Excerpt from Secrets to a Perfect Pool Table Recovering Job 

Hi, my name is Mark McCauley. If you’ve spent any time on the Usenet pool and billiards newsgroups, you may know me by my handle there, Mark0. Don’t let my Usenet persona scare you (I’m not always a smart aleck :O) ) I can assure you I know about pool tables and playing equipment. I’ve worked since 1980 in the pool and billiards retail business selling and installing pool equipment as an employee and later as an independent contractor. Recovering a pool table isn’t rocket science but there are a few tricks that I’m going to share with you that will make the job easier and will save you some money and frustration. 

I will also give you some pointers regarding setting up and leveling the pool table, though the main scope of this is to ‘cover’ recovering. Expect to spend anywhere from 5-10 hours recovering your pool table the first time around. Like every venture in life, you will become more efficient and less intimidated with practice. 

There are 7 basic steps in the recovering process: 

Disassembling the table and the tabletop. (As these steps tend to be model specific, I’m not going to go into any great detail here. You’ll have to use your mechanical aptitude and common sense a lot, so you may as well start honing those skills now). 
Removing the old cloth from the bed and rails (either by pulling staples or stripping off the glued-on felt). My best advice is to use professional tools even to the point of renting them if necessary. A high quality staple removal tool will make that tedious job much easier. Mueller Sporting Goods (poolndarts.com) is a terrific resource for all your recovering supply and tool needs. 
Re-leveling the slate and applying a covering to the slate seams (and screw recesses if they are inside the playing field –though most aren’t). 
Recovering the bed of the table (really just basic upholstery work). 
Recovering the rails (the tricks of the trade are worth their weight in gold here). 
Reassembling the table (including alignment of the rails and placement of the foot and head spot). 
Final level check. 

There are a few “necessary” tools (marked with an asterisk) and several that I highly recommend that you use: 

         A 6’ or 8’ long carpenter’s level* 
        A 14” machinist’s level if you want maximum precision (optional and rent-able in some locales). 
        A good staple removal tool. 
        A quality electric ½” crown staple gun* (Duofast models can usually be rented in most locales). Feel free to use a mechanical staple gun if you want to spend 3 times the amount of time on this project. 
        A good (true) metal straight edge*. 
        A sharp pair of scissors and a utility knife with lots of extra blades*. 
        A small tube or bottle of contact cement. 
        A roll of paper towels. 
        A can of 3M #77 brand spray adhesive (for those tables without a slate sub-frame or stapling blocks). 
        A small can of Durham’s Rock Hard Water Putty*. 
        A 4”-6” putty knife for the seam sealing process*. 
        A deck of plastic playing cards for use as shims (for thicker shims squares of laminate and masonite/hardboard do nicely)*. 
        A commercially available pounding block (or a small [2”x 5”x ¾”] block of hardwood)*. 
        A dozen new feather strips –they’re cheap and if you break one you’ll be glad you didn’t just order 6 (often the old ones are reusable if you’re careful stripping the rails and if the cloth is at least the same thickness as the previous cloth) and a dozen cushion facings. 
        A block plane is handy if you need to shave down the feather strips. 
        Assorted hand tools*-- #3 Phillips screwdriver (or the Mother of all Big Flat Blade screwdrivers) for tightening the slate screws, appropriate socket wrenches, a small ball peen hammer or rubber mallet, etc. 
        Four 2” round washers and about 20’ of string (for precise placement of the foot and head spots). 
        A bottle jack can make lifting the table to place shims under the feet (or the turning of the levelers for the lucky ones) much easier… 
        Strong thumbs* (upholstery stretching tools make it difficult to feel if you’re stretching the cloth consistently tight, and their use should be avoided). 

Section 1 -- Leveling the table and setting the slate 

As your ultimate enjoyment of pool is very dependent on a perfectly clean, flat, and level playing surface this section will focus on optimizing that for you. If you feel your table is flat and level enough already you may choose to skip this section. 

Get to the point in your assembly/reassembly process where the table now consists of only the upper frame and leg assemblies sans slate (always store slate on edge like you would glass). Using the edge of your thumb feel along the entire top of the frame for any uneven frame member connections. If you find any that are more than a hair high or low, loosen the hardware that holds them in place and adjust them so they are as close to perfectly flat as humanly possible –this should eliminate much of the shimming needed to get the slate perfectly flat later. Position your straight edge on and across the frame top looking under it for signs of light (indicating warpage/sagging of the frame itself). If you find substantial unevenness in the frame members, and if feasible and practical, it may well be worth your while to index their position and take them to a wood milling shop to have the top edges run through their jointers until flat. 

Check the tightness of the leg attachments to the top frame. If it’s the least bit shaky, add additional hardware or bracing to stiffen its lateral structure. 

Once you have a frame that’s perfectly flat and structurally sound, use an 8’ carpenter’s level and level the top frame 6 ways (imagine a rectangle with an x inside of it). Try to get the frame as level as possible during this preliminary leveling process. If your table is sitting on new carpeting (the feet of the table haven’t compressed the carpeting yet), wait until the slate is on the table and shimmed flat before you do any leveling—you will just be chasing your tail. 

Remember, you should never have shims under all 4 feet of the table! Find the highest point of the frame and shim the other legs up to its level. It’s best to use fewer shims (don’t use 6 cards --use a comparable thickness of hardboard instead). Also, I do not advocate the use of wedges to shim the slate because of their tendency to back out with time. If you choose to use wedges, use hardwood wedges and secure them to the underside of the slate with tape, glue, or staples (if there's a wood sub-frame to attach it to -- don't try to staple into your slate!).