Why did we let that happen? It was really not consumer choice at the beginning.
So we get to the bigger economic picture. Was it really that much cheaper at the time? It might also be a supply-line thing - overseas can apparently do it faster, more product, without bottlenecks. Partly condition (better mines), partly investment/efficiency, maybe partly labor. It wasn't because overseas can do it cheaper. OK, besides nostalgia, the point of all this is start with the basics. The manager laughed, and said "wow, that was a long time ago" "we sold that equipment quite a while ago". I called them within the past year or two after getting interested in pool again. They had been approached, and invested in special machines to make sets for a "major table manufacturer" but the contract fell through. The quarry John bought from had geared up and had some modern equipment specifically for pool table slate. But if you watch the online video of Brunswick's method for extracting table slate - saw up the bed in place like a checkerboard, with a roadwork type diamond saw, then scoop it out in layers near net-size blocks with a forklift.then go peer deep down in a pit in PA & watch them using plug & feather methods to split out big car size chunks, rig them up to the sheds/factory with cable lines, and process them on machines some of which date right back to the late 19th c, it is like comparing a modern operation, and going back to medieval times. When i've ordered architectural slate since 1990, it is shipped and have not personally been to a slate mine since about that time. Since then I've read some think the opposite. John did not like Italian, claiming it was "softer". Can't recall if Italy was more or less at the time. John had to drill for pins with my jigs, and drill for the rails, either T-rail or GC style. All told, i am certain the price was under $200/complete set at the time. Quarry had to do more machining to yield 3/4". Might have been more for 3/4" because basic sale unit was 1". Seem to recall price was same for 1" or 3/4" thick. The ribbons machine & wear differently causing balls to roll funny) Can't recall if that included quarry cutting the pockets, or leaving them blank for john to cut (he did it both ways). (You never want ribbon, which is cheaper, for tables.
#Brunswick pool tables where are they made Pc#
IIRC, 3 pc set for an 8' table ( size John mostly built) cost around $150 for clear. First in Italy, now there as well as Brazil & China. It just costs more to extract table slate in the US, than to source it overseas. I still buy architectural slate in PA, though rarely anymore. Prior to its closure, AHB operated five retail stores in the Maryland-Virginia-Washington DC area.actually, during the 1980's.i was still going with a table builder to the slate mines in PA to pick up sets of table slate. The American Heritage Billiards website states the company shut down operations, closed its retail stores, and terminated all employees on June 25.
Is American Heritage pool tables out of business?
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