Open Mike: Photo Essay (Part I)

Today is off-topic day, so I have...a photo essay.

Hmm, that doesn't sound quite right. Is a photo essay really off topic? Sort of, because it has a subject matter, but sort of not, too.

I recently bought a pool table. (Actually I've been working on that project since last April, but that story, as my father used to say, is "longer than it is interesting.") If you've ever wondered how a high-quality modern pool table goes together, here is a visual account of the used pool table I bought from Larry Schwartz being installed in my beautiful custom rec room. (For those of you who might be wondering, the still-operational darkroom is in the other corner of the basement.) I took the pictures for my own amusement, but if you're the type who likes watching other people work, or if you've ever wondered "how do they do that," you might find this interesting.

Jerimy Chambers bolts the heavy timber subframe to the two leg assemblies as Larry Schwartz looks on. Larry writes a column about 8-ball for Billiards Digest and coaches pool at Northwestern University, among other things.

The frame being leveled, using a machinist's level. The square Plexiglas plates under the table's brushed-chrome feet are there because the floor occasionally gets damp in the springtime.

Next, Jerimy says, "I'm about to make it heavy...."

Here come the slates. Larry's friend John (right), who is helping, is a retired Chicago police officer. He looks remarkably young for his 64 years—Larry, spoofing me, told me both Jerimy and John were 40 and I saw no reason to comment.

John served on Chicago's crime-ridden South Side for more than 40 years. He was ready to keep working but was "forced out," in his words, at the mandatory retirement age of 63. His nickname on the force was "Babyface."

All three slates, which are backed by thick, dense masonite, weigh the better part of half a ton. [UPDATE: In response to a number of queries, I checked with Jerimy, who says that each section of 1-inch slate weighs approximately 250 lbs. —Mike]

Seams are filled with pure beeswax. My table, an eight-foot pro size Diamond Professional model, came out of a chain of sports bars called "Fox and Hounds," and the slates have some damage—here's Jerimy filling a gouge with wax. An eight-foot table has a 44x88-inch playing surface, while an eight-foot pro or plus table has a playing surface that's slightly larger at 46x92 inches.

After the seams are filled, the wax is shaved level with a blade.

Using the tabletop as a workbench, the rails are laid out facing right-side up, and shims are cut to size. The shims fit into a groove in the rail just behind the cushions (the cushions, which are roughly triangular in cross-section, are the black and white strip you can see at the front edge of the rail. The edge where the ball hits is called the "nose" of the cushion).

A strip of cloth is then laid top-side down on the rail and press-fitted into place using the shim in the groove.

Once everything fits, the shim is pounded into the groove with a rubber hammer to affix the top edge of the cloth to the cushion. The excess is trimmed off.

In the final step, the rail is flipped upside down and the other edge of the cloth is stapled to the underside of the rail. The process looks simple when Jerimy does it but requires a fine touch and lots of practice.

Here's an out-of-sequence shot of the finished table showing how clean the edge is between the rail and the edge of the cushion. I always wondered how they did that...now I know.

(And a side note to pool aficionados—at my request, the nice folks at Diamond switched out the table's original red label and installed the [current] blue label, because the blue label tables are easier to resell on the used market, should I ever need to do that. Since the table was fully refurbished by the factory to up-to-the-minute 2013 standards, with new pockets and new cushions, the new blue label is accurate. Pretty nice of them to do that for me, huh?)

In preparing the surface for the cloth Jerimy checks for any irregularities both by touch and by sight. You can see the cloth folded on the chair in back of him.

Billiard cloth is woolen cloth (never "felt") that requires many steps in manufacturing. The best cloth is made of "worsted," which is long-fiber woolen weave that can be sheared very flat and hard (competition-level pool tables are fast, just like the greens at professional golf tournaments are fast). The leading billiard cloth company, Iwan Simonis of Belgium, has been making billiard cloth for more than 300 years. A piece large enough to cover a pool table can cost $250. This is Championship (that's the company name) Invitational (that's the brand name). 

By the way, while Jerimy is working steadily and efficiently along, the rest of us were having a high old time, cracking jokes, talking pool, telling stories, and listening to old jazz records on the vintage stereo I have set up in the basement.

