So I just picked up a 9’ Gandy “Big G” 3 piece slate pool table that is in near mint condition. I have done a little research on the table, but I don’t really know much about them.
Anyone on her have any experience assembling slate tables? I have all the parts including the original felt, light, sticks, balls. I got it from the basement of an old ladys house that is in a nursing home. She said that her husband was a huge pool player, but it hadn’t been used in nearly 20 years since he passed away. It had been in her basement since with a cover on it.
Anyways, whatever input you guys could offer would be greatly appreciated.
The assembly of a table really determines its play ability for years to come. I’d definitely have a professional do it. There is a user on here who’s father own Bison Billiards, I think his username is Shrives. I’d send him a PM and see if you can get the guy they use. Those Diamond tables there are easily the best in the Buffalo region for play.
Do Not use the original Felt, buy new stuff. They sell setup & refelting kits online, that’s what I did when I had my pooltable.
It’s not that difficult to do, it just takes patience and time (As well as a few simple tools, IE: multiple levels, a torch (for melting the wax to fill the gaps), some spray adhesive, and some misc hand tools). The first time I did mine it took me about 6 hours, and that included re-felting the side rails as well.
I went through all of this once, made a lot of mistakes but the table was free so I really didn’t care. Get new felt as mentioned above. It’s not a bad job, plus, you can feel free to get some wacky type of felt. How did you get the table home? I’d also recommend just having someone put it together. I had to re-assemble ours when we brought it into the basement. I am an idiot and ended up cracking the table at the joints of the slate. I had to completely re-adjust the level of the table and the alignment of the slate, then fill all the cracks with plaster of paris (probably not the right way to fix it, but I didn’t want to invest a lot and it came out smooth so w/e).
If you want it to be right, just let a pro do it. Otherwise your friends will all just bitch and complain that the table doesn’t play true.
If you wanted, you could probably have a pro just assemble the base of the table, level it and adjust the slates, then you could do the felt and assemble the rails yourself. How much could they possibly charge? I’ve never looked into it, but I can’t imagine it’s more than a few hundred bucks.
I would disassemble yourself if you havent already, then you should know how it all goes back together. I moved a Brunswick once, the dissassembly was time consuming but pretty straightforward. The felt on the table was in excellent condition so I didnt replace it.
I already disassembled the table and transported it home in my friends box truck. The proper way to put the slate back together is to use water putty and fine sand it down. Leveling the table is not a problem, I could handle that. I did think about using new felt, but then I would have to refelt all the rails too.