revitalizing an old pool table economically
7/20/2009 8:43:26 AM
revitalizing an old pool table economically
Good morning. I have an old Gendron composite pool table, circa 1968, that needs to have the "felt" replaced along the rails, and possible the playing surface itself. I am trying to do this as cost effective as possible as I do not know how good the playing surface is as it has not been used in about 20 years. All that I am looking for is to get a few more years of occasional use out of it. Is there a more economical alternative like a type of broadcloth that can be used instead of standard billard felt that I can use to repair just the rails. I do not want to spend upwards of $100 to find out that the playing surface, and the rubber in the rails has deteriorated too much to fix economically.
Looking for a cheap solution Thanks Robby
revitalizing an old pool table economically
Replies & Comments
Mitch Alsup on 7/23/2009 8:58:31 AM
- Look under the table to see what the bed is made of. If the bed is slate, there is a very good chance that the pieces of slate remain level even after decades of non-use.
- cheap fuzzy felt should not be that expensive
- at this point you should really have the cushions replaced
Thus, what you need is a pool table mechanic. Call him up and describe the situation for a quote.
guest on 12/26/2009 10:26:53 PM
I'm a pool table mechanic and have been for over 15 years. So I thought it was curious that I'd never heard of "Gendron". After doing a quick Google search I found out why. From what I can gather these seem to be very cheaply made tables with an mdf playing surface. They were probably originally sold at a Montgomery Wards, Sears or similar discount store.
My experience with similar tables of this quality and age is that they can rarely be returned to a playable state. Many times the components (rail cushions, etc) were not "standard" - meaning that replacement parts that actually fit the table aren't available. And in quite a few cases the tables themselves don't even survive the disassembly process as many of their parts are pressboard that simply disintegrates over time.
Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but I'd hate to see you throw good money after bad.
My advice is to search craigslist for a good used slate table. They're going pretty cheap these days.
Hope this helps.
Chad S. Mokan Billiards www.mokanbilliards.com
I have one of those tables. Here is a suggestion for the covering: most wear seems to be along the rails. If you get a used cloth from a 5'x10' the wear will not show. I think a pool hall would sell one reasonably.
I have moved my table a few times. One problem is the screws holding the rails to the bed are set in on an angle. so removing them will chip the veneer on the surface. Its no big thing but it will show . My composite bed has never gone out of level. My problem is someone pounded a ball into an end pocket and managed to break the aluminum pocket top cap:(
robby9876 on 4/24/2010 4:19:01 PM
I finally got around to fixing the rails. Yes Gendron was a cheap MDF table, but it was bought for about $100.00 back in the 60's. The rails came off fine, and I just replaced the felt with a light blue broadcloth that I got a fabricland for about $5.00. I went back together fine, and it looks 10 times better. The bed is not quite level, however after a few beers it is all good.
Chuckie on 8/7/2010 2:43:12 PM
After listening to my complain "I can't fit my car in the garage" I took the pool table off her hands. The table, like yours , was in need of repair and like you I didn't want to spend a butt load of money to recover it. The first thing I thought of was treating this like a "Monster Garage" project, you know full of freebies and/or discounted supplies. So I was back to my mothers house and asked her if she had any fabric laying around and of course she did, first freebie. Then I went to the local fabric store where I found Micro fleece for $4 a sq/m and picked up 3m, this was to be the first layer on the particalboard top, to smooth out the inperfections and abuse. I didn't change the rubber on the rails, that would have been a large cost, but did recover them with some of the free fabric. All told I spent $64 of my $100 budget including a new cue for the wife. Iam not a pool table tech, but with alot of thought & common sense I don't think I did too bad. The table is outside, yes I said outside, under a 10' x 10' canopy I picked up JYSK for $30, I also cover the table too. Since my mother said that my grandparents bought it used back in the late 50's we figure that the table is 60 + years old and owes nothing to anybody but being the fist table I ever played on I wanted to give a shot. Here are the results,
Take your time & good luck
revitalizing an old pool table economically
- Title: revitalizing an old pool table economically
- Author: robby9876
- Published: 7/20/2009 8:43:26 AM
