Why buy a " deLeeuw Billiards " table?
After 14 years of working, building and playing on pool tables of all sizes, makes and models, I think this info is important to anyone thinking of purchasing a pool table.Thank you for taking the time to read this article. As consumers the best thing we can do is educate ourselves about the product we purchase, only then we will make the right decisions,
Kevin deLeeuw
Pool Table Considerations
(a) Legs(b) Rigidity
(c) Cross members
(d) Slate
(e) Rails
(f) Rubber
(g) Cloth
(h) Pockets
(i) Specifications
(j) Height & Weight
(k) Rail sights
Legs:
Legs should be made to compliment the tables design and size, but also make the table stable. Most 8’ and 9’tables only have 4 legs. Larger tables will have more legs to support the weight for example a 10’ table has 6 legs and a 12’ table generally has 6 legs. Most importantly, the leg braces should be the strongest part of the table. Our leg braces are built using the triangulation method, by bolting the brace to the end frame, side frame and the leg it becomes very rigid.
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Rigidity:
When manufacturing pool tables it is important to make the frame as rigid as possible. By doing this you decrease the chance of any vibration from the frame, legs, cross members, slate and rails. Anytime there is vibration or movement from the table after a ball hit’s the rail, results in energy loss. We build our tables so they are able to support ten times it’s weight making them the strongest tables on the market.
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Cross members:
The cross members are the braces used to fasten the slate to the table. In order to eliminate any chance of vibration it is recommended to fasten every piece of slate at each corner to the cross members. Most manufacture’s use plywood for the cross members. This keeps the cost down and the profit margin up. There are a few companies using solid wood like ourselves. Using solid wood instead of plywood the table will last years longer.
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Slate:
Slate is a natural material harvested in quarries all around the world. The only visible differences is usually the colour. Most slate is machined flat on both sides to a tolerance of 1/1000 of an inch. Slate is commonly machined to ¾" , 1" or 1 ½ " . ¾" is mostly reserved for 1 pc. Slates for coin operated tables. 1" is the common thickness used for home tables from 7’, 8’ 9’ and 10’ all three pc sets. Some slate comes with a wood backer attached to the slate but it is not recommended or required, this is a safe way to ship slate from faraway ports.
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Rails:
The rails are the most important part of the table, there are a lot of Important facts that have to be accurate in order for the rails to function properly. Most manufacture’s forget this. We make all of our rails out of solid hardwood unlike other companies that use a sub rail system, this means they use a poplar or particleboard sub rail with a ¾" piece of hardwood glued to the top for cosmetics only. We don’t use this system instead we start with a solid 2" board of hardwood and make the rails from that. We are the only company that makes a 1 pc picture frame rail system that is glued at the corners, this makes for a stronger and more rigid rail system and allowing for the best bounce without any vibration.
Fact: The speed of the bounce is determined by the quality of rubber, the weight of the table, type of wood used for the rails, if the rails are solid wood or a sub rail system, the tightness of the cloth and how well the rails are fastened to the slate.
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Rubber:
There are two common types of rubber used.
Snooker rubber which has an " L " shape profile and is designed for snooker table of any size, this rubber is designed to rebound the ball 90-95% of the speed. We are the only company that can offer this rubber on a pool table as well as a snooker table. Snooker rubber is the original shaped rubber.
Pool ( K66) rubber is the most commonly used rubber today. And used on 7’ 8’ & 9’ size tables as well as coin-op tables. Otherwise known as pool rubber, this rebounds the ball 75-80% of the speed. There is a $10 to $20 difference between the best and the cheapest rubber available from suppliers. For a few dollars we always use the best rubber available on every table we make. Cheaper rubber will last half the time the better rubber will.
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Cloth:
There are three basic blends of cloth on the market made by many manufactures.
1. Your basic house cloth available in 24 to 30 colours, with a 21 oz. weight, 75%-25% wool-nylon blend, with a non directional nap on the playing surface. We use this cloth on 90% of our tables.
2. A worsted grade fabric available in 9 colors. With a 24 oz. weight and a 25% - 75% wool - nylon blend. This a very fast cloth and will provide the most action when playing the cue ball. Commonly used for tournaments I usually don’t recommend this cloth unless it will be used by serious players or tournament play. This cloth costs 35-45% more than House cloth. My experience is the worsted cloth will last longer because it is heavier and thicker but because the nap is on the surface it shows the wear earlier than most others.
3. 100% wool cloth. This is usually a directional cloth and only comes in English green. This cloth comes in 29-31 oz. weight and is approximately double the cost of the house cloth. This is the only type of cloth you should put on a 6x12 snooker table. This is one of the only cloths that come in a bolt width wide enough for a 12’. This plays a lot slower than the house cloth and has a thick directional nap to it.
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Pockets:
Billiard tables did not always have pockets, as a matter of fact the game billiards was originally played on tables without pockets. This game is now called carom billiards. There is a version of the game played on tables with pockets called pocket billiards, these games are played with only 3 balls. There are two types of pockets, Snooker or Boston pocket otherwise known as a Pool pocket. There is a large variety of pockets available made from leather, rubber or plastics. We produce our own design of pockets to go with our one piece rail design, only available from us.
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Specifications:
There is a standard for pool tables and snooker tables as far as the measurements go. These are set by "World Pool & Billiard Association" and "Billiard Congress of America". We maintain these standards very strictly, our tolerance is as tight as 1/32nd of an inch. From experience I have learned that tables produced off shore ( Asia ) are very unreliable when it comes to pocket openings and specific or important measurements.
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Height & Weight:
The standard height of pool tables can vary from 29" to 33" and a snooker table should be 34". Some companies make tables lower and lighter to save on material, by doing this the tables are not as stable as they should be. Our tables are built to outlast any other table on the market, the only way to do this is to use nothing but the best materials available such as solid wood. You should not be concerned about your floor being able to handle the weight, if you have a 1000 pound table it’s no different then 4 to 5 people in the room.
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Rail sights:
The rail sights are placed on the rails at a specific location, they divide the playing surface into equal parts. The "string line" or the break line should line up with the middle rail sight on the side rails and should be exactly 25% off the head rail. On a snooker table this measurement will vary.
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