When I put on a rare original of an old vinyl record, Larry, who is a jokester, said, "Oh, I know a lot about jazz. I can recognize that...give me a minute...right, that's 'Topsy' by Lee Konitz with Warne Marsh, on Atlantic Records, from 1955." I stared at him in disbelief. Turns old ol' Larry was suckering me—he has a very nifty app on his smartphone called "Shazam" that can "listen" to any music that's playing and identify it. It even showed the album cover! Very cool app, which I had no idea existed.

Meanwhile, Jerimy applies spray adhesive to the cloth, using one pass like a primer. He'll apply several layers of glue to the cloth and the masonite backing underneath the slate then use it like contact adhesive.

Once the cloth is all stretched and glued, it's time to deal with the pockets. So what are those odd-looking little flag-like things littering the table?

Turns out that's not a Diamond thing—it's a pure Chambers touch, something he learned from a 1960 Brunswick he restored once. After he cuts, folds, and stables the table cloth around the inside of the pocket, the bottom edge looks a bit ragged. So he staples these stays in place...

...Then folds the cloth down and staples it tight. This shot of the inside of the pocket on the finished table shows the result. There isn't a hair out of place on a Chambers table, even in the places you can barely see. (I used an LED flashlight to light this shot!)

[Continued in Part II; all the comments, however, are here.]

Original contents copyright 2013 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site.

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(To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below.)
Featured Comments from:

Rob Graves: "I thought (foolishly) that they'd just carry in the table with a few burly men and maybe level it for you. What a production. I've found this most interesting and there's more to go!"

Edward Taylor: "Just for the record, I think your off topic posts are really interesting and I enjoy reading them very much. This one is especially interesting. This is something I would probably not have any exposure to otherwise, and it brings to light some modern day craftsmanship. It's nice to know that there are people like those putting your table together out there. They are experts in a field with narrower reach than photography. Who knows how long you'll be able to get expert craftsmen to come to your house and perform their miracles."

Robert Roaldi: "One guy working and three others cracking jokes listening to music. A perfect guy day. Congrats on the table."

Benjamin Marks: "I was going to post a jokey comment along the lines of 'what ƒ-stop is that corner pocket?' but the sheer coolness of watching this unfold quashed my inner snark to a fare-thee-well. It is fair to say that the chances of having a bunch of professionals install a pool table in my no-doubt-damper-than-yours Vermont fieldstone cellar are preeety close to zero. But how cool is that? I am happy just to know it was done somewhere. My only suggestion: a dehumidifier for the non-frozen months. Congrats, Mike. She looks a treat."

Mike replies: Dehumidifiers: I have two very good ones down there. I need them even without the table.

David Dyer-Bennet: "Great example of master craftsmen at work. I love watching the loose cloth turn into the impossibly smooth perfect playing surface. Pool is a great game for teaching physics students that, while the physics completely and totally controls the game, it's not the simplistic 'spherical cow of uniform density' level of physics; even with the very dense well-polished spheres and the expensive uniform table and cushions, all sorts of nasty real-world complications are vital to understanding what happens on the table."

Mike replies: Very true. For instance, on this table, with the cloth I have on it, the cue ball gives a tiny but distinct wobble just as it comes to rest, because this weave can't be sheared as smooth as a worsted.

Here's a video you might like, that shows some of the lesser-known physical forces at work in the game, such as "squirt" (deflection off path when striking the cue ball off center). In the "Spin Around the Clock" section, the cue tip is striking the cue ball in different places (low = 6 o'clock, right English = 3 o'clock, etc.), allowing you to see the subsequent effect on the path of the cue ball. Note that the ball stays on the tangent line in the 9 o'clock shot, but with all the other shots it wants to start on the tangent line before the effect of the spin takes over.

Comments

[Jim ullrich]

The space looks like an old darkroom!
Jim

[Stephen Gilbert]

Northwestern has a pool teacher? Yet America lags in so many measures of educational achievement. How can that be?

[The United States has the best colleges and universities on the globe, far and away. People come from every country on the planet to go to college and, especially, graduate school here. And many colleges offer all sorts of intramural sports and games, such as chess clubs and karate classes. Those offerings have no bearing on the quality of the institution's academics but rather on the quality of student life. --Mike]

[Bryce Lee]

Saw the table being installed and thought"wonder if it comes with pontoons to help it float when the basement floods???"

