What To Look For When Buying A Pool Table
There are a few things to look for when you’re in the market to buy a pool table. The following tips apply whether you’re buying a new pool table or a previously-used pool table.
The first thing you want to do is to inspect the side rails. To quickly test the side rails on a pool table, place a standard cue ball on the short side of the table and bounce it off the rail directly across from you. On a pool table with quality rails, the cue ball should bounce back and forth at least 3 or 4 times. On the long side of the table, you should get at least 2 bounces back and forth with a decent throw.
The second thing to look for when buying a pool table is the building material of the table itself. You’ll likely be looking for a 1″ thick slate with a wood backing. If you want to buy a quality pool table, you absolutely want to make sure it is a slate pool table, accept no substitutions. Pool tables that use wood instead of slate are basically toys and they will not last long, nor will they play well.
To test whether or not a pool table is slate or wood (sometimes called “Slatron), simply knock on it with your hand (like you’re knocking on a door). If it sounds hollow, the table is likely a wood bed table. You want to avoid wood-bed tables because they will NEVER be level. No matter how good the installer is it will never be properly level.
Another drawback to wood-bed tables is that they’re not very sturdy. It’s quite likely that someone who bumps into the wood-bed table a little too hard will actually cause the balls to shift positions. You never have this issue with a slate table since the slate itself is so heavy, it’s practically immovable.
Finally, the last thing you want to check is the construction of the table. To check the quality of a pool table’s construction, simply look for under the table for the blocks that hold the table together. If it’s a good table, there will be nice, solid looking wood blocks that are holding the legs to the table itself. You don’t want to see those thin, sheet-metal brackets.
Another sign of quality construction is if you see thick wooden beams going across the underside of the table. These are additional support and they make the table that much sturdier. Some tables also have a beam running down the long side of the table. This is a nice thing to have, but not essential (so don’t worry if the table you like doesn’t have it).
