The weight of 7' x 1" slate sections

S

swampwiz

New member
I was just moving around some stuff in my garage, where I am storing my table's slate pieces. (I ended up having to buy a smaller house than I wanted to after a major flood in 2005, so the table has is in pieces - the legs only got a few inches in that flood, but the wooden frame was in a shed that ended up getting flooded repeatedly, unbeknownst to me, but that is another story for another topic :angry:). It's a Brunswick 7' table with 1" slate (it was the most expensive one Brunswick sold in the late '80s, with a nice tropical wood finish), and I found that I was able to pick up momentarily using just my hands on the side the individual slate pieces. I am a former weightlifter, so I am strong, but I still had to rely on the shear friction of my hand on the slate to get that upward force, so it's not quite like doing a bent-over row lift. The only other times I lifted the slate was with someone else helping, or going from a dolly to my wagon back bay and back, so I was able to lift it axially and not depend on friction. (Perhaps only someone who has studied the mechanical sciences understands my terminology.)

From what I can gather online, slate has a specific gravity of 2.8, or a density of .1 lbm/in^3. As 1" thick slate for a 7' table has a net of about 3510 in^3, each of the 3 sections should be about 1170 in^3. or 117 lb, which is what it seems to feel when I pick them up. Does this sounds about right, or is the slate used for billiard tables lighter or heavier?
 
swampwiz said:
I was just moving around some stuff in my garage, where I am storing my table's slate pieces. (I ended up having to buy a smaller house than I wanted to after a major flood in 2005, so the table has is in pieces - the legs only got a few inches in that flood, but the wooden frame was in a shed that ended up getting flooded repeatedly, unbeknownst to me, but that is another story for another topic :angry:). It's a Brunswick 7' table with 1" slate (it was the most expensive one Brunswick sold in the late '80s, with a nice tropical wood finish), and I found that I was able to pick up momentarily using just my hands on the side the individual slate pieces. I am a former weightlifter, so I am strong, but I still had to rely on the shear friction of my hand on the slate to get that upward force, so it's not quite like doing a bent-over row lift. The only other times I lifted the slate was with someone else helping, or going from a dolly to my wagon back bay and back, so I was able to lift it axially and not depend on friction. (Perhaps only someone who has studied the mechanical sciences understands my terminology.)

From what I can gather online, slate has a specific gravity of 2.8, or a density of .1 lbm/in^3. As 1" thick slate for a 7' table has a net of about 3510 in^3, each of the 3 sections should be about 1170 in^3. or 117 lb, which is what it seems to feel when I pick them up. Does this sounds about right, or is the slate used for billiard tables lighter or heavier?
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I believe it is about 126.72 without the backing board, just a guess. I believe your sq inches number is low making the difference.

Just for a laugh, I bought a 4 1/2 x 9 GC3 and hired 2 guys to move it to my basement The one guy had extremely long arms and was huge in the shoulders, not body builder type but just thick.
They started to take the slate down the stairs and the gorilla said hang on , your going to make me fall, I'll get them. He was also very clumsy!
I'm thinking , this guys goofy if he thinks it will be easier to do by himself
{I have moved a lot of slates myself}, Anyway , he picks the slate up with his arms extended almost all the way out, no leverage at all and walks down the stairs with it almost at arms length, like he's carrying a dirty diaper.
I would have never believed it , if I hadn't seen him do it.
 
swampwiz said:
I was just moving around some stuff in my garage, where I am storing my table's slate pieces. (I ended up having to buy a smaller house than I wanted to after a major flood in 2005, so the table has is in pieces - the legs only got a few inches in that flood, but the wooden frame was in a shed that ended up getting flooded repeatedly, unbeknownst to me, but that is another story for another topic :angry:). It's a Brunswick 7' table with 1" slate (it was the most expensive one Brunswick sold in the late '80s, with a nice tropical wood finish), and I found that I was able to pick up momentarily using just my hands on the side the individual slate pieces. I am a former weightlifter, so I am strong, but I still had to rely on the shear friction of my hand on the slate to get that upward force, so it's not quite like doing a bent-over row lift. The only other times I lifted the slate was with someone else helping, or going from a dolly to my wagon back bay and back, so I was able to lift it axially and not depend on friction. (Perhaps only someone who has studied the mechanical sciences understands my terminology.)

From what I can gather online, slate has a specific gravity of 2.8, or a density of .1 lbm/in^3. As 1" thick slate for a 7' table has a net of about 3510 in^3, each of the 3 sections should be about 1170 in^3. or 117 lb, which is what it seems to feel when I pick them up. Does this sounds about right, or is the slate used for billiard tables lighter or heavier?
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I was not aware that their 7' tables had three piece slate. Most bar size tables use one piece slate.
 
My 8' Valley has a one piece, 3/4" slate and that weighs 600 lbs. I had asked Valley because I needed to lift it to get at my return system.
 
jay helfert said:
I was not aware that their 7' tables had three piece slate. Most bar size tables use one piece slate.
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Jay, I don’t recall him stating it was a bar table, even though it was a seven footer. Most of us generally think of one piece slate 7 foot bar tables when we hear of a 7 foot table. Home table manufactures did usually offer their 7 foot models in three piece three-quarter inch slate, but I guess this was upgraded to 1 inch thick slate. Generally, each piece of a 9 foot three piece 1 inch slate table is around 200 pounds per piece, an eight footer around 160 pounds, and a seven footer around 120 pounds, and 25% less than that if it happens to be three-quarter inch slate.
 
RickLafayette said:
My 8' Valley has a one piece, 3/4" slate and that weighs 600 lbs. I had asked Valley because I needed to lift it to get at my return system.
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On an 8 foot three-quarter inch slate table, regardless of whether the slate is one piece or three-piece, the entire slate would weigh no more than 400 pounds max. The entire table itself would weigh less than 700 pounds.
 
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What I have seen over the years is if it is 1" slate (not counting wwod backing) 8' slates are about 175 lbs/ea and 9' are 200ish per piece. There are some slight variences but true slate weighs about the same regardless of what kind of table it is from. Cheaper tables may use different things that are not real slate and weigh less
 
I once moved an single piece slate from a Valley bar table up a flight of stairs at my old place by myself using a wide strap over my shoulder and around the slate at the side pocket.

I made it up, but the next day I had crazy bruising on my shoulder from the strap. Oops.
 
BryanB said:
What I have seen over the years is if it is 1" slate (not counting wwod backing) 8' slates are about 175 lbs/ea and 9' are 200ish per piece. There are some slight variences but true slate weighs about the same regardless of what kind of table it is from. Cheaper tables may use different things that are not real slate and weigh less
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8 foot slates (51” x 95”) weigh 21.57% less than 9-foot slates (57” x 107”). Simple math can convert the weights assuming 9 foot 1-inch slates weigh 200 pounds apiece. 7 foot slates are harder to figure out, as the overall slate dimensions vary from 45” x 83” to 47” x 87”, which can amount to as much as a 9% variance.
 
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