[It would take a whole lot of help to get this thing to float. But the basement never floods, per se. --Mike]

[Rod Graham]

Very interesting. I've often wondered how these "behemoths" were moved. Anxious to see more shots, and then the finished project! (The dampness of a basement isn't a problem for something like this?)

[Jack]

Mind your own beeswax
I that where the expression came from?

[David Miller]

Wow! This is fascinating: up-to-date technology with a noble history and no temptation to go digital…

[Pak-Ming Wan]

Uh ... so in the end that's what you did with your darkroom? *grin*

Thanks for sharing the sequence showing how a pool table get installed: I've always wanted to know how it would happen.

Pak

[McD]

How is it that he who was fretting about office space now has room for a pool table?

Did I miss a chapter?

[Sigh...yeah, we've been over this. The basement gets wet. Not flooded, but wet--puddles on the floor after two or more hard rains. Which makes it unsuited for a full-time office. It's not actually a terribly healthy place for a pool table, either (it's a bit moldy too), but it's all I got, and I'm only down there for twenty or thirty minutes a day, versus the five to ten hours a day, seven days a week, I spend at the computer. I ain't spending my life down there.

And before anybody asks, yes, I've looked into waterproofing the basement. Upshot: nine grand, and they still won't be able to guarantee it will stay dry. On that basis, no thanks. --Mike]

[Joe Kashi]

This is definitely not "off-topic". Good documentary photo-essays are, sadly, becoming something of a lost art form.

[R. Edelman]

Thirty-eight years ago I restored a 1927 Brunswick. I used plaster of Paris to fill the seams.That is how that table had originally been set up. I used orange cloth instead of green because it complemented the wood veneer on the sides of the table.
Have fun with yours, Mike!

[Auntipode]

Fascinating!

[Ken James]

Pretty Cool. I was wondering where you were gonna put this, given you space issues. Now you will have to finish the room around the table. You never did tell us about finishing your darkroom.

[Kenneth Tanaka]

That looks like a beautiful table, Mike! I'm envious. There are two things I've wanted in my home since I was a boy. A full-sized pocket billiards table is one. (Not gonna happen.) Have fun with that!

[Mahonri]

Seeing tnese makes me glad you didn't take up stamp collecting.

Get back to photography, please.

[Dave in NM]

Nice job documenting the process, Mike.

It looks more like they did a restoration than just a setup. Is it always this labor intensive, or do most tables come in more or less assembled?

[Most real (i.e., 1" slate) tables come in very much like this...sometimes in even more pieces. Often, however, the cloth doesn't need to be put on the cushions on-site. This table was just refurbished, so Jerimy did the cushion cloth here. --Mike]

[Ed]

Nice a/d/s/ L 990 or 1090? In the background... Excellent speakers. Very likely better than Whatever is in your upstairs system. You should give them an honest try in your real Listening Room.

[L1290's, and I love 'em. Perfect for 35-wpc EL-34 tube amps, which is what I've got running them. --Mike]

[Rip Smith]

Interesting series. I always enjoy fine craftmanship no matter what the field. It may not be so much off topic if you consider fine photography also requires a high level of craftmanship.

[jim]

Calling any of your posts "off-topic" is like calling John McPhee a writer without direction. Keep up the great work.

[steven Ralser]

Great documentation, real interesting to see the whole procedure.

Looks like you won't be moving any time in the near future.

Is there going to be a TOP pool shoot out any time soon at TOP-HQ?

[BH]

Very interesting post. Thanks for sharing.

[Jim]

I also am interested in photography and pool. Both have brought pleasure and $ for 50 years. I do not mind your pool posts at all. On the other hand, I can see why some people would object to pool posts on a photo site.
My man cave can be viewed at http://dapplehill.blogspot.com/2013/01/billiard-room.html

My photographs of more general interest are at the site linked.

If negative comments are a problem, start a new blog...I'd keep up with it!

[Jim]

I thought the website link would show on the comment. If not, it is at [email protected]

[Steven House]

I quick search revealed that those Championship cloths are available in 32 colours! Who knew? But I'm glad to see you have gone for a tradition green. Any idea what the history behind cloth colours is? You very rarely see snooker or billiard tables in Europe and the UK in anything other than green. I imagine the original cloth was only available in green and that the colours were probably introduced in the USA just for fun. Pure speculation.

