Pool anyone?

[collecture]

I have always wanted a pool table...a friend had one when I was growing up...I have always played in bars and even in leagues here and there.We added onto our house recently and converted our existing garage into an 600 sf entertainment/game room, so I planned on space for a 9 foot table.
Well, I finally got a pool table at home!
Above the table, I have what used to be my parent's dining room table light. It is a vintage 1850's pool table light. Originally it was a coal oil lamp fixture, but has been converted to electricity.
When I ordered it, the saleswoman mentioned that I could have whatever I could dream up pretty much. Sooo....I decided to have bottle caps in place of the conventional diamond sights (I hope it can be seen in the pics). I used uncrimped caps - mainly old 1050's DP and Coca Cola crowns, but I did not have enough of them - so I added some oddball flavors here and there. The company did not laquer over them, so I need to protect them from wear and tear. I was thinking on using some self leveling clear fingernail polish. What do you guys think?

[Creighton]

I think that is a mighty fine space and great pool table and light!! Way kewl. Test the fingernail polish first. It has acetone which could do bad things to the caps and wood. Would think all would be well as is. $1 a game next time I'm in town?
Creighton

[aspbear]

Man, that is a great looking pool table.  You might look into the acrylic plastic, like they use to make the blocks with different items inside i.e. bugs or different keepsake items.  I believe you can get it at craft stores and you can just mix up enough to fill in the cap spot and it dries clear and hard.  I would think that fingernail polish would chip and you might wind up with some paint missing from thee bottle caps.  Great looking table and a great idea to put the bottle caps in.

[collecture]

It has acetone which could do bad things to the caps and wood. Would think all would be well as is. $1 a game next time I'm in town?

I knew that the acetone would not be good for the wood finish, but unsure about the effect on the bottle caps. I am worried that over time, the older DP and Coke crowns will lose paint and simply be silver caps with some red paint flakes. $1 a game is a good number.

You might look into the acrylic plastic, like they use to make the blocks with different items inside i.e. bugs or different keepsake items.  I believe you can get it at craft stores and you can just mix up enough to fill in the cap spot and it dries clear and hard.  I would think that fingernail polish would chip and you might wind up with some paint missing from thee bottle caps.

You are probably right about the chipping. Would that acrylic plastic mixture be a self leveling sort? I was thinking on using a dropper - one drop at a time until the crown was filled and covered.

[dr galaga]

Nice pool table.  Looks to me like you need more "stuff" in the room and on the walls!

[collecture]

Looks to me like you need more "stuff" in the room and on the walls!

In due time...I want to get the big furniture items in and then decide where pictures, signs, etc. will go rather than putting a bunch of holes in the wall prematurely.

[Jim]

Tom,

Very nice addition! Both the room and the pool table.
Nice touch with the bottle caps; very creative!
I would lean towards the finer things in the collection get to reside in the Pool Room...
     

[BrianB]

Wow! That's awesome. I too am in the market for a pool table for my basement gamerrom that I'm currently working on. Ilove the idea of the bottle caps! That acrylic is self leveling. I've seen it used for bar countertops. The kind where you lay down all sorts of items from money to bottlecaps and pour your acrylic and it dries crystal clear and level.