We hold a special place in our hearts for these Midcentury masterpiece billiard tables. For many years, we enjoyed our own fully restored nine foot Brunswick Centennial, until it found a new, loving home in 2011.
Our Redlands, California customer also has an appreciation for the Art Deco design of the Centennial. He came across one for sale in nearby Norco, in original condition. The nearly 70 year old, ten foot snooker table was dull and worn down looking, but he fell in love with it anyway. Many options were discussed, and we decided to tackle the project. Being no stranger to restoring the Centennial model, David knew it would be an uphill process with an amazing reward.
The aluminum aprons and corner castings were in need of polishing, a process that sounds simple, but causes us to cringe. The pieces are long and not as thick as most pieces polishing shop deals with. They are prone to bending when not attached to the table. We detached them carefully from the already disassembled table in our shop and hand delivered them to be refinished.
While the chrome pieces took a little vacation, we got to work hand sanding the rosewood rails and veneered legs. This slow process was tackled with extra shop time between our regular billiard service and pool table deliveries. With the wood pieces sanded to their purest form, we set to work on the finishing process.
The top rails came back to life with a bit of tung oil. The natural rosewood was so gorgeous, no stain was needed. The legs and stretcher were a bit light, so a bit of stain was needed to build the color up to the same tone as the rails. All pieces received a protective finish.
When the aluminum came back, freshly polished, we painstakingly began to reattach the pieces. Even with the pieces marked beforehand, aligning the bolts was challenging. The curved metal aprons were not perfectly straight. There was a bit of a fight to get them on and aligned, but we succeeded. The aluminum bands were also reattached to the pedestals with bit of finagling (though not nearly as much as the aprons).
The original snooker bends were amazingly, still lively. The quality of the rubber on these tables is amazing! We covered the rails with Brite Blue and carefully wrapped them up for safekeeping until delivery.
The delivery went as smoothly as can be expected with an antique snooker table. We assembled the rails first, then the massive hardwood frame. Each of the 300 pound doweled pieces were carried into the house and placed atop the base, then seams sealed. Bedcloth was stretched on, then the rails carefully placed and bolted down.
1946 Brunswick Centennial Ad
This table, now restored to its original glory, looks incredible. Especially next to that fireplace. The end result is a true testament to the pure quality of this series.
In fact, it has sparked a new project for its Midcentury modern design loving owner. Remember the tiny mention of a 10′ Centennial carom table from our 2011 post? Well, we are beginning to breathe life back into that one as well. This story, to be continued.
*** Not pictured here but definitely not unnoticed in our images of this project, is the home’s original stained door with centered knob. *swoon*
For more information and original specs on the Centennial models and other antiques, the Brunswick Company has its own dedicated mini site for resources on billiard table models, allowing you to research old advertisements and archived media from years past.