve out recesses for the pockets, for example. Other manufacturer's we say did not, they raised the top an extra half inch or so, making the thickness worse. This one is 7" from dining top to bottom where your knees would hit when seated; most others we saw were 8, 9, even 10", which is WHY to thick to sit at. 7" is marginal but (my wife was the final judge) workable.
 
Incidentally if you are curious what the table looks like it is here:

http://canadabillard.com/la_condo_stainless/p2021.aspx

Not a great photo but it may give some idea. In fact all their photos are small and mediocre, but we have seen the actual table in two different finishes. The Stainless we are getting was very impressive, I did not really expect to like it, and wanted a all-wood initially.

It definitely has a "furniture" emphasis.
 
It would be cheaper to make a nice top to fit a Gold Crown, AND it will play light years better

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk
 
Cool looking table, I'm sure you and your wife will enjoy it for a long time :smile:

As for important starters; Ball set is easily overlooked but one of the most important things for a pool player. Aramith is the name here, Tournament set would be my choice. Cyclops are used by some events also but are generally rated a grade below Aramith professional quality sets.

Second are the cues. If you are having some delivered with the table you already have some. Wont take long untill you'll pick up the desire to upgrade a little but that is a thing for another thread, right ;) The point though is that what ever cues you are going to receive, please for the sake of your mental health ask what kind of tips come on them. A quality tip is by far the single most important part of any cue. Any decent leather tip like a Triangle or a Le Pro will do fine but the screw on tips and unbranded leather tips will most definitely drive you to insanity if you dont have them changed :smile:

Enjoy the table and have fun with it! I got my fiancee interested in the game when I bought a table and now she has cues of her own and can play a little too :cool: Nothing beats a late at night matchup with the better half :smile: I mean at the table, not on it :grin:

Post some pics for us when you have things set up if you want :rolleyes:
 
ideologist said:
It would be cheaper to make a nice top to fit a Gold Crown, AND it will play light years better
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You may have noticed though I do not live in Canada, but a long way south (to your question "what province do live in?".

The problem I have seen with all other tables I have encountered is depth, i.e. distance from the top rail to the supports underneath. You can't just put a top on most tables and actually sit underneath them, in some cases at all due to various things in the way, but in many it is just that once your butt is low enough to get your knees to fit under, the table is sitting up near your armpits -- they are just too thick.

I appreciate the offer, and appreciate that the result is a compromise, and expensive.

As I mentioned once -- the alternative of getting a "good" dining table was not to have a pool table at all.

And it is not that I particularly like Canada Billiards -- never heard of them before I started looking, it is just all I could find that passed the wife test.
 
@KimmoH, thanks for the suggestions. I'm sure we will, as when we had one before we often played and it was a draw to have friends over.

It is even worth mentioning that the dining table aspect may rarely be used -- when we had the "real" dining table in a real dining room, we ate on it maybe 3 times a year. But it is one of those things that (at least my spouse) considers you "must have".
 
Linwood said:
Vacuum: The last table we bought (circa 91) the dealer told us never, ever vacuum, always brush, that the joints are (filled?) with something that can be broken up by vacuuming. Was that not true?

It's going on tile on a slab, so (literally) rock solid.
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Yes you need to vacuum, When I built and managed On Cue Billiards back in 1993 we vacuumed at least once a week and our tables were always perfect. Bob Bebb from Rebco that would re-felt them thought they should be vacuumed more often.

You don't use a big motoroized brush attachment on the table just something like a dirt devil.

Here is the care recommendation per Simonis themselves:

Cloth Care & Maintenance:

Did you know that proper installation of your cloth can prevent premature wear?

If cloth is installed too loosely, the cloth can "bunch up" in front of the ball, thus greatly increasing the appearance of ball burns or white marks on the cloth. Simonis is meant to be installed tightly over the surface of the slate. This not only provides the best playing conditions, but it will ultimately increase the usable life of your cloth.

Typically, white marks left on the surface of the cloth are referred to as ball burns. Simonis' high wool content helps to reduce the appearance of these marks. In addition, we recommend using phenolic balls to further reduce the appearance of these marks. Ball burns from polyester balls are actually marks left on the cloth from degradation of the surface of the ball itself. Phenolic balls are much harder and are much more resistant to heat than polyester balls.

As always, the cloth and the balls should be kept clean. Any residue that has built up on the ball or on the cloth will eventually leave marks. Simple maintenance will prolong the life of your cloth, the aesthetic appearance of your table, and your enjoyment of the game.

Typically, balls are cleaned with special polishes. It is not usually recommended to use water to clean billiard balls. Oils from your hands as well as other compounds can build up on the balls and should be removed regularly.

