suggestions/advice needed for homemade playing surface

Corian is very expensive. There are other similiar materials, without the name recognition, that are much more reasonable and will work just as well. Try a bathroom or kitchen counter installer or supplier.

Plaster, or other mixing compounds probably will not hold up.

Jim
 
Whitey you are one ambitious dude ! That guage is called a dial indicator, btw, and I've never heard of one being used to level a table but it could certainly be used to get slates lined up if you had a good way of holding it still. " Level " to me means both flat, and parallel to the surface of the earth. The dial indicator can be used to measure only the flat part. You need a nice 12" or even 18" Starrett 98 machinsts level, and when you are done with it you can ship it off to me for long term storage :D Of course rolling balls around works too, and it much cheaper if not more time consuming.

Even without hitting jumps and masse shots the table surface takes a beating. It doesn't take much of an elevation of the butt (very common) and a hard hit to make a dent in a soft material.

Good luck with the project, but I'm leaning towards you saving up a few hundred dollars and watching the used table market carefully. To many people buying or selling a house that pool table in the basement is a problem looking to be removed ... they can go pretty cheap.

Dave
 
Don't know about the expense but why not try laying some 1/8 inch plate steel over the partical board. It would have good rigidness and should be able to level out. just a thought.
 
still trying to engineer one-piece "self leveling"

Hi, I am limited to what can fit in a normal doorway, and
down a narrow flight of stairs, so any one-piece 107.5 x 57.5
inch material is out of the question. And I do not want to
build a more standard-like frame that would allow multiple
pieces to be leveled manually. So far that rock-hard urethane
seems to be the best contender, but much more than I want
to spend, and also the fumes are another major issue now.
 
I just love this...

Not going to dispense any commentaries for the time being...

Too dangerous.
 
Whitey Billiards has a nice ring!

You are either a complete knuckle head or the next generation of pool tables will bear your name! Good luck!
 
I just wont be able to help until I see some in delvelopemental process pictures.;) But I believe I have the answer.:cool:
 
best of luck

i dont think playing on crappy equipment will ever help your game, but i want to wish you luck in this endeavor, and if you pull this off i have some crooked shafts
 
whitey2 said:
Hi. I thought about trying three sheets of MDF or something
like that, but then would have to build a different style frame
than what I threw together, that would allow easy access to
shims, etc.. That way I do not have to deal with trying to
painfully level 3 pieces, as well as cutting them in the same
dimensions of the existing surface. That was a very valid
question! It took me weeks to get what I have as level as
possible, and I'm trying to avoid that process. I thought I
could "let nature do that work", but perhaps it will just be
lending me a hand in the process...
Click to expand...

Yeah, I was going to suggest using the thickest MDF you can find, maybe even doubled-up in thickness to increase rigidity. At least that way, if you decide it's not worth messing with, you're not out much time or money. Also, you might be able to order the MDF in a 5x10 sheet, which would provide a seamless surface for any size table.

I just thought of one other benefit to MDF. If you wanted to create a smoother surface (possibly more dent-resistant also) you could take your MDF a kitchen countertop manufacturer and have them put some inexpensive laminate on it. There would be seams in the laminate, of course, but I doubt they would affect the playability. Just a thought.

Never mind. Just read your size restrictions. Good luck with that.

Aaron
 
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Just havin' fun!

They all laughed at Albert Einstein. They all laughed at Columbus. Unfortunately, they also all laughed at Bozo the Clown. - Carl Sagan
 
please come forth with the "answer" !!!

rackem said:
I just wont be able to help until I see some in delvelopemental process pictures.;) But I believe I have the answer.:cool:
Click to expand...

I really want to hear what you have to say. What do you need to know before you will post it? Basically, I
build a non-adjustable frame, and topped it with two joined house doors that supports a framed
particle-board surface. I am using top-quality rails and pockets, and cloth that is nearly identical to
commercial pool cloth. I can hit an elephant practice ball (half red half white) up to the foot rail and it
rolls perfectly on one side of the table, and comes back to the head rail almost perfectly, even though there
is a small "jump" it has to up and over on its way back. So far this is the only thing keeping it from
playing very close to a GC3. If I could achieve a hard and flat surface, I would be "there". By the way,
before I built this, I setup a cloth covered sheet of glass from a large coffee table, and a rail at one end. I
drew a straight chalk line up the middle. For about a month I practiced with an object ball on the line
halfway up, and a cue at the end. I got to the point where I could hit the cue into the object ball,
stop the cue ball there, object ball goes to the rail, comes back and hits the cue ball, stops and almost sets
the shot up again. At that point I went out and started crushing people that used to beat me. Maybe some
folks use the words "crappy equipment" to mean anything other than "normal" marketed products, but I can
sure tell you that incarnation of equipment sure helped my game! And Rackem, please post what you are
calling the answer, or ask me specific questions!
 
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I need pics!

