table Imperial or Olhausen

C

chuckg

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
My lovely wife has stunned me once again ! We have lunch once in awhile at the senior center in our town,must be 50 and we are well past that age .We noticed that there is really not much to do there,especially for the men other than play dominoes . She has suggested that we buy a pool table and donate it to the center. The director is all for it,the room will handle an 8 footer but that will be okay. I am planning on buying a used table and as we all have noticed choices are somewhat limited. I see a few Olhausen furniture style tables but I may be able to get an Imperial commercial table from a hall that is being sold. I have played a lot on the Imperial and it is okay,know nothing about Olhausens.Comments please. I am paying for it all out of my own pocket so a Diamond or a GC are not happening.Maybe if I knew how to network it I could get the good folks at Diamond to donate one.
Chuck
 
Good luck on your search for a appropriate table. Have had to find things for my elderly parents to do, I have been a few senior centers and several had tables and all were 8 fters. They were not very level and the cues were donated and many with out tips. I would re-tip them best I could(being on the road) and invite the folks who seemed interested in the game to a few lessons. It was fun and the people started playing rather then participating in things like painting and ceramics. My parents have since passed but a few at these centers still remember me when I stop in.

I don't think the type of table was very important to them but the exercise and mental stimulation makes a difference.
 
olhausens are much better tables. and are high quality. if you are not a pool player than any table will seem okay if its level.
they will have better slate than imperial as well.
you should be able to find one for around 1000 or less used from an individual. and expect to pay about 5 to 700 to move and set up depending on cloth quality if the cloth on the one you buy isnt good. most people put new cloth on a table
 
had a olhausen for 20 years, loved it .
Everyone that played on it always remarked on how nice it played.
I will say that only the same exact same people ever recovered it .
My table now ( valley) is a disappointment as the hacks that covered it didn’t do a even job of stretching the 860 hr .
Rail rubber is said to last longer on the olhausen accu fast rails . Mine at 20 years wasn’t bad but you could tell they weren’t as lively as new.
To me who does the set up is of paramount importance!
 
You might want to see if a local table retailer would be willing to provide a used table and installation at say half cost in exchange for getting to attach a small placard to the table with their business name and number on it which gets them some advertising in a public place that gets lots of visitors. Or you provide the table (whether you buy from them or someone else) and they provide the installation free in exchange for attaching a small placard to the table with their business name on it. Seems like it would be pretty decent advertising. One of the local installers/retailers might have an interest in working out a deal like that. Wouldn't hurt to ask anyway.
 
Last edited:
Thanks for all the info. I am going to check out an Olhausen this weekend for a thousand,I would like to be all in at $2000 or so. I have owned 2 tables so I will take this one down and move it myself. I am going to stop by one of the major retailers and see if I can get some kind of a deal on set up .
I am pretty sure most of these guys will be happy no matter the table. I have always been a pretty serious player and can see myself playing there quite a bit since the center is 5 min. from our house. I currently drive 40 miles one way to play.
 
For $2K all in I would think you could find a decent Brunswick GC Pro 8 or a really nice Pro 8 Monticello. Either option would blow the doors off any Olhausen or Imperial.

EDIT: Check OfferUp in your area.
 
chuck if you do the move and basic setup you can get a pro to finish for a few hundred if you tell him he isnt responsible for any problems as you may have caused them.

if you are going to use it then get a good one and do it right or you will regret it later on.
 
chuckg said:
Thanks for all the info. I am going to check out an Olhausen this weekend for a thousand,I would like to be all in at $2000 or so. I have owned 2 tables so I will take this one down and move it myself. I am going to stop by one of the major retailers and see if I can get some kind of a deal on set up .
I am pretty sure most of these guys will be happy no matter the table. I have always been a pretty serious player and can see myself playing there quite a bit since the center is 5 min. from our house. I currently drive 40 miles one way to play.
Click to expand...

You should be able to find a slate 8 foot table for well under 1,000 if you look for a bit. I got an Olhausen 8 footer for free several years ago. Keep in mind that there is a good chance the table will need new rails if it's older so need to factor that cost in as well.
 
There are a lot of people on AZB who dislike Olhausens but I love mine and have had it for 30+ years. Big criticism of Olhausen is a so-called "pocket rattle" where some balls shot in primarily corner pockets rattle back and forth and get spit out. This is a very rare occurrence when I play. Maybe happens once a week or less.

I believe based on a lot of reading and thought and basement-lab testing that the great Accu-Fast cushions Olhausen uses are a bit springier than other cushions and that Olhausen uses different-than-conventional pocket facings and angles to compensate.

