Setup and Leveling
Assembly, shimming and cloth for a table that is already where it belongs.
This is the job when the table is in the room and unplayable: delivered in sections, bought secondhand, left in pieces by someone else, or standing exactly where it was but no longer running true. The frame is squared and set, the slate goes on and is bolted down, the seams are filled and sanded flush, the cloth is stretched and fitted, and then the levelling starts.
Levelling on a slab is its own craft. The floor is hard and flat in the places it is flat, and has a gentle fall in the places it does not, and neither is visible to the eye. Shims go under the legs and, where a seam calls for it, between the frame and the slate. Each change moves the others, so the bed is read again after every adjustment until nothing wants to roll.
What setup covers
The same sequence whether the table is new, secondhand, or one you have owned for a decade.
- Frame and legs assembled, squared and positioned for the room rather than the wall.
- Slate bolted down, seams filled and sanded so a ball crossing them makes no sound.
- Cloth stretched over the bed, fitted to the rails, pockets refitted.
- Rails bolted back with the cushion rubber inspected while access is easy.
- Level read at the seams and at each pocket, then read again with the cloth on.
If the table has been in a hot garage or a storage unit, mention it. Heat and damp are hard on glue joints and pocket leather, and it is better to arrive expecting that than to find it.
How the table is left
The bed is read for level at the seams and at every pocket before the crew packs up, and again after the cloth is on. If a ball will not sit still on your table when we are done, the job is not done.
Jobs are scheduled into a morning or an early afternoon window, confirmed once the quote is accepted. Say early if the room is a garage, so the work lands before the worst of the afternoon heat.