Educate Yourself With a History of Pool Tables
Thomas A. Selleck has played professional billiards for the last 19 years and written hundreds of articles about pool tables. He recommends (http://www.PoolTables.com) for pool tables.
In America the game is called pool. Other countries around the world call it pocket billiards; either way, it is the same.
A ball is struck with the end of a long, slender stick (called a cue), causing it to roll into other balls and knock them into holes (or pockets) around the edges of the playing table. A short wall (rail) around the perimeter of the table keeps the balls on the playing surface.
The rail is faced with a rubber cushion so balls that strike it rebound predictably and remain in play. In the United States, the game’s governing body is the Billiards Congress of America (BCA).
One of the BCA’s functions is to specify equipment acceptable for authorized tournaments. Although it does not specify the exact size of an approved pool table, the BCA requires that its playing surface be twice as long as it is wide.
BCA specifications for the table include maximum allowable surface deflections under a specified vertical force, surface flatness tolerances, size and shape requirements for the rubber cushion and the pockets, and composition requirements for the playing surface and its cloth covering.
History:
The origin of billiard tables is actually uncertain. The most common theory is that around the fifteenth century, tables were used in France and England for an indoor version of a lawn game similar to croquet.
A ball resting on the table was shoved with a stick in order to propel the ball through a wire gate to strike a wooden peg. The function of six pockets around the edges of the table is unclear.
Vertical walls (banks in English) around the edges kept balls from falling off the table. The first recorded billiard table was one sold to King Louis XI of France in 1470.
By 1674, the club-shaped stick had evolved into a slender cue. The wire gate and upright wooden peg gradually disappeared from billiard tables over the next century.
Because playing surfaces were made of wood, they had a tendency to warp. As players began to purposely rebound balls off the table’s edge walls, builders began to pad the banks with cloth stuffed with horsehair or rags.
During the 1700s, billiards remained popular in France and England, and caught on in the United States. Table sizes varied, but the 2:1 ratio of length to width became standard.
Rails were padded with tightly rolled cloth, producing a somewhat more predictable ball rebound. The Industrial Revolution contributed to a series of improvements in billiard tables.
Between 1800 and 1850, chalk was first used on cue stick ends to increase friction, leather cue tips were invented, diamond-shaped sights were added to rails, slate was introduced as a superior table surface, and vulcanized rubber (which maintained its properties regardless of temperature fluctuations) was quickly adapted for rail cushions.
Subsequent refinements in pool tables have related primarily to construction techniques. For example, in older tables horizontal holes were drilled in the slate edges and filled with molten lead; screws running through the vertical edge of the rail were tightened in modern tables by inserting a bolt vertically through a hole in the slate and tightening it into the bottom of the rail, pulling the rail and slate together snugly.
Similarly, in older tables, brass dowel pins were inserted into lead-lined horizontal holes drilled into the edges of the three slate sections where they would join to form the playing surface. In modern tables, the slate sections are held tightly together by screwing them to a wood frame, and joints are usually sealed with hot wax.
Raw Materials:
Although some inexpensive pool tables use synthetic slate or plastic honeycomb sheets, the preferred playing surface (and the only one sanctioned by the BCA) is natural slate. It is quite dense, with the amount in a typical table weighing 450 lb (200 kg) or more.
This mass helps keep the table stationary during play. Italian slate has long been the preferred type, but Brazilian slate now has some proponents.
The other major component of pool tables is wood. Usually at least two types are used.
Poplar, which is a hardwood with superior self-healing properties that holds screws tightly and recovers well when staples are removed, is preferred for the structural framework of the table.
Other hardwoods that provide a more attractive finish and are more resistant to nicks and scratches are used for the outer surfaces of the table. Examples are oak, maple, and mahogany.
Rails are usually produced by laminating two types of wood — an attractive, durable hardwood for the upper section and a functional softwood (like pine) or poplar for the lower section. Grade-A vulcanized rubber is preferred for the rail cushions, which are shaped to a particular triangular profile approved by the BCA.
Canvas fabric is molded to the top and base of the cushion for proper rebound performance and secure attachment to the rail.
The Future:
The use of alternative materials continues to be explored. Aiming for durability and stability, for example, one manufacturer recently introduced a pool table with a frame made of steel and rails formed of tempered aluminum.
The metals are covered with a decorative synthetic veneer. The slate-topped table weighs 1,050 lb (480 kg), about the same as a wooden table.
The manufacturer claims the table meets BCA specifications.
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