I play in two leagues on new Blue Label Diamonds with tight pockets, and balls rattle back and forth and hang in corner pockets every five minutes on them. Nobody sees that as a table defect.

My 30+ year old Olhausen still has its original cushions, the wood looks beautiful, and even though it's been recovered five or six times, there have been no stapling into wood issues or other deterioration issues.

And used Olhausens can be bought very cheap.
 
Logandgriff said:
I play in two leagues on new Blue Label Diamonds with tight pockets, and balls rattle back and forth and hang in corner pockets every five minutes on them. Nobody sees that as a table defect.
Click to expand...
Do the balls that rattle on the Diamond brush the rail before hitting the pocket?
 
Logandgriff said:
There are a lot of people on AZB who dislike Olhausens but I love mine and have had it for 30+ years. Big criticism of Olhausen is a so-called "pocket rattle" where some balls shot in primarily corner pockets rattle back and forth and get spit out. This is a very rare occurrence when I play. Maybe happens once a week or less.

I believe based on a lot of reading and thought and basement-lab testing that the great Accu-Fast cushions Olhausen uses are a bit springier than other cushions and that Olhausen uses different-than-conventional pocket facings and angles to compensate.

I play in two leagues on new Blue Label Diamonds with tight pockets, and balls rattle back and forth and hang in corner pockets every five minutes on them. Nobody sees that as a table defect.

My 30+ year old Olhausen still has its original cushions, the wood looks beautiful, and even though it's been recovered five or six times, there have been no stapling into wood issues or other deterioration issues.

And used Olhausens can be bought very cheap.
Click to expand...
I think the death rattle as it was called had to do with the angle they cut the pocket and and how you couldn't make a ball hit with speed even if you hit the pocket clean

Sent from my SM-G998U1 using Tapatalk
 
Logandgriff said:
There are a lot of people on AZB who dislike Olhausens but I love mine and have had it for 30+ years. Big criticism of Olhausen is a so-called "pocket rattle" where some balls shot in primarily corner pockets rattle back and forth and get spit out. This is a very rare occurrence when I play. Maybe happens once a week or less.

I believe based on a lot of reading and thought and basement-lab testing that the great Accu-Fast cushions Olhausen uses are a bit springier than other cushions and that Olhausen uses different-than-conventional pocket facings and angles to compensate.

I play in two leagues on new Blue Label Diamonds with tight pockets, and balls rattle back and forth and hang in corner pockets every five minutes on them. Nobody sees that as a table defect.

My 30+ year old Olhausen still has its original cushions, the wood looks beautiful, and even though it's been recovered five or six times, there have been no stapling into wood issues or other deterioration issues.

And used Olhausens can be bought very cheap.
Click to expand...
More than likely there are leather or neoprene pocket facings on the cushions so I wouldn't thing the cushions would make near as much difference as the angles do.
 
chuckg said:
Thanks for all the info. I am going to check out an Olhausen this weekend for a thousand,I would like to be all in at $2000 or so. I have owned 2 tables so I will take this one down and move it myself. I am going to stop by one of the major retailers and see if I can get some kind of a deal on set up .
I am pretty sure most of these guys will be happy no matter the table. I have always been a pretty serious player and can see myself playing there quite a bit since the center is 5 min. from our house. I currently drive 40 miles one way to play.
Click to expand...
For 2k you got some options for sure. Just need to be patient and willing to act fast. Check your local classifieds. There are some slamming deals that will come up. In my area I could have bought a Brunswick Regina for less than $500.00 as an example. Seller had no idea what he had.
 
I have never seen a definitive answer to the question of why Olhausens do what they do and the corollary question of why doesn't Olhausen change the facings and the angles if they are indeed the problem. My best guess is because the great Accu-Fast cushions are springier than most, the Olhausen facings and angles are different to try to help make good shots go in.

In response to the Diamond question, yes I think the physics of the phenomenon has to be that the balls that hang up hit the cushion first. Some of them don't look like they do but I still think they must because they aren't hitting the back of the pockets and bouncing straight out. So how else could it happen?

Bottom line is I have a delightful magical time playing on my Olhausen and also on every Diamond I have played on. And I never perceived an Olhausen rattle until I read about it on AZB. Maybe kind of like reading about erectile dysfunction or the yips in golf. Better not to know they exist.
 
I have been looking at some tables on FB also. It amazes me that folks put an add on with one picture,no mention of the manf or the size even. I am not in a huge rush so I am sure I will find something eventually.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top