slate as a work surface (kinda)

i happen to have access to a bar size pool table with a full slate. roughly 3'x6' or whatever. my cousin has it in his basement and he doesnt want the pool table anymore(plus it was water damaged in a recent flood) and i thought it might be useable as a top for an assembly table/bench..

im pretty sure id have to add a softer surface to the top like mdf or plywood, but im not sure how to do that..

has anyone done this, or would anyone have any ideas how to do it?

thanks in advance

I'm not 100% sure but I think the slate might be in two pieces. I had to have mine leveled so there was no seam.

Gary K.

I think that the slate would need to be fully supported from below. Anything dropped or hammered on a table made of slate would have a good chance of cracking it, especially if the legs were slightly out of level. You could make a very good, level torsion-box table out of plywood and/or MDF. I don't think that the slate would add anything of value to it.

I had a whole kitchen and double sink made from Black Slate. The stuff was wonderful - in that application.
I don't think I'd try to use it as a work surface. It'll wreck your cutting edges and crack easily.

Maybe it'd make a better kitchen surface than a shop one. Maybe as an island?

The slate from my old pool table weighs about 300lbs. Its a one piece, bar sized, slate. Too heavy for anything BUT a pool table, imo.

As long as you could properly support it and have the space, it could be a wonderful, perfectly flat assembly table. (But I'd not use it for "working" wood)

Slate is very heavy and very fragile, which is why it's usually in two or three pieces in a pool table. Like Jim says, if you support it properly, it should make a great assembly surface. Why not just take the pool table and have some fun with it? Buddy Ebsen even used his as a dining table :-)

I keep thinking that that by the time you support the slate well enough, the slate will not add anything to the table except weight. Then once you've got this fantastically flat surface, you'd have to cover it with carpet or something to keep from damaging whatever you are assembling.

Any other ideas on what to do with it?

build a new pool table.