You have mentioned Pilot Lite a couple of times. I really think I need some Pics and the structures proximity to that pilot lite before I can add my suggestion.:rolleyes: Is this in a free standing building/garage or is it part of your families home?:eek: :D Plain and simple myself and I believe others just won't believe this till we see PICTURES. Next to a dated newspaper Please! :D :D

If you are really serious you might want to search out a piece of the stuff they use for outdoor tables. I think they call it Slatron.
Go getem Rube Goldberg!:eek: :D
 
oh boy, If you need the proximity of the pilot light it sounds dangerous!

Oh boy, if you need the proximity of the pilot light it sounds dangerous!
I envision some type of melting and/or some type
of very dangerous mixture. And, my digital camera will
probably not show enough detail of a newspaper and the table
in the same picture, but I will give it a try. I'm surprised that
folks would not believe everything I have said, but I'm somewhat
new to this board. If you really want to see a picture of this
this, I'll post one. Also, specify a few numbers 1-15 in some
order, and/or a gray ball and solid black ball, and I will put
them in the picture also. This will also serve to solidify my
reputation as an honest poster here. I still can't imagine what
you might be suggesting, but I am not going to endanger the
house!
 
Show me and I ain't from Missouri

whitey2 said:
Oh boy, if you need the proximity of the pilot light it sounds dangerous!
I envision some type of melting and/or some type
of very dangerous mixture. And, my digital camera will
probably not show enough detail of a newspaper and the table
in the same picture, but I will give it a try. I'm surprised that
folks would not believe everything I have said, but I'm somewhat
new to this board. If you really want to see a picture of this
this, I'll post one. Also, specify a few numbers 1-15 in some
order, and/or a gray ball and solid black ball, and I will put
them in the picture also. This will also serve to solidify my
reputation as an honest poster here. I still can't imagine what
you might be suggesting, but I am not going to endanger the
house!
Click to expand...
Okay how about cueball, 5-ball, 15-ball in a mirror. I think that would read.
5150 :eek:
 
5150 - the pics...

rackem said:
Okay how about cueball, 5-ball, 15-ball in a mirror. I think that would read.
5150 :eek:
Click to expand...

I have attached 2 photos below. You can see the end of
the shelving unit, and one filing cabinet, as well as a couple
5150 (police call number for insane perp) props as well.
The various chalk lines are for drills. Just so you realize that
this setup is extremely suitable. Comments on pics are welcome
for anyone, thanks...
 

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I love it!

I'm game for a brainstorm
I've long been thinking that there must be other suitable materials for a pool table
ideas:

*old discarded welding table (1" thick steel) blanchard ground flat
*a piece of 3/4" plywood with 18gauge sheet metal bonded to the top (maybe with 3M spray adhesive 77 or above)
*kitchen countertop stock- particle board with laminated formica top
*fiberglass sheet bonded to plywood (or plywood glassed on the top)
*what about phenolic tabletop material - (used in high school science lab)
*industrial floor tiles bonded to suitable sheet of something (plywood?)
*have you seen cement kitchen countertops? you can get them really flat and polish them to a shine
*ever seen those 2" thick wood tabletops in a kitchen - don't know if you can get them wide enough, but certainly long enough
*perhaps oak wood flooring could be assembled, sanded with a large floor sander, and finished with polyeurathane. Maybe you could find a buddy in the flooring trade to help you out on this one.
*a single sheet of glass seems like it would work pretty well, especially if it was bonded to a fairly strong and stiff backboard (like plywood)

that's all I could think off the top of my head
Jon
 
this cloth is great

I'm starting to get the impression you might be just trolling,
but in case you don't know. The following link might interest
you:

http://www.insidepool.com/order/Sterling+8&#39+Oversize+Worsted+Standard+Green+Pool+Table+Cloth

If you notice in the pics, 2 of the rails are green, and are
standard billiard cloth. I brought a sample with me when I
went to purchase the cloth. I did not need a name, I just needed
a material that was exactly the same to the touch. Not too
many people realize that the cloth for fine wool suits is
almost, if not exactly the same. I got my cloth for about $8
at a very unique store. I examined about 50 rolls before
settling on the gray stuff.
 
thanks, and I pondered tongue+groove oak

A friend of mine in the oak flooring business set aside some
of the tongue and groove flooring he used for me. I went over
to look at it, and there were just way too many pieces needed,
as well as a heck of a lot of cutting, then shaping to do, so I
declined. My thinking was I really want something other than
wood, so I do not have to worry about warping of the surface
(at all). Thanks for your reply also, it was appreciated!

BTW - That friend is very fortunate to have a very old like 1918
or so Brunswick/Blake/Collender table from a closed poolroom in
the Bronx. Unfortunately there are 2 support poles that get in the way
of some shots in his basement. As you can tell from the pics, my
setup is only accessible from 2 sides, and only useful for practice.
 
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