type of wood in 40's sportsman rails?

[kash7777]

I have a 9' 40's brunswick sportsman, I thought it had walnut rails
but someone else lead me to believe they were only finished to look like walnut and are actually something else. Anyone have any idea what the rails on these were made out of? are they the exact same rails as they used on the anniversary? what were the differences between the anniversary and sportsman in the 40s other than ballreturn and aprons and different legs? were there big differences in playability/materials/quality?

I have the rails off and sanded to refinish, any idea what I should use on them, once I know what kind of wood is actually is? Also there's some minor scratches on the slate, how bad is that? how to fix, beeswax or bondo? and how detrimental is that to the value? what's the table worth as is, any ideas?

sorry for the ton of questions >.>

Thanks

 

[realkingcobra]

First of all, them rails are not from the 40's, the figure 8 nut plate didin't come out until later in the 50's, back then they were using a 1 1/2" round nut plate that was mounted to the bottom of the rails with 2 wood screws each. Walnut was used on most of the rails, and there really is no differnce in how the tables played to any of the other Brunswick's you mentioned as the were basicly the same rails and hardware. I don't place values on pool table, so can't help you there.

Glen

 

[kash7777]

That's interesting, I had another guy, ken hash from classicbilliards, tell me it was from the mid to late 40s, did they even make sportsman tables in the 50s? I thought the sportking replaced the sportsman in the 50s. I also had another guy look at the rails and he said they were definitely not walnut he thought they were maple but ken looked at pics and thought maybe they were poplar. How much of a problem are those scratches on the slate and what's the best way to fix them?

appreciate your response, thanks

 

[kash7777]

Here's another pic of the rails after I've sanded them down to refinish them.
Can see the wood grain maybe better