DIY: Pool Tables

If you're someone who likes to build their own furniture and have a game room in your home, you can build your own pool table rather than spend hundreds of dollars on one. The table may not have the fancy appearance of a pool hall table, but as long as you build it to the proper dimensions and hole sizes, it will work just as well. Since a pool table's actual size is relative, you can even custom-build one to fit your personal game room. Does this Spark an idea?

Determining the Size

Since pool tables can come in different sizes, you first need to decide on a table size that is right for you. Most home pool tables measure eight feet by four feet, while professional tables measure nine by 4-1/2 feet, but the general rule is that pool tables are twice as long as they are wide. The room you will place the table in needs at least nine feet of clearance on each side of the table--more if you are using longer cue sticks. The playing surface that will be on top of the table, whether it is made of wood or slate, should be four inches shorter than the table's length and two inches shorter than its width. Each of the pocket holes will be 3-1/2 inches in diameter with each hole's center two inches away from the table edge. The table legs should be 30 inches high. The boards surrounding the playing surface, called the rails, should be 1-1/2 inches higher than the surface and wide enough to cover all of the table not covered by the playing surface.

Constructing the Table

Once the tabletop is cut to the correct dimensions, drill all six holes into the surface--one at each corner and one in the middle of each long side. Glue the legs in place on the underside of the table and then secure them with screws or nails; position them so the pocket holes are all outside the legs. To give the legs more strength, attach side boards in between them. Glue the wood or slate playing surface to the table and cut away the pieces of it that overlap the holes. When applying the cloth, stretch it as tightly as you can across the surface. Glue it to a slate surface; for a wood surface, staple the cloth along the table edges near the center pockets. In both cases, trim away any cloth overlapping the pockets with a razor blade. Prepare the rails by gluing strips of vulcanized rubber to their inside edges and then gluing more billiard cloth to the rubber. Screw the rails to the table by fastening the screws and/or bolts from underneath the table. To complete the pockets, attach leather or nylon netting to the holes.