Pool table

[Pat]

Bird, The 5 cent per game per cue of eight ball was in the early 60's at Edmond (Central State.) Since it was in a student union building and not a commercial for profit venture it is likely it was cheaper.

A buddy of mine and I played in the interior of Baja on a table illuminated with multiple Coleman lanterns. Eight was a fixed price per cue per game but rotation was a charge per unit time. We played for a couple hours both 8 and rotation and our tab was about $.85 or the same as a delicious full supper at the near by eatery.

I know very little in fact about tables. I know the felt wears and tears and they have to be level and the cushions can wear and not bounce true and need to be replaced but as far as brands go... if you held a gun to my head I could name Brunswick and then stutter and mumble a lot. I have seen web sites that will sell you as much of a table as you want for a DIY assembly. One of the sites recommends getting used slate locally and buying other components from them (saves shippin on the slate.)

I know enough to know I don't want flimsy. Consider the traditional Sears good, better best...I don't want good.

I would sure be open to a suggestion about getting a table. I think I want an eight foot table but could be persuaded otherwise by a good rationale.

Pat [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img] [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

[Bird]

Pat, I actually don't know much about pool tables myself. Not long after we moved into this place, I got one of those flyers in the mail offering a free "Excutive Poke Set" just for stopping by the local Billiards and Barstools store. I didn't have any use for a poker set, but stopped by and got it anyway, and I asked whether they had any used or second hand 8' pool tables. They did not. So I asked what was the cheapest 8' table they had and the salesman showed me a Brunswick. But then he showed me the Olhausen Sheraton that was just a little bit more, but on sale because they were discontinuing that particular model. Now of course I couldn't see why one was better than another, so he suggested I roll a ball hard against the rails on both tables. I don't know what kind of "cushions" they use, but that convinced me I didn't want that Brunswick. I'm sure some of their more expensive models would be good, but that cheapest one sure wasn't much good. And of course, I bought the cheapest Olhausen, but at least it sounds and plays as well as any I've ever seen. Mine looks like the one in the link, except it has the green fabric. It was interesting watching 2 young men carry all the parts in and assemble it. It was assembled in the showroom (last one they had of that model) and they said they tore the fabric disassembling it, so I got new fabric. I understand there are different "qualities" and prices of fabric, but they all looked alike to me except for color. Before buying, I asked the salesman about the cost of replacing the fabric and he said, at current prices, about $200 for material and $200 for labor.

[Pat]

Bird, Just as I thought you do know a lot more about pool tables than I do! Of course that isn't giving you much credit. [img]/forums/images/icons/wink.gif[/img]

It came to me that if I were selling pool tables I'd want a cheapie with lousy cushions at hand to sell up from. Not that those guys were not scrupulously honest...

I was wondering about the slate. What if I cast my table in place out of concrete with the top few inches in self leveling concrete? Just an idea I had, may not do it. With LASER levels and such you should be able to get the forms really flat and screed with a metal straight edge to check level before the self leveling top layer hardens.

Sounds kinda iffy, I know, but I have been involved with casting parabolic surfaces using a rotating turn table. The free surface of a liquid in a container that is rotating horizontally is a parabolic curve with an "f" number dependent on the RPM. As the liquid hardens it retains the parabaloid shape quite well.

At least I wouldn't have to rotate the pool table and if gravity is relatively constant over the extent of the area where the casting takes place you shouild get a flat finish.

Pat [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img] [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

[Bird]

Pat, I'd never seen a table moved before but had only heard about what a job it is. Mine is 1" slate and the 2 young men together carried one piece at a time; 3 pieces. Then when it was assembled, they sealed all the joints and cracks with beeswax before putting the fabric on. I just got back from Sears and noticed they had a table for $189. Just feeling the cushions with my hand tells me I wouldn't want it. Of course, with the table tennis top I can set on mine, the balls, racks, two cues, and sales tax, I spent just over $1,800 for mine, so mine's a relatively cheap one.

[Pat]

My wife used to like table tennis a lot so being abloe to put a table tennins top on it would be a plus for the first week or so then with the table tennis bug died I could build something useful ot of it [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img] [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

Pat [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img] [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

[Bird]

I think you've got it about right, Pat. As a teenager, my favorite games were tennis (at which I was not very good) and table tennis (at which I was pretty good). But this one has been used only twice since we've had it. [img]/forums/images/icons/frown.gif[/img]

[Richard]

I'm late here (again) [img]/forums/images/icons/crazy.gif[/img]

Pat, do I infer in your comments that you're interested in a table?

Dunno if you'd care to hear, but my partner has a nice OVERSIZED table in the house he's trying to sell.

(was his custom home and they're now moved into a smaller house...everything in the 'big' house was done up pretty spiffy)

Anyways, if you're looking to buy one and an oversized would work for you, I'm sure you could probably get it cheaper from him than a retail store. Of course, transportation is a minor issue that must be weighed in the thought process.

We're in Knoxville, TN... you could probably make the drive during your lunch break [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img] [img]/forums/images/icons/wink.gif[/img]

[Bird]

Richard, what size do you consider OVERSIZED? I have an 8' table and I know they make 6', 7', 8', 8 1/2', and 9' tables. Are there other sizes, too?

[Pat]

Richard, What size is OVERSIZED? It might take a bit longer than my usual lunch break. Sure I'm interested but the round trip is likely to be a deal breaker. Someone local with no transportation costs would probbably be able to pay considerably more for it.

I'm definitely not interested in one of the undersized coin-op-beer-bar sized tables. I am not an expert but understand that there are two tournament sizes. I prefer to get the smaller of the tournament sizes but have room for the larger if the right opportunity came along. I do not want a non-standard size at all or anything under the smaller of the two tournament sizes. I could have been misinformed about sizes as they are offered in lots of sizes but I think I want a nominal 8 ft table but a 9ft would be second choice not a 7ft. I will not consider anything under the nominal 8 ft size.

As one of my college buddies so aptly put it one night, Deep from the heart of the darkened pool hall comes the cry of the Snooker Bird, R A C K!!!

Pat [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img] [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

[Richard]

I've never played on it but I belive it to be a 9' having seen it from another room.

He's trying to sell his house and the reality is, if he can't sell the table on the side, it'll go with the house.

If it goes with the house, it will essentially be given away. Meaning, if he's asking say, 600K for the house, he's not going to get 602K by leaving the table...he'll still get his 600K.

From THAT viewpoint, if he sold it for $500, he'd be 500 ahead (at least in my opinion)

I once drove from Knoxville to Chicago to pick up a pair of Klipschorns (speakers). Chicago was a 12 hour trip 1-way.

So, perhaps it's from that nutty perspective I bring it up. [img]/forums/images/icons/cool.gif[/img]

I know it's not very likely that it would happen, but if you DID attempt to find out more about it, I could put you up for the night to make the trip a bit easier (although he lives 45/60 minutes away from me)

Having driven from San Diego to Knoxville this past summer, I know you're just a hop/skip away from me!!

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