I have a thirty year old Brunswick pool table that I bought from a neighbor a few years ago.
When I installed it in my house, I replaced the felt on the slate playing surface, but I think that the rail cushions (bumpers) are original. They are rock hard and need to be replaced.
Has anybody done this before? Is it a DIY project or do I need to send them out to a pro?
In reply to Woody:
http://shop.ebay.com/i.html?_kw=pool&_kw=table&_kw=cushions
the materials are available so i bet you can do it.
For some reason, I never even thought of looking on eBay. Now that I've found the stuff, I just need to figure out how to do it.
http://howtopool.com/HowTo/CompleteRestoration/tabid/62/Default.aspx
I watched a couple re-felt a pool table at a beer joint once. They were obviously professionals at it. They had the whole thing redone in <30 minutes.
I'd have a pool table, but the Dr.Linda won't give up the living room.
Dr. Hess wrote: I watched a couple re-felt a pool table at a beer joint once. They were obviously professionals at it. They had the whole thing redone in <30 minutes. I'd have a pool table, but the Dr.Linda won't give up the living room.
The re-felt job wasn't too bad, just time consuming. But the cushions will be a little more complex.
I had one in my living room, at 18 X 22 ft. there was plenty of room. If it's a decent table let the pros do it. Faster, less stress and it's right.
Think about some of the shots you make, if the bumper is off by 1/16" it hits the ball above or below the centerline.
Dan
Dr. Hess wrote: I'd have a pool table, but the Dr.Linda won't give up the living room.
That is pretty close to how I ended up with this one.
The neighbors were getting divorced and put their house on the market ($1.3 million, pre-crash). They had this in the dining room. Realtor said, "It's gotta go, this needs to look like a dining room."
A hundred bucks later, it was mine.
Nothing to ad sorry
Dr. Hess wrote: I watched a couple re-felt a pool table at a beer joint once. They were obviously professionals at it. They had the whole thing redone in <30 minutes. I'd have a pool table, but the Dr.Linda won't give up the living room.
We put ours in an extra bedroom. One extra bedroom is a weight room...the other a pool room. We never have to worry about people asking to stay over!
Cotton wrote:Dr. Hess wrote: I watched a couple re-felt a pool table at a beer joint once. They were obviously professionals at it. They had the whole thing redone in <30 minutes. I'd have a pool table, but the Dr.Linda won't give up the living room.We put ours in an extra bedroom. One extra bedroom is a weight room...the other a pool room. We never have to worry about people asking to stay over!
That never stopped my friends. I've had people sleep on the pool table.
For all the folks who don't have room for it... Get a bumper pool table! Its about as long as a regular one is wide. We just got one (used on craigslist). Its a lot of fun, the games are shorter, you play best out of however many games, and you can rotate a lot of people in. Also, it really hones your skills for when you go out and play "real" pool.
The only thing about it is in regular billiards, most of the time how hard you hit it doesn't matter too much. In bumper pool, its everything. You have to learn touch.
Also, for all they dining room-naysayers, Brunswick apparently has a solution for you:
http://www.brunswickbilliards.com/catalog/furniture/pool-table-conversion-tops/pool-table-dining-top.html
Back in a former life my family owned a pool hall. Every couple of years we'd have to re-skin the felt on the tables. The flat parts are a piece of cake, the bumpers take much more time and skill. If you do it on your own, take your time, be meticulous, and have patience. A home table's felt will last for many years, it makes sense to take the time to do it well. Bad bumpers will make a pool table useless to play on for anyone except little kids.
I'd get a few quotes to see how much the pros want. Bumper repair is time consuming, and difficult to do perfectly without practice.
It is sort of like fitting a convertible top. If you have done a hundred it is easy. If it is your first time, chances are the fit won't be perfect and you'll have leaks.
I have refinished pool tables professionally. The tools are simple.
Hand tools: screwdrivers, wide blade scraper, narrow blade scraper, SAE/Metric sockets, SAE/Metric open end/box wrenches, staple pulling blade, 4' level, 2' level, rubber mallet, 32oz ball peen hammer, 6" long hardwood 2x4 with a sharp 90* edge, 30" metal straight edge, razor knife, scissors, bucket.
Power tools: stapler, heat gun.
Consumables: 3M spray adhesive, 3lb brick of wax, warm water.
Different tables disassemble in different ways, most pocket and non commercial grade return style tables have a bottom to top rail bolting system. These systems require two to three bolts per rail bumper to be released from underneath and the top will come apart with minimal work. Rail bumper cloth on most home style tables are secured on the top by a welting ferrule drawn taut and stapled on the bottom. There are tricks to soaking the felt to stretch it to get a fold free seam on the corners. It is super advanced stuff because if you stretch the cloth too far you will affect the quality of the rebound. The deck is either glued or stapled.all of the pocket holes are usually glued. Commercial tables are easier to felt in my opinion, as they are engineered to be broken down and refelted often.
For a home table I suggest a quality Simonis cloth, properly installed. There is cheaper felt but there is none better. http://www.poolfelt.com/ Carries it as well as standard felts.
Thanks for the info, John.
I redid the table felt myself and it's fine, but I think that I'll disassemble the rails and have them done professionally. The part about affecting the quality of the rebound is what got me. If I end up with one cushion that doesn't behave like the others, it will drive me nuts.
So...I'm bumping my own Zombie Thread here because eleven years have passed and I never did anything about this. But now I have a teenager who wants to play, and this table is pretty useless as it sits.
I just watched some good videos on recovering the rails, but at the very least, I'd have to buy a good staple gun, and I just don't feel like taking on the job. If I can find a good local place who will do it, I will farm it out.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=srqsV4a792U
In reply to Woody (Forum Supportum) :
Find your biggest local pool hall and ask them who does their tables for them. If you were down here I know a guy.
In reply to Stampie :
Unfortunately(?), there are not a lot of local pool halls to choose from around here.
Bowling alley, corner bar or local business which sells amusement items will know someone who can service the table. I just had my table rebuilt and let a pro do it. Figured by the time I bought the felt and bumpers and inevitably screwed something up, this way would be cheaper. They re-leveled the 3 slates, waxed the seams and reset the drop pockets. I think it ended up costing $300 total for everything.
In reply to lotusseven7 (Forum Supporter) :
Wow, that much less than I had expected.
In reply to Woody (Forum Supportum) :
I have done it myself with a regular whats-in-the-toolbox staple gun. Its really not hard at all. And when you take the felt off the old rails, you can see what kind of profile your rails are, and grab a set from amazon (or whereever). It will make a world of difference in the play. I did not soak the felt for those perfect corners, but I did fold them very nicely so the seam is underneath.
I would rate it as a 2 beer job. If your a regular on this forum, you should have no problem replacing some rails in an afternoon.
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