The cloth can be brushed, but to remove the chalk and talc powders, it can be vacuumed with a non-rotating brush-head attachment that does not allow for too much suction to be formed. Some small vacuums can pick up bowling balls, but this will only stretch the cloth on the table and possibly harm the grouting of the slates as well. You should test your vacuum and brush attachment off of the table first to make certain that it is not going to damage the play surface. Less is more in this department. After all, you are trying to remove a fine powder from a smooth cloth, so don't overdo it.

The cloth can also be wiped with a damp (not wet) clean towel. This should only be done after the table has been vacuumed otherwise the dampness may cause the chalk dust to clump together (think of it as adding water to dry clay). Once the dampness has evaporated, a quick brushing is all you will need before playing as moisture will cause the fibers in the cloth to stand up and a quick brushing will smooth things out.

Stains on the cloth? Contact your local Dry Cleaners as they have some pretty interesting and effective techniques to resolve these incidents. Remember, Simonis is a worsted wool, so be sure to mention that fact.
 
@johnnysd, thanks, that is not really inconsistent with what we were told, I suspect the dealer who told us "no vacuuming" (way back when) just assumed we were not smart enough to figure out the difference in a strong and weak vacuum. :wink:

The above was quite helpful, thanks.
 
Different racks

I have a 9 footer in my garage, it has in floor heating and is 28'x36'.

I have several different racks and use them all. They include a heavy duty wood rack, Magic Racks and a Bronze Delta Elite. Using different racks helps me learn how to break with different racks I may use when I play at other places.
 
A new set of Brunswick Centennial Pool Balls (by Saluc)
and a terrific hand held vacuum with brush (fine) attachment.
 
@Bavafongoul, thanks. Balls are definitely on the list.

Heading off tomorrow for a road trip to finalize and get it all on order; this thread has been very helpful getting me thinking about the right things.
 
On the issue of cloth, I want to reemphasize that the darker the colour the harder it is to see the balls. This is especially important, in my opinion, if you are having to make some compromises on lighting. It is also more important to me as I get older (I play in a league where the tables are covered in a darker than normal green and the lighting is not great - it bothers me way more than my teammates in their 30s). Tournament Blue (a favourite among us hard-core players), Tan, or something light is going to help. Red or burgundy is pretty dark. I actually think the Tournament Blue looks really sharpe, but if your wife insists on a different colour, look at other light colours.

Someone suggested you will recover every year or two. I highly doubt it. If you keep your table covered when not in use, follow the recommendations above re vacuuming etc and treat your table with respect, your cloth should last you many years. I recovered my table 3 years ago, play quite a bit and the cloth is in excellent shape.
 
Thanks @Gideon. Will spend some extra time tomorrow on colors. I will make the light plenty bright enough, somehow. It is shadows I worry about if I can't get enough separate lights.

Maybe LED ribbons all around the outside edges under the bumpers. :eek:

At least the cloth is probably the most easy thing to change if we make a bad choice.
 
I only read a few responses so please forgive me if this lists to many duplicates.

Lighting (there is an AZer on here that sells LED panels that are reasonably priced and very bright without being blinding) Just make sure you mount it high enough over the table to avoid people hitting it. If your into specs there is one for minimum height above the bed of the table listed somewhere online.

Table cover ( many different types available including those that will allow you to put over your table to make it like a large dinner table.)

Rack or two to hold your bridge under the table if one does not come with the table.

Bar Stools or billiard chairs or benches.

Ball polisher if your not going to do them by hand

Tip Shaper

Chalk that matches the color of your cloth

talc or baby powder

table brush set

Small Vacuum
 
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Just to follow up (and again say thanks for the advice), we ordered it today.

We settled on a setup kit that included Brunswick Centennial Balls, and some slightly upgraded cues (basically $90 sticks -- I figure until I know more no reason to make choices in what I want). The majority of that kit were the ball price, but it had a bridge, racks, etc. I was told those balls were made by Aramith, and I really liked the design (OK, I know the design is not relevant to play, but ... I liked the design).

We also settled on a Simonis Camel color cloth. I was still hoping to get Burgundy, but we changed wood colors while there and it did not look good. So somewhat by accident we followed the advice to get a lighter color, not darker.

The biggest debates were over colors of wood and upholstery (chair and bench from them also), but not very interesting in this context.

Chalk to match table, I forgot to ask what brand. That's a detail Amazon can fix.

Now we start waiting. 6-8 weeks, so probably for delivery and install 10-12 - late July or early August. Should be time to get the lighting done.
 
You'll also need some really big B&W prints of the pool and billiard masters of years past.

Let me know how many you need :D
 
Mr. Bond said:
You'll also need some really big B&W prints of the pool and billiard masters of years past.

Let me know how many you need :D
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I'm a photographer, does that mean you are (were?) one of them and are available to pose? ;)
 
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