[Michael Perini]

Very Cool, thanks.
I do have a question, my recollection was Plaster of Paris for the seams too.
I noticed he filled an imperfection with bees wax as well. Since balls do sometimes bounce a bit on tables, how do they keep the areas with bees wax from developing divots or slight ridges.
I even remember that in setting up trick shots some folks used to tap one ball on top of another to fix it's position exactly.
Does the bees wax have to be renewed from time to time?

[Rod S.]

Didn't Ewa turn up to try it out? Or Kathy? C'mon!

[Sorry Rod, they're both Brunswick people. --Mike]

[Charles Lanteigne]

Sooo ... this is what jealousy feels like! I wish you lots of fun with that table!

[Ed]

Nice, I have L1290 series 1 speakers too, owned since 1988 or so. Such a great speaker, the best in that line I think and better than their later series too. Only thing that could touch them were stuff like L 1530s or 2030s. Despite their age they really are top shelf, and hold their own against modern stuff quite well. Enjoy!

[Michael Bearman]

Not sure if you are prepping for a "how to" magazine, or a revival of "Life". Always interesting watching others work - especially experts.

How much distance do you need around the table so that your cue doesn't hit the wall?

[Ernest Zarate]

Very unfair. Not only do you get to make a living looking at, talking about and taking photographs - but now a gorgeous pool table to boot. Enjoy, and know that there are others out there (me included) turning a green not unlike the cloth on your table.

[Steve Pritchard]

Isn't it nice to get something you don't have to plug in and load updates on before you can use it?

[Sven W]

A few years ago, I needed a bookcase that could house my small but growing collection of photobooks + my small and stable collection of CDs / DVDs. I couldn't buy a bookcase to suit, so I designed one and asked a wood-worker friend to build it. Between passing him various wood-working tools, I photographed the process as well.

Enjoy your new pool table !

[Bernard Scharp]

Should you ever wish to build your own pool table, here's how.

[Andy]

I live a few miles from Worsted, in Norfolk, UK.

[Speed]

Mike wrote, "All three slates, which are backed by thick, dense masonite, weigh the better part of half a ton."

That works out to 300 lbs. each slate which means that the two guys carrying one in the picture above are very strong. When I lift and move one 80 lb. bag of concrete, I'm risking serious and embarrassing injury. Two are impossible.

[Ed Kirkpatrick]

This brings back many fond memories of playing pool in our basement as a kid growing up. I actually got pretty good (no more though). I loved that table but all things must pass. It was an antique from Conn Billiards in Washington, DC and had webbed leather pockets with ivory diamonds in the rails. The slates were over an inch thick. It was a really work of art... Thanks Mike!

[Phil Maus]

Beautiful! I am totally jealous Mike! BTW - Do you have a good size dehumidifier installed in your basement? I'm sure that would go a long way to keeping your new table playing fast, among other benefits.

Now all you need is a proper light fixture over the new table and you'll be all set to hold basement tourneys. Congratulations on the new acquisition.

[Bahi]

Nothing has ever come this close to getting me to look at pool as a pastime. :)

[Jayson]

Let me concur with the others who mentioned they enjoyed this (and other) off-topic posts, particularly the ones relating to pool. I have little interest in pool myself, but I do enjoy when people are engaged and actively enjoying their own private interests, and positive, fun stories like this pique my attention, definitely.

Enjoy your new table! You deserve the break from your desk, and pleasure it'll bring you!

[Jan Kyster]

I can honestly say, in my 57 years I have never had any interest in pools or poolbuilding and yet here I am, fascinated by each and every word and digging photos.
Cool stuff! Not what I came for, but Thanks!

Btw. re. water in the basement. Don't try to waterproof from within. It *will* fail... instead you should look into outside drainage around the buttom of your foundation. And while you're down there, you can coat your foundation as well... typical DIY (grins)!
Like this: http://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/green-basics/foundation-drains-0

[Bruno Masset]

Mike Johnston wrote:
> I decided to get a pool table, by the way, because my doctor
> said I have to have a reason to get up from the computer

It seems my devious plan to chain you to your desk by pointing you towards a picture of good standing has been foiled.

[Bruce Robbins]

Loved the pool photo essay, Mike. Of course, snooker is the game in the UK (although pool is played in pubs and some clubs) and here's a 50s time lapse video showing a snooker table being built up. Pretty much the same problems to be overcome just on a larger scale.

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=0KBIkm5Jpbw