How to Move a Slate Pool Table (Three-Piece)

By Mick — handyman, Newcastle NSW.

Pool table specialists charge $600 to $1,200 to move a 7-foot three-piece slate. Some of that’s expertise, fair enough — but a fair chunk of it is the assumption that you don’t know what you’re doing and they need to charge for the risk. With four mates, $40 of removal blankets, and an afternoon, you can DIY it. The slate is heavy but it’s not magic.

The thing every YouTube tutorial gets wrong is the disassembly order. They show you ripping the felt off first like it’s a tablecloth. Don’t. Felt comes off after the rails, not before — and on a three-piece slate the slates separate before the frame, not after. Get the order wrong and you’ll twist the frame, crack a slate corner, or — best case — spend two hours figuring out why the table won’t go back together.

The Aussie-specific bit: locally-made tables (CueGarden, Quedos, Heiron & Smith) build differently to the American Brunswicks and Olhausens you see in US tutorials. Aussie rails screw from underneath into threaded inserts, not from the side through the cushion. The slate seams are keyed with dowels, not floating, which means you must lift slates straight up — not slide them — or you’ll snap the dowels off.

What you’ll need

• 4 strong adults — one slate piece is 80–110 kg
• $40 of removal blankets (5 minimum) from Bunnings or eBay
• A power drill with Phillips and square-drive bits
• 13 mm and 17 mm sockets (rail bolts)
• A staple lifter (for old felt, optional)
• A flat-blade scraper
• Small ziplock bags and a marker (for hardware sorting)
• Painter’s tape and a marker for slate orientation
• Old bath towels — protect the slate edges

Step 1: Photograph everything before you touch a screw

Every angle. Pocket cluster, rail screw layout, where the felt seams sit, the underside of the table. You’ll thank yourself in 4 hours when reassembly is happening at 9pm. I do 30+ photos minimum on every move.

Step 2: Remove the pockets and pocket cradles

Six pockets, usually attached to the rails with leather straps and Phillips screws. Some are stapled — use the staple lifter. Bag the screws and tag the bag “POCKETS — 6x screws”. Drop the pockets in a separate plastic tub.

Step 3: Unscrew the rails — from underneath, not the side

This is where Aussie tables differ from Yank ones. Get under the table with the drill. You’ll see 3 bolts per rail (sometimes 4 on premium 9-foot tables) coming up through the cabinet frame into threaded inserts in the rail. Back them out anti-clockwise.

Each rail is 15–25 kg. Two people lift each rail off — straight up, don’t drag — and stack them felt-side-up on a blanket on the floor. Bag the rail bolts in a labelled ziplock per rail (so they go back in the right holes — they’re not always identical lengths).

Step 4: Don’t strip the felt yet — leave it on the slate

Counterintuitive but correct. The felt is glued or stapled to the underside of the slate’s rail seam. If you tear it off now you’ve doubled the reupholstery cost at the other end. The felt comes off only if you’re getting the table re-clothed during the move; if you’re keeping the existing felt, leave it stapled.

Step 5: Mark the slate seam orientation

Painter’s tape on each slate, marker arrow showing “FRONT — pocket end” and a number (1, 2, 3 — left to right as you face the head spot). Aussie three-piece slates are keyed with hardwood dowels at the seams. They only fit back together one way and the dowels snap if you force a slate in 180° from how it came out.

Step 6: Lift the slates straight up — never slide

This is the moment you need 4 people. Each slate piece is 80–110 kg on a 7-foot, 100–135 kg on an 8-foot. Position one person on each corner. On a count of three, lift the slate straight up 50 mm to clear the dowels, then walk it sideways and set it on a blanket on the floor.

If you slide the slate towards you to get a grip, you’ll snap the alignment dowels. Replacement dowels are a router job — don’t risk it.

Step 7: Stack slates separated, not on top of each other

Slate doesn’t like sitting on slate. Each piece goes on its own blanket, ideally leaning against a wall vertically with a towel between the slate edge and the floor to stop chipping. If you must stack, two thick blankets between each slate piece, no metal bolts or hardware caught between them.

Step 8: Disassemble the cabinet frame

Once the slate is off, the cabinet (legs + apron rails) is just a heavy wood box. Most Aussie tables have leg bolts you can back out — turn the table on its side carefully, drop the legs off. If yours has fixed legs, the whole cabinet ships as one unit and needs 4 people to lift onto the truck.

Step 9: Load the truck — slate first, against the cab wall

Slate is the heaviest, most fragile bit. Load it first, vertical, leaning against the cab end of the truck box, blanket-padded. Strap with a ratchet across the middle. Cabinet next, legs in a separate bag. Rails on top of soft cargo (sofa cushions). Pockets, hardware bags, and felt scraps in a labelled tub right at the door so you can find them at unloading.

Step 10: At the other end — assembly is reverse, plus levelling

Cabinet first, levelled with a 1.2 m spirit level on top of the apron rails. Shim with hardwood wedges if the floor isn’t flat (most floors aren’t). Slates next, in numbered order, dowels engaged — you’ll feel them seat with a soft click. Re-level across the slate seams with the spirit level; this is the make-or-break step. A 1 mm dip across a seam means the cue ball “rolls off” — every player will notice.

Bees-wax the slate seams (food-grade beeswax from Bunnings, $8) to fill any micro-gap before the felt goes back on. Then rails, then pockets, in reverse of disassembly.

The Mick rule

If you’ve got 4 mates, an afternoon, and a free pizza budget, you’ll move a three-piece slate yourself for the cost of beer. If you’ve got 3 mates and a tight schedule, pay the specialist. The job’s not technically hard; it’s the lifting and the levelling that catches people. Don’t strip the felt early, lift slates vertically, label everything in order, and the table will play exactly the same at the new house. Get the level wrong by a millimetre and you’ll be re-shimming for a week.

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