New Pool Table Doctor website

So my good friend Frank is Philadelphia's Pool Table Doctor (he helped me build the custom pool table below). Please visit his new website if you need his services: www.phillypooltable.com He does repairs, moves, setups, slate crating, and refinishing. He'll drive a ridiculously long way to get to you, and makes sure the job is done right.

Homemade pool table

Here are a few pictures I took of the pool table that I built with the help of a few friends. There is a lot of detail and steps missing from my summary below, but if you have any questions please ask.

Here is the assembled frame of the table. All of the structural pieces were made from two pieces of 3/4" plywood glued/screwed together to make it all effectively the same as 1 1/2" plywood. It is very, very strong (and very very heavy!) The outside is covered by 1/4" pre-veneered sapelli mahogany. The color you see is natural. You will see it with a walnut stain later.

This is a rail being made. The top (dark) piece of wood is walnut, and is the decorative (visible) portion of the rail. The bottom piece of wood is called the subrail and is made of poplar. The subrail is really the structural part of the rail because it is what actually is bolted to the slate, and it also will have the bumper glued directly to the sloped edge. The cloth is attached by hammering a strip of wood into the channel groove you see here. The cloth is then stretched over the (soon to be attached) bumper and stapled into the subrail on the underside.
The slates (salvaged from another 8 foot table) have been laid out on the table (there are 3 of them) and the rails have been bolted to the table as a mockup of the final assembly in order to make sure everything fits right. We even simulated the future use of the table by drinking heavily during its assembly.

There she is! We used Simonis 860 cloth in powder blue, which really looks nice against the walnut rails. The pockets were salvaged from another table, but the worn look fits nicely I think.

I still have to finish up the aprons and I'm putting copper trim on the edges of the table. I'll post some more pictures when that is complete. By the way... just because I built a pool table doesn't mean that I'm a good pool player. But I'm working on it.

Why

Why start another blog? Am I egotistical enough to warrant an entire webpage devoted to my thoughts and ruminations? Apparently, like a lot of other people, I am. Anyway, the purpose of this blog is mainly to document some of the activities and/or projects that I get involved in. I figure that if I find them interesting, then others might as well.

I should probably give some of my biographical information to serve as a frame of reference for those who may read this blog without knowing me. I am 30 years old, recently married, and am expecting my first child in July. I live in the suburbs of Philadelphia, which is where I grew up. My parents are both college English professors, but I am a software engineer by trade and electrical engineer by education. I feel like because of my background I have an interesting mix of both left and right brain thinking, and I believe that is evidenced by the fact that so many of the projects I seem to get involved with are a mix of both technical and creative skills. I would say that the phrase "jack of all trades; master of none" describes me very well. I like to learn new things and take on unfamiliar challenges, but I don't think I will ever find a particular subject, skill, or hobby that I will be able to completely devote myself to. I prefer breadth over depth.

So, if you've stumbled across this blog, I hope that you enjoy it. I also hope that I stick with it and keep it updated, but I think I know that probably won't happen.