...This continues the previous post. To keep all the comments in one place, I'll close the comments here; if you'd like to make a comment, please go up to Part I. We'll localize the discussion there.
With the cloth work all done, the pace of the project picks up. The rails are now placed upside-down on the table-top and joined together using corner-pieces to form a frame.
Diamond tables, which are built in Jeffersonville, Indiana (essentially a suburb of Louisville, Kentucky), are well engineered throughout, and use various different systems for ensuring precise alignment.
With the rail frame built, the aprons are installed next.
Then out come the pockets!
There's a moment of confusion as nobody can find the bolts that attach the apron to the rail frame. Fortunately, Jerimy has spares in the truck, and the seek-and-secure mission is entrusted to Larry.
Once the hardware is in hand, bolting the apron to the rail frame is quick work.
Jerimy Chambers
A brief word about mechanics. There are pool table movers and installers in every city, but true master pool table mechanics are rare. There probably aren't more than a few dozen in North America. (I learned all about this the hard way.) Jerimy Chambers, based in based in Morris, Illinois—southwest of Joliet, down Insterstate 80 from Chicago—is one of the leading mechanics in the Midwest. The other day I said he has a "24-carat-gold reputation." That about pegs it.
A second-generation mechanic, he started his career at age eight, helping his father—he specialized in putting cloth on cushions until he was big enough to help carry slate. And he hasn't done anything else since. Although pool is declining in popularity, the services of the best mechanics are heavily in demand; the project documented here had to be planned months in advance. On this Friday, he was four hours late to my house because he had to lap the slate at his previous job. His Friday began at six in the morning and he'll leave my house close to nine p.m. with more than a two-hour drive in front of him.
His real love is restoring antique tables. With any luck, maybe I'll visit his workshop some day and come back with a photo-essay about that.Meanwhile, though, back in my basement, it's time for the BIG FLIP:
...And it's a pool table!
All that remains is for Jerimy to bolt the upper assembly to the slate, a few adjustment checks, and it's all done but the cleanup.
I much prefer closed-pocket pool tables, because you can bridge over the pockets with no trouble. But the thing I really like about Diamonds is that the pocket geometry is perfect. I know more about pocket geometry than any pool player should have to, and more than I ever wanted to know. (Again, learned the hard way.) Diamond gets it just right.
All done! 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 and move around for a while every two or three hours. And it works for that, actually.
The table plays beautifully, and the installation was impeccable. My thanks to Jerimy, Larry, and John for their efforts on my behalf.
And I hope you enjoyed the tour.
Mike
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