How to Make a 1000 Pound Billiard Table Disappear?

Jun 4, 2013

Antique Pool Table Disassembly…

Our Fullerton, CA client was relocating to WA and wanted to be sure his 1000-pound antique Brunswick pool table would make the trip safely. We built three heavy-duty crates to pack the pool table slate into for protection. The ball return system is pretty basic. It consists of wooden chutes that are connected to each pocket and feed down to the main center track that runs the length of the pool table. The main track has a slight slant to it so all the billiard balls roll down to the ball return box at the foot end of the table. After I removed all the rails and pockets from the 1.25-inch thick three-piece slate, I gently removed all the staples holding the felt in place. I usually always try to save the felt especially if it’s in good condition. You can save yourself a couple of hundred bucks by simply restretching your existing billiard cloth. I didn’t have any crates in stock that would fit the antique slates, so I built a set using some 2x4s I had in my shop. Antique pool tables have different size slates from pool tables of today. A nine-foot pool table has a slate bed that measures 107 inches by 57 inches, but this antique Brunswick-Balke-Collender has a slate bed that measures 54 inches by 104 inches. Our client’s pockets were very worn out so he decided to have us rebuild his antique #5 iron gulley boot pockets.