Things to look for on Anniverary Centennial tables

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MrWrestlingII

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I'm going to get serious about hunting down a Brunswick Anniversary or Centennial in the next month or so.

Does anybody have some advice on the things I should be looking at when inspecting one of these tables?

What about the slate, how does one go about determining the slate condition on an older (or any) table?
 
Only things I can think of right noe are quality of the slate need to take off bed cloth and look at the seams these slates are pinned. Some people lift the slate straight up and brake the slate you will see huge fill spots of bondo around 1-4 inches big its fixable but looks ugly I hitem up for a discount on funny slate. cracked slate thats been repaired or epoxied together.

Expect some cracks in the blind rails from people lifting the table wrong.
Corner casting might have broken dog ears where the casting meet typical 1-2 are broken but you can buy replacements again.

Legs usualy have soft spots in them from abuse thin walled venneer aluminum wrap on bottom of legs usually missing there are replacements.

Rails some are fomica, walnut and rarer rosewood; look for wornout subrail from to many staples it can be fixed or lose rubber. Original ruuber would be like monarch or maybe manhatten raybestos rubber.

Slate backer boards maybe wornout also from staples also.

Mainly look at....

1. slates quality cracks and wood backing
2. rails; wood rails more $ or formica less $ ?
3. corner castings
4. aluminum wrap around the legs and the wood
5. loose rubber
6. misc scratches and dents and what you feel might make a difference in purchase price cost of moving setup refinish replace wood items.


I think Classic billards sells most replacement parts now i havent tried them but I am currently working on my 5x10 Anniversary as I type this with 3 sets of rails 3cushion, snooker, and standard pockets; I have been hunting high and low for awhile for one.

Best of luck on the table search

Craig
 
MrWrestlingII said:
I'm going to get serious about hunting down a Brunswick Anniversary or Centennial in the next month or so.

Does anybody have some advice on the things I should be looking at when inspecting one of these tables?

What about the slate, how does one go about determining the slate condition on an older (or any) table?
Click to expand...

I purchased one last year for my Pool Hall. One thing about old tables, is that can have many problems. The frame on my table was slightly warped from age. I disassembled the entire frame and shimmed to correct this problem. The reason this was a problem in the first place was because of the doweled slate. While the dowels do greatly help to keep the slate even, they can also be very unforgiving when there is a problem with a warped frame.
Many individuals I spoke to told me to cut the dowels, and I suppose that would have been one way to do it. However, disassembling the entire frame and correcting the real problem was not that much more difficult.
While many problems can be wrong with these older tables, they are certainly worth the trouble to make them playable again. I would recommend within reason keeping the table as original possible, and you must take you time and be patient, nothing good comes to those who get in a hurry.

Good luck, and I hope you find what you are looking for!!!!!
 
Centinnials

I just restored my Centennial and noted a couple problems to deal with.

As mentioned earlier - dowels can pop out and break or crack the slate. Easily to deal with as I learned from Glen.

Slate can be crowned or bowed.

The vanes of the old slate can sometimes raise. I forget the technical term for this.

All these things can be overcame by a quality billiard technician.
 
As you look at these tables, check all of the metal pieces for pitting or cracks. Try to get as much history on the table as you can. Original bridge and triangle hangars, as well as the ball shelf at the end of the table can add value to the table if in good condition. By the way, if you are looking for a 9' Centennial, I have one available. It is one of a dozen that came out of Purdue University's campus a few years ago. They were all bought new in 1950. We restored the table to new condition. I can provide pics if interested.

Chris
 
Here is a real nice 1951 Centennial.
 

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pooltableproCP said:
As you look at these tables, check all of the metal pieces for pitting or cracks. Try to get as much history on the table as you can. Original bridge and triangle hangars, as well as the ball shelf at the end of the table can add value to the table if in good condition. By the way, if you are looking for a 9' Centennial, I have one available. It is one of a dozen that came out of Purdue University's campus a few years ago. They were all bought new in 1950. We restored the table to new condition. I can provide pics if interested.

Chris
Click to expand...
I'm interested (but I'm cheap - and I live in Chicago).

patrick.johnson@comcast.net

Thanks,

pj
chgo
 
Damnit !

I just wrote a nice long reply to this and then the forum logged me out or something and my reply got lost.
I will retype my experience latter....sorry.
 
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