Which Pool Table?
There are many facts to consider when investing in a pool table which may have an impact on the purchase price and quality of your table and for that reason, your game. Remember that the word "pool tables" identifies the table used to learn billiards, snooker, and all the cue-sports such as this. The distinctions between these games will be the rules and sets of balls used, not the table itself.
Pool tables are constructed in a multitude of sizes and there may be great variation in the product quality and construction methods used. The primary reasons for the number in sizes in pool tables on the market are simply an traditional full-size table is huge and a consideration of the many costs of any full-size table. Pool tables are invariably a perfect rectangle with the width being half the space. A typical full-size English Billiards table measures 12' long, and, therefore, 6' wide! Nowadays it isn't difficult to find tables measuring nine, eight, and seven feet long respectively, which are more realistically fitted to people's homes.
When buying a pool table it's important to consider the construction materials used. Of the the top is by far the main feature. If you are after a simple, cheap table, new discount pool tables designed to use a wooden surface with cloth overlay are available for under US$400. However, if you're after a more traditional table, that may eventually offer you a far better game, then there is absolutely no replacement for slate. Any serious cue-sports enthusiast won't accept anything significantly less than a slate table that may not flex or suffer the deformities that wooden-surfaced tables are at the mercy of. Slate is an extremely hard, dense stone which is quarried and cut into single, solid slabs the entire size of the table, machined to near-perfect flatness and covered with cloth to help make the surface of the table.
Unless put through absolutely brutal punishment you won't chip, dent, flex, or be afflicted by moisture. The slab used for tables will change anywhere between a complete 2 ½" thick for much older tables and, recently, about one inch thick. In most cases the thicker your slab the better, however, the largest drawback with slate tables is they are truly monumental in weight, specifically for larger, older tables. These can weigh approximately 1000 pounds! Along with such a big, heavy cut of solid stone come increased handling and construction costs.
Other activities to consider when assessing the grade of a table include: The standard of cloth used - good tables use a woolen cloth; the sturdiness of the frame and kind of wood found in the construction, specially the legs; how well the pockets and netting are created, the particular netting is constructed of, and if they use real leather guards. Finally the product quality, feel, and bounce of the bumpers running along the within edge of the table. Brunswick pool tables are a good example of a respected brand that performs well for each one of these tests of quality, with an increase of than 150 many years of experience with their name.
The expense of authentic, full-size slate tables reaches well in to the thousands which, for many people, is not really a realistic purchase, if you do room for this to begin with. However, if you are after cheap pool tables there are many options accessible to you: For real discount pool tables you can go with the wooden-based tables mentioned earlier. Their surface may dent, warp, and could lead to a less enjoyable game as time progresses but they're highly affordable. If you are unwilling to stay for lower quality, and you have somewhat of ability with the hands, consider looking for cheap pool tables in the classified advertisements in your neighborhood paper or online which may be in circumstances of disrepair. If you are willing to place the task in, if you will get a table with a slab intact, you can pretty much rebuild or restore all of those other table from the bottom up and re-cover it yourself. In this manner, you could have an excellent slate table for a fraction of the price tag on a fresh one but just as good.
Fortunately ball sets are receiving cheaper and cheaper nowadays, with little decrease in quality. A similar can't be said for cues, unfortunately, which means you should always be sure you look down the distance of an cue to see if they have bowed before buying it. Finally, you do not desire to be peering in your table at night. Consider investing in a group of good overhead pool table lights to make sure you get the most from your table.